Beautiful Saturday in May – Preakness Saturday

The weather today was nothing short of amazing.  When the temperature is in the low 80s with a gentle breeze blowing there is nothing more I would ask for.  Even though we got home at midnight last night (see what I mean about us not being morning people?) we managed to get moving as soon as the alarm went off at 8am.  We knew the Preakness was today and that meant crazy traffic so we wanted to waste no time getting downtown to the marina.  While most people wouldn’t walk to Pimlico (the track where the Preakness is run) from our house it would be an easy walk, probably 2 or 2.5 miles from us.  However that also means that we see the increase in traffic at our place so it makes sense to get out early if you are leaving.

Breakfast for us was a bowl of savory oatmeal, this time flavored with curry that included very lightly cooked broccoli and sun-dried tomatoes. Don’t forget it is always good to have broccoli and tomatoes since the sulforaphane and lycopene are better absorbed in the presence of the other. Also whenever you use curry (which includes turmeric) be generous with the black pepper since that enhances the absorption of the curcumin in the turmeric.  The photo above is a different bowl of savory oatmeal since I was rushed this morning and didn’t take a photo.

After breakfast we headed for the boat to avoid as much Preakness traffic as possible.

Eric and I both wanted to check out the opening day of farmers’ market at the Baltimore Museum of Industry which is a very short walk from the marina. Dan stayed on the boat and fed mama and baby duck while Eric and I went foraging for produce. I bought local strawberries, apples, beets and tomatoes.  Since I have lemons and my juicer on the boat I decided a little beet, beet green, apple and lemon juice would be delicious.  We both love strawberries with balsamic and black pepper which is why I bought the berries.  J

The little baby duck seems to be growing an inch a day. I am very surprised by the rate at which the little guy is growing.  Yesterday he looked like a baby and today he is more of toddler.  The baby duck has stolen my heart. He/she is absolutely precious.  I am sorry that you can’t see the little one in person.  He comes right to the back of our boat with his momma to be fed.  SO cute!

While the weather was gorgeous it definitely called for iced green tea. This is the pitcher with matcha and regular green tea with orange, lemon and lime slices.  We both really enjoy this beverage.  If you like green tea this stuff is good. Don’t forget to brew your green tea for 10 minutes to extract the maximum amount of EGCG and that vitamin C (fresh citrus) enhances your absorption of the EGCG.

Lunch for us was curried almond salad in lettuce cups with apple slices. I took a picture of the bowl of ingredients and the second is a formed lettuce cup.  I will make this salad again soon so I can measure things and tell you how to make it.  I use a raw cashew crème with lemon and garlic in place of the mayo which works perfectly.  This recipe is ridiculously simple and quick other than soaking the nuts which happens overnight in the refrigerator.

After lunch I turned beets, beet greens, apple and lemon into juice and dropped that down into the cooler to chill for later.  Did I remember to tell you that the juicer is on the boat too now?  I brought it down to show one of the guys at the marina.  It is a long story that I will tell you more about later but it has a great ending.  Two guys lost 32 pounds total in 2 weeks (one lost 20 in 2 weeks and the other 12 in 10 days).  Impressive right?  I love a good success story, or two in this case.  ;-)

In addition to relaxing at the marina we took one of the dogs (Peyton) for a walk since his human mom and dad were at the Preakness.  For those of you who haven’t been to the Preakness you aren’t missing anything in my opinion. I went to the Preakness 3 decades ago when I was in college and it was nothing more than a drunk fest which was too much for me even way back then. Somehow seeing drunken college kids passed out or throwing up has never been my idea of a good time. Call me crazy.  ;-)  I doubt this event would be more appealing to me now at 50.

Today there was also a more boat cleaning, polishing and waxing.  For those of you who don’t know when you own a boat there is a lot of cleaning, polishing and waxing.  It seems to be a never ending project in fact. We talked about hiring someone to do it but we both decided that was ridiculous. Why pay someone to do the manual labor and then spend more time in the gym.  Hence we opted to take care of the maintenance ourselves.

Speaking of the boat I wanted to relay something that I recently noticed.  The one thing that I don’t love about having a boat is the classic “boat smell” which is reminiscent of a wet dog.  In other words not good. To combat this “eau du wet dog” I have been burning multiple (either two or three) highly scented candles every time I was on the boat.  The candle aroma has been wonderful for the boat which actually now smells good and the not the least like a wet dog.  However there are a few negatives of burning candles.  In the cooler weather when the boat was closed up my air quality monitor would move into the unhealthy range in under 30 minutes after I arrived and had two or three candles going which I found to be a little disconcerting. Second I noticed today that the candle soot was much more extensive than I expected it to be.  I spent today wiping down the ceiling in the boat to remove the film of candle soot.

Fortunately I was over at Eric’s boat about a month ago and noticed a candle warmer that he had. It looks like a coffee or tea warmer but holds a jar candle. He picked me up two of them a couple of weeks ago I have been using them. Now I have the candle aroma but none of the candle soot or the deterioration in air quality.  I was happy with this solution so I wanted to pass it along. 

Our friend Eric had a work function to attend this afternoon and evening so I took Bri for a nice walk to get her exercise.  Can you tell I have somehow turned into the neighborhood dog walker?  LOL, I guess that is what happens when you are one of the few people who volunteers for physical activity. 

We had such a late lunch today I almost thought we were going to skip dinner but I knew that wouldn’t be good.  We decided to have the strawberries and tomatoes which I bought this morning and a big glass of fresh juice.  Not the most traditional dinner but we enjoyed it.

Huge Thank Yous:

Those of you who offered to look at the website have been extremely helpful.  I have gotten some incredible feedback for which I am very grateful.  Your suggestions have exceeded by expectations. That was the good side. The other side is that now I have more that I want to do on the site.  Since the round one review went well I think I am going to do a second round once I incorporate the suggestions from round one. I know that two of you offered to help a day or two ago and I hope that you will be available for the round two review. Thank you again too everyone who has helped and/or offered to help.  Your generosity is a bit overwhelming, but in a good way.

Happy thoughts:

• Saturday was another great day.  As always there are so many things to be thankful for when you take the time to notice.
•  It was nice of Mother Nature to give us a gorgeous Saturday weather wise. I don’t know that we could have had better weather for mid-May in the Mid-Atlantic.
• The grand-duck is growing up nicely.  I can’t tell you how much I am enjoying watching him/her grow up.  Baby animals are the cutest things!
•  I enjoyed the farmers’ market at the Baltimore Museum of Industry.  However I have to admit that my favorite part is that it is a short walk from the boat.  No doubt I will be back on a regular basis to buy produce for the boat on Saturday before our big trip on Sunday to pick up our CSA stash.
• Both pups (Peyton and Bri) were very sweet today.  Additionally it was nice to get out for a two walks today with the dogs.  Apparently you don’t actually need your own dog to get more exercise just borrow other peoples.  ;-)
•  We are actually making headway on the boat in terms of cleaning, and waxing.  It will definitely be a few month weeks before we have done everything above the gunwale but that is okay.  Slow and steady wins the race right?  Dan and I were kidding with each other that just about the time we get everything waxed it will be time to go back and start again, which is closer to true than either of us want to admit. I might have to add boat cleaning and waxing into my weekly calendar.  Who decided we should do the maintenance ourselves? Oh yeah, that was us.  LOL

Signing out:

Tomorrow starts bright and early, 6:00am to be exact.  That means that we need to shut down at the marina and get home sooner than we normally would.  It is a little sad to leave the marina early but I am sure we will get used to it.  ;-)

I hope you had a great Saturday and I will talk to you again tomorrow.

The End of the Birthday Celebrating Plus Happy Friday

 Some days when I sit down to write for the blog or website my mind is a blank slate. This would be perfect if I were meditating but it isn’t terribly useful when I need to be creative and write.  Since my schedule has become crazy recently I have put myself on a strict calendar that tells me when I am working on the blog, the website, my eBook, exercising, cooking, etc. The problem is that I find it difficult to schedule productivity.  Maybe some people can schedule productivity but I can’t do that yet.  The solution I came up with is that I need to work on something on my to-do above if my calendar says it is time to “work”. So far that is working okay.  However it isn’t perfect. If any of you have any suggestions regarding this “problem” I would love to hear them.

Last night at 8pm we decided to go out to dinner. Nothing like waiting until the last minute is there?  ;-)  We decided to go to see Ian and gang and asked Eric if he wanted to join us since he had not had Ian’s food yet.  I am sure it is a bit overwhelming to go out to eat with us since we know everyone and I got many birthday wishes and hugs.  Our friend Louis says going out with us is like being in “Hello Dolly” and Eric agreed.  I am sharing this to give you a better feel of the atmosphere of the evening.

Since it was my birthday we decided to order a bottle of wine and Alan (one of the owners) happen to have a bottle of Brunello (my favorite Italian wine) hidden away for us.  Oh my was this wine delicious!  Eric also agreed and now I am worried that we have spoiled his wine palate for life.  Once I had Brunello that was my new expectation and I saw Eric’s face light up the same way. Sorry Eric!  If I read your reaction correctly your wine budget will need to be increased significantly going forward.  ;-)

The wine last night was the main event for me since it had been so long since I had a bottle of Brunello.  Dinner was simple but delicious, we had Ian’s marinated mushrooms which you all know I love, his roasted cauliflower over tomatoes, golden raisins and pine nuts and a small vegan pizza with red sauce, roasted veggies, topped with lemon dressed arugula and pine nuts.  We are so lucky to have a place around the corner where we can get delicious vegan food.  Sorry that I didn’t take any pictures it was late, the lighting wasn’t good and I was busy talking.  No one ever accused me of being shy or quiet.  I have included two photos of the very similar dishes that Ian has made for us in the past.

We ended up getting home at 11pm knowing that Dan needed to be on the 6:45am train to DC for work.  I felt so guilty that he didn’t get enough sleep last night because of my birthday.

The final birthday present of the day was from my buddy Louis who totally gets me.  We came home to find a box from Earthy Delights which contained a fiddle head ferns, fresh morel mushrooms and black garlic. See what I mean about Louis gets me?  I love, love, love fiddle head ferns and Dan feels the same way about fresh morels. Having a pound of black garlic to play with will be great fun.  Louis you did it again.  Thanks sweetie!  The picture above is fiddle heads, morels and ramps from a prior year. I sure do love fiddle head ferns which remind me of asparagus in flavor and texture.  :-)

Friday morning we were up bright at early, 5:15am to be specific which is far too early for non-morning people like us.  Dan had two big glasses of green smoothie before he ran out the door to catch the train.  Fortunately he made it to the train station at 6:37, just in time.  Dan was in DC all day but made it to the marina this evening by 6:30pm.

In addition to waking up far too early this morning I also have a little bit of wine headache today.  My body is clearly not used to my consuming wine like it used to be.  Splitting a bottle of wine with two other people would have never given me a head ache in the past.  It is funny how much things have changed in my life.  However I am not complaining since I know that I am much healthier living this way.  But I can’t deny that the Brunello was delicious last night.  ;-)  That treat was worth the slight headache I had this morning.

The one good thing about getting up uber early is that I was able to be productive much sooner.  By 8am I had posted something to my other site, exercised, had soaked in a hot bath, texted with my morning friends and sent a few emails.  Not bad since normally I wouldn’t have done any of that by 8am.  You do know that I don’t like mornings right?  ;-)  Yesterday as I we were driving to Hopkins I was texting with Lauren (Dan was driving) and mentioned that mornings should start later. That comment was partly to be funny but also partly true.  I don’t usually really get “going” until 10am.  Mornings are definitely not my thing.

After a hectic morning I was able to get a little much needed downtime to relax.  I chatted with Lauren (who Dan affectionately refers to as Mini Me) during which we solved all the health problems of the world in case you were curious LOL.  The photo above is from the first trip of the season this year.  If you don’t have a friend with the same health values as you I hope you find one.  It is difficult to explain how great it is to have someone who I can bounce things off of besides my husband.  It is also great to have someone just “get me”.  I hope to be able to develop the same type of network of health minded people on the new site so that all of you can connect with other people with the same values.  I am sure you are getting tired of me saying that we are all better together than we are alone but I really believe it.  Together we can move mountains if we want to.

I found out this afternoon that our new sailing friend Eric (the human father of Bri) may be moving to the slip directly behind us. This would be amazing and a lot of fun. Dan and I both enjoy chatting with Eric (who likes tech stuff which makes Dan’s day) and all of us (Lauren included) love Bri.  She is the most adorable dog and so friendly.  Send good thoughts this way that the people who have the deposit on the slip behind us actually back out, which is the rumor, so that Eric can move in.  ;-)  Eric took the photo of Bri above with the new camera.  I will definitely be getting some shots of her soon to share.

Lunch for me was very simple; I had leftover curried red lentil and tomato soup and some hummus and broccoli.  Dan was going to try to have lunch at Busboys and Poets in DC but that didn’t work out.  Hopefully that will work out another time he is in DC.  If you have been to Busboys and Poets I would love to hear your ordering suggestions.

Dinner on the boat was … green smoothies and a bowl of watermelon.  We are really predictable aren’t we?  ;-)  Have I mentioned how great it is have a Vitamix on the boat?  Why was I being cheap last season and not getting a second Vitamix?  Will I never learn that having access to a high powered blender is not a luxury but a requirement?  I use mine so much that I am lost without it.  The photo above is an old shot of a green smoothie on the boat because I was being lazy.

I have been making a very simple green tea on the boat that is really tasty.   I brew matcha green and regular green tea and then chill it. To the cold tea I add slices of orange, lemon and lime. It has a complex citrus flavor that we both enjoy.  In addition to adding nice flavor the vitamin C in the citrus helps you to absorb more EGCG in the tea.  Hello, win-win am I right?

Happy thoughts:

• It was another really nice day in spite of the noticeable lack of good quality sleep last night.  Here are my happy thoughts:
•  My 50^th birthday was a non-event which made me very happy. I was dreading this birthday and it was fine, no stress.  Love that!
•  It is wonderful to have Lauren in our life.  There are days when I don’t know what I would do without her.  It is so great to have someone who just “gets you.” 
•  I had a nice talk with Lisa (at the marina) where we talked about a show she watched recently on health that focused on fatty liver disease that has her and her boyfriend rethinking their dietary habits.   Now I will be sharing some DVDs with her as well.  When she was telling me about the show she said that she immediately thought of me.  Gee, I wonder why?  ;-)  Can you tell how much I love talking about health?  LOL
•  I stumbled upon a very cute video of teachers pranking students which made us smile so I wanted to pass it along.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.  J
•  I found time today to get in some much needed activity which was nice given the amount of time I spent exercising only my jaw muscles (talking).  I am not sure if any of you do this but I wanted to share in case the idea is new to you.  When I am doing anything sedentary like talking on the phone (which can consume hours of my day) I make certain to add activity to the conversation.  I do this a number of ways but here are some ideas you might want to try.  1)  Get up and walk around if you are on a cordless phone. This is very easy to do and doesn’t make a lot of noise to distract people on the other end. 2)  Do something like squats or lunges which are also quiet but work your largest muscle group your legs.  3) If you are using a hands free device or you are watching a DVD do some arm exercises (pushups, curls, etc.).  The idea is to take the opportunity to move in whatever way works for the situation. These little things add up to burn calories.
• Both Dan and I are excited by the prospect of having Eric in the slip behind us.  That will definitely mean more walks for Bri and me.  I hesitate to say that I walk Bri because it is really more like Bri walks me. However we both enjoy it so does it really matter who is in charge? ;-)
•  I have been reading a good book on Buddhism in my spare time.  This one is called “Buddha Is as Buddha Does” by Lama Surya Das. If you are at all interested in Buddhism (which I find fascinating) see if your library has the book.  The book is very thorough though a little bit of a tough read.  However I find reading it to be very calming and it helps me to be more introspective which I think is wonderful.  I will try to find time to review this book formally before it goes back to the library.
• The farmers’ market near the marina opens this weekend which is exciting. I am anxious to see how much organic produce is there.  J  Also Sunday is the first pick up for the summer CSA with Calvert Farms (the organic CSA we belong to).  Can you tell there will be lots of kale in our weekend?  ;-)

Signing out:

Sorry this post is going up very late in the evening. I was very busy chatting away most of the time I was at the marina.  I enjoy being around people and love to talk with people and share information.  Lisa made my day when she told me about the health show she watched and how it impacted her family and that she was open to learning more.  There really is nothing better than making connections with people is there?  Imagine what an impact we could make if we shared the benefits of a healthy lifestyle with everyone around us.

Relaxing Christmas

Nicco says Merry Christmas! Hard to believe has a warning on his medical record at the vet isn’t it? He is 6 pounds of danger kitty that little one. LOL

This is Luca and Massimo that I shot with my new lens. They aren’t thrilled but were more cooperative than normal which was a nice Christmas present for mommy (me).

People often ask us what Christmas is like at our house without little ones. What, fur children don’t count? (just kidding, sort of) This morning I woke up to one of the fur children bouncing in the bed as though they were excited about Christmas. Whose cats act like this? Oh yeah … mine do. LOL

After my “daughter cat” decided to do the tango on my bladder decided it was time to get out of bed and have some quiet time before Dan was awake and moving about. I like to get up first so that I can have a little alone time. Early mornings are my time to enjoy the colors of the sunset, read a little (specifically the daily passage from “The Book of Awakenings) and get my mind in the right frame for a good day. Christmas shouldn’t be any different now should it?

Since the surgeon gave the all clear for exercise we have been starting our day with a quick three miles to get the blood pumping and set the right healthy tone for the day. Today being Christmas that didn’t give us a pass on our healthy habits. However since it was 39 degrees in the morning we did opt to wait until after breakfast to head outside. We didn’t get a white Christmas as you can see, but the neighborhood is still looking festive even without the snow I think.  :-)

Christmas breakfast was a bowl of steel cut oats, topped with homemade almond milk, a little homemade no-sugar and no-oil added granola, and a few dried cherries to our breakfast for nutrition as well as intense flavor.

Our current favorite hot tea is a combination of green and white tea (a double mug) with the juice of 1/8th of the grapefruit squeezed in and a pinch of cinnamon. Both Dan and I really like this combination. I came up with it one morning while considering making us baked grapefruit with cinnamon which turned into tea instead.

I received a few “blog presents” this year for Christmas. The first was a new portrait lens for my camera since I take a lot of close ups of food as you know. I am not sure if you can see the difference but the photo of breakfast was taken with the new lens and I think it worked well. ;-)  Now I have no excuse to use my cell phone camera to take pictures for the blog. Let’s see how long that lasts.

My sweet husband also bought me Dragon Professional to give me more time. Woo hoo I am excited that there will be a lot less typing in my future. You have no idea how happy that makes me. My typing skills are not the best so less typing means more output. LOL

Every year the hubby and I buy each other at least one new Christmas ornament for the tree. This year I got a beautiful crystal train. I always wanted a train set as a child but never got one, now I have my train and it is beautiful and sparkly.

I bought Dan a crystal angel ornament because he is my angel. Sorry, I know we can be a bit much to take for a lot of people. But we really are like this all the time. ;-)  As crazy as it sounds I really do love my husband more today than I did 25 years ago when we met.

In keeping with my obsession with health Dan also bought me a book on anatomy which you know I will be pouring over. I also received jewelry (in addition to the three-stone ring I told you about yesterday), cookbooks, books on health, Dr. Greger’s latest DVD, and Dr. Fuhrman’s Immersion Excursion boxed set of 10 disks. There was also a lovely Shun santoku knife under the tree. It is my first Shun knife so I am thrilled to have it. I received some glassware for taking blog worthy photos, a new tea pot just like they use are our favorite Asian restaurant, green and white tea, scented candles, a calendar based on the Tao, 4 new sweaters, and a few other things. Are you starting to see that there are definite themes to my life? ;-) I guess you would say I am fairly single-minded. LOL

Lunch for us was a big salad which I am sure is no surprise to anyone. This one contained cooked red beans, arugula, salsa, marinated mushrooms, roasted red peppers, artichokes, and raw pumpkin seeds.

Later I made Dan a double smoothie for dinner. I wasn’t hungry but Dan needed the calories. As usual he requested his recent favorite smoothie which includes: frozen banana, frozen cherries, kale, walnuts, cinnamon, cocoa powder, ground flaxseeds, water and a little stevia to taste. This actually tastes like a chocolate cherry shake, no wonder he likes it.

We had stayed up so late Christmas Eve that neither of us got enough rest the yesterday. Instead of trying to push ourselves today we opted to take it easy and turn in early. This really is one of the benefits of being on our own.

Making Dietary Changes:

You will probably not be surprised to hear that this is a frequent topic of conversation between Dan and me. Most of the time I initiate this conversation but Dan is more than willing to discuss it since it has had such a profound impact on his life too.

Going out to dinner is always eye-opening for me. I realize that our diet is different from most Americans but I am always a little surprised when I see how absolutely unhealthy people eat in this country. I tend to look around when we go out to eat because I am always trying to learn how people approach food. My thoughts are the more I know the better my chances are to help people. One person caught my eye last night and really made me think.

When we started on this “crazy whole food plant-based diet” (which is how I referred to it back then) we were just “trying it on for size”. Like many of you who are currently omnivores I really didn’t believe that this diet was sustainable for us. Sure other people could do it, but they didn’t love food the way we did, nor did they have a chef friend who made them delicious and decedent food anytime. How could we possibly keep this up long term? Yes I really did believe that less than a decade ago. However I also knew that things were out of control for us in terms of health and that we needed to try every possible approach. The notion of “moderation” had very obviously not worked. Dan was on medication for his high blood pressure and his doctor was worried about his cholesterol and we both needed to lose weight. We were just going try this “healthy vegan approach” for a little while to see what happened. Secretly I was hoping it would be a bust so I could get back to life as usual.

Okay fast forward to the first week and I have no idea why my husband didn’t kill me. Seriously I was a miserable human being and I wasn’t quiet about my unhappiness. I had no idea what to cook, I missed my traditional foods, I felt horrible and I just wanted to experiment to fail so I could be back to life as I knew it.

By the second week I was starting to figure out what to cook and eat so while I was still unhappy at least I wasn’t floundering around trying to decide what to do. Life was still not great but at least it was getting easier.

However by the end of the first month things had really taken a turn for the positive. Once we had both lost our desire for unhealthy food this “crazy lifestyle” was actually becoming easy. I still wasn’t “in love” with the food but we had both lost weight, Dan’s cholesterol and blood pressure were dramatically down (below normal in fact and he was off medication) and my seasonal allergies had literally disappeared.

It took a few more months before we both lost all cravings for our favorite unhealthy fare but they did ultimately disappear. Thank goodness!

Why am I telling you this? I know that many of you who read my blog are omnivores who want to improve your health based on the email that I receive. It hasn’t been that long since I was one of you. I very plainly remember what it was like to be in your shoes. My addicted brain was convinced that I could not give up meat, cheese, olive oil, sugar, etc. I was absolutely positive that those items had to be “available” or I could not survive. Yes, I really can be that dramatic some time.

Today one of my good friends is flirting with the idea of trying out a vegan diet. However she is worried that she can’t do because she will miss her “favorite foods.” While I realize that this is her addiction talking she doesn’t though hopefully she will eventually. I am not sure how to explain to her that these foods are not her friends and that they are ruining her health and most likely shortening her life. I want to assure any of you who are considering a dramatic dietary change that while it is difficult in the beginning it does get much easier and in the end it will become your new normal but you won’t want to go back to your old way of eating.

This evening Dan and I were talking about people asking him if he missed steak or prime rib and that they seem to be bewildered when he says that he doesn’t. Can you tell these are questions from men? I have to say that I don’t miss animal based food either. The foods that we used to eat just aren’t appealing to either us any longer. We enjoyed them when we used to eat them, but neither of us would eat them now. I never thought I would be someone who could say that and mean it but now I am which I hope shows you what is possible for you too. This lifestyle will become easier and you will feel so incredible that just a few short months that going back to the SAD (standard American diet) won’t be any option.

For those of you who are worried about getting together with friends please don’t be. Dan and I go out to eat probably more often than we should. There is almost always something on the menu that we can eat as is. When there isn’t there is always something that I can see is easy to modify for us. Whenever either of us has asked for a modified menu item (even from chefs that we didn’t know) the kitchen has always been more than happy to accommodate us. Please know that changing your diet doesn’t have to mean that you are stuck at home with no social life. Granted what you make at home will be much healthier for you, but I think we all need social interaction in order to have a healthy, happy and full life.  Man can't live by food alone.

If any of you have also made the change to a diet similar to ours I would love to hear from you. What prompted you to change your diet? Did you jump right in or ease into it? What are some tips or tricks you can share with others to make the transition easier for them. Let’s work together to help others make the change to a health promoting diet.

Happy Thoughts:

It has been a very nice but also a laid back Christmas. This is the first time in the last 30 years (other than when my mother-in-law passed) that I didn’t make a big dinner. I am very surprised by how nice it was to be able to relax on Christmas. If you haven’t tried it I highly recommend it. This might become a new family tradition.

• Dan and I had a nice day together just the two of us (plus the fur children). We watched “A Christmas Story”, talked a lot, got some exercise and fresh air, and just generally goofed out. Overall it was a great day!

• Tomorrow is our last day of 24/7 togetherness and I am already feeling a little sad. I love spending time with my sweetie. Too bad he has to work for living. ;-) On the bright side that will be give more time to get back to my usual routine. My first order of business is to figure out how to use Dragon to facilitate the writing process. I am really looking forward to that. If you know how bad of typist I am you would understand why. LOL

• Both Dan and I are pretty much in love with our current hot tea with pink grapefruit juice and cinnamon. If you aren’t on any medications that interact with grapefruit juice please give it a try. It is very tasty if I do say so myself. Don’t forget that the citrus increases your absorption of the EGCG in the tea, and the cinnamon contains antioxidants. Not only is this delicious but it is good for you too. Love that!  :-)

• So far I am really enjoying the new lens that my sweetie got me for my camera. Considering that I am the photographer in the family he did a wonderful job. I will need to find out which camera store he went to so that I start frequenting the shop. They clearly pointed Dan in the right direction.

Signing out:

Given the inadequate amount of sleep we both got last night we are trying to turn it much earlier tonight. Depending on what we get it into tomorrow you may see a post from or my next one may be Tuesday. However I am trying to get back on a regular schedule with my posts.

I hope you had a fabulous holiday. Talk with you again very soon. I am very curious to hear from those of you who have made the transition to a diet like ours.

Flavored Green Tea, Dinner Out and Self-Esteem

Today I had a different variation of green tea. This one was inspired by Emily and here is what I did. In a one quart jar I placed 5 matcha green tea bags, about 5 dried hibiscus flowers and approximately 28 ounces of cold filtered water and put this in the refrigerator overnight, but two hours is long enough. This morning I added the juice on one fresh orange and strained the tea and served it over ice. By making this tea using a cold brewing method I am maximizing the amount of vitamin C that remains from the hibiscus. The tea was a beautiful pink color and a nice flavor and also had the health benefits from the green tea. I really enjoyed this and hope you will give it a try when you are looking for something other than plain green tea.

Dan is swamped at work and needed to go downtown today to work. *boo hiss* However to soften the blow a little he suggested we go out to dinner. I know you might be thinking, dinner out again? Yep, I am definitely one soiled wife that is for certain.

Dinner out for us is more than just the food or my not needing to cook. Of course we love the food but we also love everyone at the restaurant both in the front and back of the house. Going out to dinner for us is relaxing and a chance to chat with everyone. We are very fortunate to have a wonderful neighborhood place to hang out and relax.

When we walked in Amy told us that our table was ready and that she had a surprise waiting for us and had to go into the kitchen to get it. The surprise was that our Aimee was working tonight. We were surprised but were also very happy to see her. Aimee has finals coming up next week so we didn’t expect her to be working this evening. However Corey was short staffed so she worked a double. Don’t you love nice surprises like this?

I started the evening in the kitchen like always chatting with Ian. Will was making a sauce and had a flaming pan which it turned out was our first dish. He was burning the alcohol off the tequila and infusing it with heat from fresh Thai chilies (with the seeds). As you probably know but now since Will was working tonight it meant that I didn’t have to think about what to order since he had things planned out for us.

The first dish was a tequila and Thai chilie flamed watermelon salad with radishes, cucumbers and red onions. This salad was spicy and delicious. I loved the aroma of tequila that this salad had as well as the heat from the chilies.

The second course was a whole wheat noodle sauce with red bell peppers, snow peas, shitakes, and green onions with a spicy tahini sauce on the side that was so good Dan asked Will what was in it and he never does that.

Our third course was a warm black bean and corn salad with crispy tortilla chips.

The fourth and final course was an arugula salad topped with fruit, balsamic glaze and sliced almonds. This was something we asked for to end the meal on a sweet note.

Other than the hard rain that had started before we left the restaurant it was a fabulous evening. I had a slight problem with Facebook thinking that I wasn’t me and locking me out of my account. At least that was partially resolved when I got home. Facebook is still a little wonky but hopefully I will figure it tomorrow once I have gotten some sleep. *fingers crossed*

Self-Esteem:

Today I was thinking about one of my dear friends and their self-deprecating sense of humor and that led me to contemplate self-esteem. I get very upset when this friend says unkind things about themselves but I also know that my friend isn’t the only person that does this. When any of us are self-critical I believe that we are poisoning ourselves. How you value and treat yourself is telling the world how you want to be treated in my opinion. Conversely when you love and respect yourself others will treat you better as well.

Women seem to have more difficulty being kind to themselves than men. I think that is because we all tend to put everyone ahead of ourselves. Why do we all do that? Also why do so many of us have difficulty thinking positive things about ourselves? Most of the people I know have a tough time finding nice things about themselves. I will be the first to admit that I am a perfectionist and find it easier to identify my flaws than my strengths. However I also know that focusing on what we like about ourselves is always better.

I thought it would be good for all of us to think of (and list) the things we love about ourselves. Most of the people I know find it very difficult to say anything nice about themselves so I thought it would help for me to go first. Here is what I love about myself:

• I love my courage
• I love that I am a survivor
• I love that I am determined
• I love my generosity
• I love that I am compassionate and caring
• I love my long hair and my cheekbones ;-)
• I love that I have time to share my healthy journey which I feel might be making a small difference in the world.

Okay so now it is your turn. Please try to think of at least three things that you love about yourself. If you are inclined to share what you love about yourself please let us all know in a comment to this post. Better yet can you find one thing each day to like/love about yourself?  When I am having a particularly tough week I feel better when I focus on what I like about myself.  I hope the same things works for you.

Happy Thoughts:

• We had a lovely evening out this tonight. Dinner was delicious and the company was excellent as always. It was great to see Aimee this evening which we didn’t expect.  It as also nice to see Amy back at work and looking fabulous after her major surgery. When we talked to Will this evening we heard his presentation earleir this week got an A. It is always nice to get good news isn’t it?

• I had a nice day today catching up on a few things at home. I wasn’t thrilled that Dan had to work today but it was good to have time get a few things accomplished here.  I am enjoying working on my vision board, and it is long overdue.

• I am very excited to be picking up a tray of organic wheat grass from Pam at our CSA Sunday morning. It is going to be fantastic to juice fresh wheat grass tomorrow.  *woo hoo*

• Tomorrow is the first day of our CSA pickup and that is going to be great. I am looking forward to getting back to the market in the morning. Being up so late Saturday night may mean a nap will be in order by that is a small price to pay for fresh local organic produce. *happy dance*

• I finished “The 21-Day Conscious Cleanse” today and really enjoyed that book. With a little luck I will get the review up tomorrow.

• Guess who will be taking off work next week for my birthday? Isn’t my husband sweet to do that for me? I don’t think the weather is supposed to be good but that doesn’t matter since we will be spending my birthday together.

Signing Out:

Since 6am is going to come early tomorrow morning we should have been asleep a while ago. Sorry for such a quick post but I need to turn in soon so that we can make it to the farmers’ market early tomorrow morning. I am looking forward to picking up a tray of wheat grass juice tomorrow morning. *woo hoo*

Talk to you again tomorrow. I hope you are having a great weekend too.

Funniest Bumper Sticker I Have Seen and Eating Out

I hated being a bummer on my blog yesterday I was not feeling the love if you know what I mean. Sometimes it is difficult to have a blog when you aren’t feeling particularly chipper.

Saturday I got up much earlier than Dan and my knee was still hurting. *ugh* My answer was to take a long hot soak and read for a while since the heat yesterday helped my knee. The heat seemed to help a little but the ibuprofen was much more helpful as much as I dislike taking pills I was popping them early in the morning. But this story ends much better than it started.

Breakfast today was Dan’s favorite green smoothie which contained: kale, frozen bananas, walnuts, wheat germ, freshly ground flaxseeds, cinnamon, powdered ginger, stevia and water. He really does love his green smoothie and it still shocks me that he does. LOL

I had my new favorite grapefruit and kale juice that I detailed here. If you like grapefruit juice this tastes basically the same only with a heck of a lot more nutrition. I can see me having a lot of these as long as grapefruit is in season. I know this doesn’t look like much of a breakfast but I had 4 glasses like the one pictured. ;-)

After breakfast we decided that this weekend we were going to take a break from my parents. Dan didn’t want me to spend a lot of time rushing around or standing in the kitchen cooking since my knee was bothering me. Instead we decided to have a nice leisurely weekend with a few errands that weren’t essential but are more fun. Of course some of these errands were food related because we all know I get such pleasure out of anything that involves food. I realize most people don’t enjoy food shopping but I love it.

Before we headed out to run errands I made us both a huge salad. This one contained: baby spinach, cold leftover multi-whole grain from yesterdays dinner, salsa, artichokes, tomato, yellow pepper, avocado and white chia seeds. Nothing fancy just healthy food but it still tasted great, IMO.

We started at the library because as you all know I am pretty much always reading. Pictured above is the stack I brought home today. How I find time to read all this stuff is beyond me but somehow I manage to make it happen.

As I left the library I saw this fabulous bumper sticker and could not stop laughing. After we took the books to the car I went back to take a photograph and the driver was in the car. I walked up to the driver’s window to ask where they got the bumper sticker and was shocked to see a mid 50 to 60 year old man with short hair in a sweater and khakis driving the car. He was very pleasant and told me where he bought it. You could have knocked me over with a feather. This interaction absolutely made my day. Isn’t it funny how some things are just nothing like you expected? I was certain the car belonged to someone in their 20’s and I wasn’t even close. ;-)

Next we stopped at Baltimore Coffee and Tea to pick up provisions. The coffee smelled so it was calling my name. However I only bought 4 bags of different teas (herbal and green) took those to the register and headed out. There really is nothing like the smell of freshly brewed coffee though. If we had been in there much longer I might have broken down and purchased a cup of coffee.

Next we went to the Asian market across town (HMart). Driving the parking lot is practically taking your life into your hands. The store isn’t much better as you get run into often. *shakes head* However it is worth it since I find things that I can’t get anywhere else. I picked up some great stuff like always.

Organic multi whole grains which I love. This is the same stuff I used in our salad today.

Organic mixed beans which I also like a lot.

I even found some organic buckwheat noodles with green tea and my favorite dried black fungus mushrooms which I love but Dan isn’t as thrilled with.

Doesn’t Dan look like he is ready to get out of the store? I had to take his picture to capture that look on his face.   See why I say it is no fun to live with me and my cell phone camera?  LOL

We decided it was best to have Ian make dinner tonight since I wasn’t home to prep anything.

The guys (Ian and Will) came up with a few things for us tonight like they always do. We are getting too accustomed to showing up and eating whatever they decide to send out for us. What would we do if we actually had to select something from the menu? LOL

We started the evening with our usual pot of tea. This time it was green tea mixed with hibiscus, pear and strawberry.

The first plate that came out was a Middle Eastern flavored chickpeas with arugula, whole wheat croutons and crispy flatbread (for texture). This was very filling and tasty. The cumin gave it a heady aroma that I adore.

Here is a picture of Dan playing with his phone during dinner. Who says kids are the only ones that fool around with technology during dinner? LOL

Dan had requested pizza tonight which is what we had next. This is an appetizer pizza with wilted spinach, apple, almond, raisin and olives. I loved the sweet and salty combination it was a very nice pizza.

The next dish was a super thin crispy pizza with red onion marmalade, roasted red peppers, olives and garlic. Since I love crispy bread this was perfect. It was so thin it was almost a cracker which I thought was fabulous.

We got full before we could get to plate number four. :-(

Ian was in rare from tonight. He was lamenting that we aren’t eating cheese since he had homemade ravioli today. He really is too cute sometimes. You would think he would be used to us eating this way by now but I think he always hopes we are going to go back to our evil ways. I don’t see that every happening but I guess he can dream.

It was a good day and a very nice dinner.

Happy thoughts:

Wow, where to I start today? I have so many things to be happy for that I am just going to hit the highlights:

• I have not had an ibuprofen in over 10 hours and my knee is almost 100%. If I weren’t worrying about reinjuring it I would be doing the happy dance. I am very lucky that my knee was nothing serious.

• It was great to spend time with Dan even it was running errands. We always have a good time no matter what we are doing. The bumper sticker had me giggling most of the day.

• I picked up some great stuff at the library today that I can’t wait to read. There are some many books and so little time. However that is a great problem to have in my opinion.

• Our trip to the Asian market was very productive. I will share more the fun things that I found when I use. I love going to ethnic markets since they always have things that you don’t see at your regular grocery store.

• Dinner out was wonderful as usual. I never get tired of seeing everyone, getting hugs, spending time in the kitchen and talking. We are so fortunate to have somewhere that we can go where they cater to us for some unknown reason. ;-)

Signing out:

Time for me to start winding down for the evening. We may head to northern Virginia tomorrow for more ethnic food shopping if we get moving early enough. I hope all of you are having a wonderful weekend. Talk to you again soon.

Okara and Oat Sliders & Sesame and Lemon Dipping Sauce

When we got up Wednesday morning we found a few inches of snow. So much for the predictions of the national weather service who said we would have rain overnight. You would think they would get it right a couple of hours before the “weather event”. Sometimes I have no idea why I check the weather forecast. Needless to say having snow on the ground in the morning made me especially happy that Dan had gone to Costco Tuesday night.

One of our Christmas presents from “the kids” was a book on tea. Aimee and Michael know how much we love our tea which is the reason for the book. It contains a lot of information about tea but most important to me is that it talks about the health benefits of many tea additions and gives recipes for tea blends. Reading about all blends in the book has me experimenting with blends of my own. My latest blend includes: sencha green tea, fresh lemon grass, cardamom, cinnamon, and clove. This was a good blend that even Dan liked. If you like experimenting with tea flavors give it a try. It is a good use for the dark green portions of lemon grass that you usually throw away. I used the lemon grass that I trimmed from my plant and had stored in the freezer.

Dan had a bowl of oatmeal with wild blueberries, ground flaxseeds, cinnamon, powdered ginger, ground cardamom a pinch of stevia and roughly chopped walnuts.

I had my breakfast after Dan has left for work and decided that I wanted to have leftover soup from last night. I was in the mood of something savory and since we had so much soup in the refrigerator that seemed like a good idea.

My lunch was okara and oat sliders with a little sesame, lemon, garlic and cumin sauce and salsa. These have become a new staple at our house. I have made them three times since this weekend. It is more of method than a recipe but that should tell you how easy it is. I measured but you will probably have different proportions. I will explain it below:

Okara and Oat Sliders
Makes 4 – 6 servings

Ingredients:

okara from 1 cup of dry soybeans (what is leftover over from making soymilk)
2 cups oats, dry
2 tablespoon minced dehydrated onion
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 ½ teaspoons paprika
¼ teaspoon ground mustard
2 cloves garlic, grated or finely minced
freshly ground pepper, to taste
no-salt seasoning, to taste

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a half sheet pan with silpat, parchment paper or easy release aluminum foil and set aside.

Combine the okara and as much oatmeal as is necessary to firm up the mixture. I added it ½ cup at a time and stirred until it would hold its shape. How much oatmeal you need to add will be a function of how wet/dry your okara is. I used the dried minced onion to also help absorb the liquid in the okara. Now add seasonings that you like to taste. Be careful with salt as the burgers will become saltier as they dry out during baking.

Now use a small disher (in essence an ice cream scoop for cookies) so create equal size small balls. Roll the balls in your hands and press lightly so they are flat top and bottom or they will roll on the sheet tray. Form all the mixture into balls and place them on your sheet tray.

Bake the sliders until they are firm. Mine cooked for approximately 40 minutes but I didn’t check my oven temperature so that time could be off. I would suggest you check them after 25 minutes. Allow the sliders to cool for at least 15 minutes on the tray before trying to remove them. This will help them to stay together. They are less delicate when they have cooled just a little.

Nutritional Information:

I omitted the nutritional information since the nutrition stats on okara would just be a WAG (wild a.. guess) on my part. The servings are given as a range 4 for an entrée size and 6 for a lunch size.

Comments:

Dan has declared this the best use of okara yet. It is ridiculously easy and very easy to change or adapt to suit any cuisine. I have made in with Indian flavors, Italian and Mexican now and they all worked. They also freeze and reheat well in the microwave. When they come out of the oven they are more “crunchy” and are softer when reheated in the microwave.  If you want them to be a little "lighter" you can add a little baking soda to the mixture.

For dipping sauces I have used the sesame and lemon sauce that follows, salsa and a combination of salsa and bbq sauce. These little things are very versatile because of the mild character of the okara.

Sesame and Lemon Dipping Sauce
Serves 4 (approximately 2 ounce servings)

Ingredients:

¼ cup raw sesame seeds
½ cup water
1 lemon, juiced
2 cloves garlic
¼ teaspoon cumin seeds, to taste

Directions:

Combine in your high speed blender (I used my Vitamix) and blend until smooth. If you want a thicker sauce start with ¼ cup of water and slowly drizzle more into your blender (while running) until you like the texture. The sauce will become thicker as it chills. Refrigerate until needed.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 57.99
Calories From Fat (65%) - 37.74

Total Fat - 4.51g
Saturated Fat - 0.63g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 2.5mg
Potassium - 69.11mg
Total Carbohydrates - 3.94g
Fiber - 1.17g
Sugar - 0.4g
Protein - 1.77g

Comments:

This sauce has a lot of flavor but also adds a nice creamy mouthfeel. If you don’t like lemon and garlic this is not the sauce for you since both flavors are very prominent in this sauce. It works beautifully with the okara sliders but would also be a great salad dressing.

To accompany the okara sliders I also made myself a simple salad of romaine, fresh pineapple, cucumbers fresh strawberries and sliced almonds. Since the fruit in the salad was very juicy I opted not to use any salad dressing.

Around 4pm the predicted storm rolled through and was extremely weird. It isn’t often that you have lighting and thunder during a heavy snow fall. We got 11 inches of snow in less than 6 hours. At one point I could barely see across the street it was that heavy. Since it was a heavy wet snow 250,000 in DC lost power as did 100,000 in Baltimore and the surrounding counties. Thankfully we weren’t one of those power outages.

For dinner I made a salad that contained: romaine, cucumber, tomatoes, salsa and nut cheese. Now we are out of nut cheese, so it is time to make more. Knowing this I had macadamia nuts soaking before I went to bed last night. When I don’t do these things right away I forget.

No surprise Dan’s Dessert last night was strawberry banana soft serve. You would think he wouldn’t want that after spending thirty minutes last night shoveling once he got home. However he loves his dessert and was even hinting around for it within 30 minutes of coming inside. I am always surprised by how much he loves the stuff.

Happy Thoughts:

• Dan made it home safely in the crazy weather. I wasn’t thrilled that he left work at 7pm in our horrible weather but it was great that he made it home without incident.

• We weren’t part of the 350,000 people who lost power last night. That was a great thing and something I was very thankful for.

• It was also wonderful to have things mostly back to normal yesterday. Having my routine altered caused to appreciate the relative tranquility of my daily life.

• I have been enjoying playing around with making my own tea blends. It was great to receive the book from “the kids” that started me down that road. I am looking forward to coming up with more of my own blends.

• I found a nice cast iron tea pot warmer at Teavana that I ordered for Dan to use at his office. He has wanted something like this since I found the cast iron tea pot so I was happy to find it for him. I will let you know how well it functions once it arrives.

• The snow covered landscape is gorgeous this morning. I love to look at the snow from the comfort of my nice warm home. ;-) It reminds me a winter fairy tale outside.

Signing Out:

I have a few things to cross off my to-do list today. I need to make more soymilk, okara sliders, nut cheese, something for dinner and some house cleaning. It never ceases to amaze me that there are always things to do around the house. I am also starting to think about the garden and what I am going to plant this year. It will be nice to get back into the dirt.

I hope you have a great Thursday. It is almost time for another weekend. Woo hoo! Let’s hope this one is a more relaxing at our place. Talk to you again tomorrow.