What Do You Love, What Gets You Excited?

For many years I went through the motions of life. I had gone to college and had undergrad and grad degrees in finance and naturally that is what I did for a living. They paid me well and even though I didn’t get up looking forward to work I kept doing it. We all have to work right? After 9/11 I did some serious soul searching and decided that life was too short to spend so much time doing something that I not only didn’t love but that I didn’t even like. Accounting and finance just didn’t match who I was inside; they did not match who I was. For years people who met me outside of work didn’t believe me when they asked what I did and I said I was an accountant. Invariability they would say things like “really you are an accountant, but you have so much personality?” Seriously how many times did I have to get hit over the head before I woke up? At least I figured it out before I officially reached 20 decades doing it for a living.

While I knew that I wasn’t jazzed about accounting or finance I also had no idea what I wanted to do. I have always liked cooking and I think I have been pretty good at it for a long time. Molecular gastronomy has kept me fascinated since I first learned what it was, hence the fascination with Jose Andres and Ferran Adria. However I also knew that I really didn’t want to work in a restaurant. During graduate school I was a server which meant I knew what life in a professional kitchen was like. No thanks, kitchen life on the professional level was not for me. So once I again I knew what I didn’t want but not what I did want. *sigh*

Thankfully my husband and I had saved well so there was no rush for me to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up. Good thing because it took me almost a decade to start to hone in on what I truly love. On the less than happy side it took cancer for me to actually “get it”. It is weird where inspiration comes from and for me it was cancer. *shakes head* Honestly I feel very odd saying this but cancer has brought a lot of positive things into my life. Who would have ever believed that cancer could be at all positive? Not me that was sure, but now I realize that if cancer can be positive certainly so can everything else in life. Right? If it weren’t for cancer I would not have realized how much I love nutrition and its impact on health.

I was watching the third episode of Oprah’s Life Class last night and when she started talking about no one can tell you what your life’s purpose my ears went up. Undoubtedly this is because I have been trying to figure out what I should be when I grow up for most of my life. The part of the show that got to me was only a couple of sentences long. At one point she said (and I am paraphrasing) "look at what you are doing now and that will tell you about your life’s purpose". When I heard that the light bulb went off. What do I do for nothing because I love it? My thought was if any of us love something enough that we would do it without getting paid then what better clue could we get as to what we should do when we grow up?

For me there are a number of things that I love which are possible ideas for a new career. I love food, photography, writing, animals and of course I love health and nutrition. However what I really get jazzed about is nutrition and more specifically how nutrition can be used to regain health. For some time now I have been considering making a career of health/nutrition but wasn’t certain exactly that that was going to look like. Now I am committed to jumping into this with both feet. I will be brainstorming over the coming weeks and may be looking for input. If we chat outside the blog don’t be surprised if you hear from me looking for your opinion. However if you have any ideas that you would like to share here please feel free. I would love to hear any and all suggestions.

Now I am wondering about you. Do you love what you do for a living or is it something that you do to get paid which is how I would describe my prior career? If you don’t love what you do are you actively trying to change it? Do you have things that you love to do which you would look forward to getting up every day to do? If you don’t currently do this for a living why not? Could you maybe start doing it on a part-time basis after hours to see how it works for you?

Thursday:

Our morning started in an unusual way. Those of you who follow me on Facebook heard part of this already but here is the entire story. Since neither Dan nor I are morning people we had snoozed the alarm this morning and not too long after that I heard glass breaking. Not surprisingly Dan didn’t hear a thing. *shakes head* In the middle of the kitchen floor was Mr. Binky licking nutrition yeast out of a jar that he had pushed off the counter and had landed on the floor in pieces. OMG he was licking broken glass! Needless to say his siblings (Masi and Luca) were also in the kitchen to see what the commotion was about. We grabbed the felines and locked them a room while we cleaned up the mess. As you can see mornings are serene and delightful at our house. LOL

Once the nutritional yeast debacle was cleaned up I started some oatmeal for Dan’s breakfast. Who jumped up on the counter to “supervise” the cooking of the oatmeal? Of course it was Binky isn’t he always the trouble maker? I keep telling him that cat fuzz and flames don’t mix and he doesn’t listen to me. I had to place Mr. Binky on the floor no fewer than 4 times before I sent him to play with his father. Doesn’t much sound like he is 10 years old does he? My fur children still think they are kittens.

My back was still bothering me a little this morning but it is a lot better than yesterday. Today the ibuprofen was actually knocking out the pain completely until the four hours were up and it was time for another dose. Nice! :-)

Given the improvement in my back I knew I was going to the boat this afternoon. It was raining hard earlier today but once the rain let up this afternoon I headed to the marina. I find being on the boat incredibly relaxing so I try to be there whenever I can. The picture above was taken standing on the door way to the cabin.

Since I have good wifi speed at the marina now I was able to do some computer work on the boat which was nice. I got most of my post written sitting in the cabin sipping green tea. It was a very nice relaxing afternoon. Here is what the marina looks like from our boat at dusk.

This shot is looking north just after the sun went down. Sorry for the picture quality I was using my cell phone rather than my real camera which I left at home so I didn’t have to carry it. My thought was the less stuff I had to tote (because of my back) the better.

Dan walked to the boat after work and we had a leisurely dinner on board. As you can tell the boat has become like our “vacation home”.  :-)  The odd thing is that as often as we are here there are boaters on our pier who we have never seen. Mostly they are power boaters but there is one sailboat that hasn’t moved in a month. It boggles my mind that anyone would spend money on a boat and not use it. Both Dan and I decided that we weren’t going to get another boat until we were both sure that we would use it regularly. So far we seem to be doing just that as you probably noticed. LOL

For dinner we had a simple meal that started with salad. This one contained thinly sliced raw onion, tomatoes, green beans, radishes, cilantro and lettuce. I finished the salad with balsamic vinegar and pine nuts.

The main course was baked sweet potato, tatsoi (an Asian green), cashew queso, and salsa. I cooked the cashew queso at home and had it stored in the refrigerator.

Happy Thoughts:


• My back is so much better today than it was yesterday. I am still popping the Ibuprofen but now when I do the pain is only 10% what it was yesterday. Hopefully tomorrow there won’t be any need for pain relievers. *woo hoo*

• Tomorrow we are going to listen to David Sanborn. I am so excited about this. I have loved his music if decades, literally. When I saw that he was going to be on town I logged in the moment the tickets went on sale and got front row seats. I will tell you all about it over the weekend.

• If the weather forecast is right the is weekend is supposed to be sunny. Better yet Saturday is supposed to be windy. Nice!

• I am thankful that the “tornado watch” that we had tonight didn’t turn into any inclement weather. Rain was much better than high wind.

• Our nutritional yeast problem could have turned out very badly and I am thankful that it didn’t. It was my fault for not putting the nutritional yeast jar back in the pantry since I know Binky loves the stuff.

Signing Out:

We just got home from the boat and it is much later than I want it to be. I have things that I need to get finished before I head to bed. Talk with you again tomorrow. I hope the remainder of your evening is good.

The Benefits of Fiber

Today has been an extremely unproductive day for me. I pulled a muscle in my back yesterday and consequently wasn’t able to get anything done at home or go to the boat today. To say that I am a bad sick person doesn’t even begin to explain how cranky I get when I don’t feel well. When I get a cold or pull a muscle my attitude immediately shifts to be annoyed with my body for letting me down. Is this logical or rational behavior? Well of course it isn’t and you would think I would know better since I will be 50 my next birthday. *shakes head*

Initially I wasn’t going to mention this because it isn’t positive and I don’t like to dwell on the negative things in life. However I have been feeling rather annoyed with myself today and wanted you to know that I also have days where things don’t go right and sometimes I let those things color my mood. I am sure I will be much better by tomorrow. However today I am annoyed that I have been popping Ibuprofen every 4 hours to keep the pain to a dull roar. Since most of you know how much I dislike pills the Ibuprofen should say a lot. Without the OTC NSAIDs I have difficult standing up to get out of chair this morning.

Okay enough whining about my pulled muscle, which is clearly only a temporary problem. Since I had more time that usual with my tush parked in a chair I decided to write about one of my favorite subjects today to cheer myself up. Fiber! What how can fiber be anyone’s favorite subject? Come on I know you were thinking that. ;-) Well I hope after you read my thoughts on fiber it will become one of your favorite subjects too.

The Benefits of Fiber!

As you are very aware we eat a whole food plant-based diet free of animal products. I like to describe our diet this way because a vegan diet can be healthy or it can be very heavy in processed food that it is no better than the standard American diet. There is a huge difference between a healthy and an unhealthy vegan diet and I don’t want there to be any ambiguity regarding what I consider healthy for those who found this post by accident.

In my opinion one of the big benefits of a whole food plant-based diet is the amount of fiber that it contains. Fiber may not be very glamorous but it is critical for maintaining health. Since I think fiber is misunderstood I wanted to explain what it is and why it is so important for our health.

Fiber Defined:

Fiber is generally defined as plant polysaccharides (a complex carbohydrate consisting of 10 or more monosaccharides bonded together by glycosidic bonds) that are not digested in the human small intestine meaning that they arrive in the colon intact. Some of these glycosidic (covalent) bonds (typically insoluble fibers) are resistant to digestive enzymes. When soluble fiber reaches the large intestine intestinal bacteria begin to break down the fiber and this produces gas as well as helping beneficial bacteria flourish.

Only plant based foods contain fiber. There is no fiber in animal products which is why they are very binding (constipating). Fiber can be either soluble or insoluble in water. Soluble fiber tends to swell in water and insoluble remains relatively unchanged. Soluble fiber is what gets broken down in the colon by bacteria which causes gas.

Soluble Fiber:

Foods that contain mostly soluble fiber include: oats, barley, legumes, rice, bran, psyllium, soy and some fruit. The ability of these fiber filled foods to absorb water means that they tend to soften fecal matter which reduces constipation, colon polyps, hemorrhoids and diverticulitis. A diet high in soluble fiber also helps to reduce cholesterol, blood glucose and estrogen levels.

Insoluble Fiber:

The most common form of insoluble fiber is cellulose. Foods which are high in cellulose include: whole-grains, wheat bran, seeds, carrots, broccoli, celery, peppers, cabbage and other green leafy vegetables. Since insoluble fiber does not readily dissolve in water it is not gel forming like soluble fiber. Additionally bacteria do not break them down. Insoluble fiber passes through the gastrointestinal system intact but by doing so it helps the fecal matter pass through your system more quickly which reduces the time toxins are exposed to your colon. This increase in transit time is very positive. If you ever want to know what your transit time is eat something that will be easy to see coming out of you like beets.

How Fiber Reduces Cholesterol, Blood Glucose, Estrogen and Toxins:

Each day we are exposed to unhealthy items that you body needs to filter out. For example let’s say you eat conventional meat, dairy or produce which contains pesticides. Those toxins will ultimately make their way to your intestines after being filtered through your liver and mixing with bile that was stored in your gallbladder. These toxins are now in your intestines (along with excess cholesterol, blood sugar, estrogen, etc.). Unless these bind with soluble fiber which will usher them out of your system they are likely to be reabsorbed through your intestinal walls and make their way back through the GI process again. This is the reason that you now see the health claim on oats that they lower cholesterol. It isn’t anything special about the oats it is the soluble fiber they contain that binds to the cholesterol so it can be flushed down the toilet. The same thing happens to glucose and estrogen. Consuming a high diet in soluble fiber results in lower serum lipids and reduces the postprandial (after the meal) rise in both glucose and insulin.

Many cancers are estrogen sensitive (breast, prostate, cervical, endometrial, and ovarian). Americans tend to carry more weight than is healthy and this excess weight produces additional estrogen. If you eat a diet high in fiber it will also bind to estrogen in the stool before it can be reabsorbed into the body. A prospective cohort study in Sweden found that women with the highest intake of fiber (averaging 26 grams) had a 40% lower risk of breast cancer than the women who consumed the least fiber (they averaged 13 g like Americans). This reduce in breast cancer appears to be due to the reduction of circulating estrogen in these women. Scientists are split on the impact of fiber on breast cancer but since fiber can’t hurt you I say the more fiber the better.

Colon Cancer and Fiber:

Diet is strongly correlated to colon cancer risk. A diet high in dietary fat is thought to influence colon cancer development through its effect on bile acid production. Conversely a diet high in fiber has been shown to reduce colon cancer risk. Scientists believe this is due to: dilution of mutagens (a substance that changes genetic material), reduction of transit time and an alteration of PH (acid/alkaline balance). Since all cancers have a long latency period (meaning they take a long time to develop) it is important to consume a high fiber diet beginning at a young age to reduce your risk of a colon cancer diagnosis later in life.

Diabetes and Fiber:

According the Dr. David Katz “a daily intake of approximately 30 g of dietary fiber from a variety of foods sources is recommended to the general public for health promotion and in the management of diabetes.” Dr. Katz goes on to say that there is evidence that soluble fiber may help in controlling both glucose and lipids in diabetics. While some people feel that significant improvement in glucose and lipids isn’t practical due to the amount of fiber that is required. Dr. Katz points out that our Paleolithic ancestors are thought to have consumed 100 g of fiber per day. When you compare that to the US average intake of 12 g per day it is easy to see how we got into trouble.

Personally if I had diabetes I would not stop at 30 g of fiber. We eat 60+ g of fiber per day and haven’t seen any negative health effect though Dan has commented in the past on how much chewing we need to do eating this way. Not to mention that when you get your fiber from whole plant-based foods you are also consuming many vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients that have wonderful benefits for your health.

Hypertension and Fiber:

A diet high in fiber is also associated with modest hypotensive (low blood pressure) effect. This has been seen in both adults and children. In other words if your blood pressure is a little higher than you would like increase your consumption of both soluble and insoluble fiber. They both offer an array of health benefits and the average US intake is well below recommended levels. However a healthy diet is naturally high in fiber so if you eat like we do you probably get all the fiber you need.

I can’t say why my blood pressure dropped so much in the last 10 years. But I can tell you that I went from the standard American diet (probably consisting of approximately 12 g of fiber like the average American) to my current fiber intake which is 60+ g per day. Is that the reason my blood pressure dropped like a rock? I would only be guessing if I said yes, but I am positive that the additional fiber didn’t hurt me.

Adverse Reactions:

People who increase their fiber intake abruptly often experience abdominal cramping, bloating and/or gas. These problems can be minimized or avoided by slowing increasing your fiber intake and by adding more fluids to your diet at the same time. Even though we eat at least two pounds of dried beans each week neither Dan nor I have any gastrointestinal distress. I am convinced that eating a lot of fiber is a bit like weight lifting for the GI system. The more fiber your system processes each day the better it gets and doing it.

Drug Interactions:

While whole plant-based food is not a concern here (other than grapefruit which we have all heard about). However fiber supplements can reduce or slow the absorption of some medications. If you are considering taking psyllium, guar gum or pectin supplements talk to your pharmacist about the timing of your medications and the supplements. Most articles I have read suggest that medications should be taken at least an hour or two before fiber supplements. Alternately you can focus on whole food instead and avoid the risk.

Bottom line:

I truly believe that eating a whole food plant-based diet which focuses on produce first and reduces the consumption of fat and refined foods is the healthiest way to eat. When you eat this type of diet your are getting vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients and fiber is what can best be described as therapeutic doses. Since very few of us (myself included) were raised on a whole food diet we have to all suffered some ills from our prior dietary choices whether those have been identified yet or not.

For most of my life I ate foods that were in the realm of the standard American diet. Since both my husband and I loved good food our diet may have even been a little worse than some American’s and it really kills me to say that. At that time I thought I was happy and healthy. I wasn’t on any prescription medications. Dan’s blood pressure was a little elevated but he was taking pills to “control it”. I look back and that now and just shake my head. How could I let myself believe that it was okay to medicate a problem and call it solved? *sigh* Needless to say I would describe myself as very nutritionally naïve back then.

However now that we have changed our diet the difference in how we both feel then to now is like night and day. It wasn’t until we felt so much better that either of us realized how bad we used to feel. I believe that fiber has played a huge role how I feel. My skin is more clear, I feel light even right after I eat, and constipation is not even an option now. ;-)

For those of you who don’t eat a whole food plant-based diet I would recommend that you just try it out. Give it 3 weeks or a month and really commit to it. You don’t need to give up the foods you love for the rest of your life. However if you are anything like us at the end of that month you will feel so good that you might not want to go back to eating the way that you used to. What do you have to lose?

Sources:

Fuhrman, Joel. Eat to Live. Revised Edition. New York: Little, Brown and Company.; 2011

Higdon, Jane. An Evidence-Based Approach to Dietary Phytochemicals. New York: Theime Medical Publishers, Inc.; 2007

Katz, David L. Nutrition in Clinical Practice. 2nd Ed. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins; 2008

McQuire, Michelle and Beerman, Kathy A. Nutritional Sciences From Fundamentals to Food. 2nd Ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning; 2011

Happy Thoughts:

• Today with the pain in my back it was tough to get started on my happy thoughts. However I have to admit that my husband is a prince. He helped me get into the bathtub this morning so that I could soak in a hot bath and make my back feel better. He also helped me make green smoothies this morning and you all know he spends very little time in the kitchen so this was big for him.

• I am also grateful for my pharmacist buddy Louis who was there to give me advice on the best OTC NSAID to take for my back pain. Thanks Louis! You are a wonderful friend.

• Even though I wasn’t in too physical form today (due to my back) I was able to take some time to think about life and what I should be doing with mine. At the end of this time I came away with some ideas that I am pretty excited about. 

• My precious little fur children stayed very close to their mommy today. I may be deluding myself but I think they could tell that I didn’t feel well and consequently they were trying to comfort me.

• The weather this weekend is predicted to be sunny. After all our rainy weekends I am looking forward to another weekend with sun and hopefully wind.

• I am also thankful that my back is feeling much better this evening than it did last night and this morning. As you have probably guessed I am looking forward to being about to get back to regular routine as soon as possible.

Signing out:

It is time for me to log out and spend a little time with my hubby. He had another late night at work after going in a little late this morning to take care of me. Talk with you again soon.

Marina Time & Being a Good Boat Guest

I have mentioned a few times that we are spending all of our free time at the marina and wanted to share more specifics about that actually means since I am sure everyone has different ideas of what I am talking about.

Dan goes to work in the morning like always and I get right down to the business of “life administration”. For those of you unfamiliar with what I mean by life administration that means anything I have to do for our lives, things like laundry, grocery shopping, doctor appointments, checking on my parents, exercising, and planning and cooking dinner. I think you get the idea of what I mean now. I also include in life administration nutrition reading, studying, and catching up with friends.

Once I get the life administration under control and have things packed up to the go the boat I head to the marina. I try to take food with me every day that is easy to make on board. The galley (kitchen) on the boat is actually pretty nice (as boat kitchens go) but I would rather relax on the boat so reheating or using the Crockpot works well for me.

I typically get the marina between 3 and 4 in the afternoon and that is when the relaxing begins. As soon as I get things put away (because I take a lot of stuff to the boat every time I go which means I often look like a bag lady) I turn on the electric kettle and get some green tea brewing. Then I set the timer for 10 minutes (to maximize the amount of EGCG that gets into the hot water) and kick back and put my feet up. I spend the next few hours reading (which you know I love) and chatting with other boaters until it is time for Dan to head to the boat. Now that we have a wifi booster I can also use this time to update my blogs and Facebook accounts as well as socializing.  :-)

Fortunately Dan’s office is walking distance to the marina and I sometimes walk toward to his office while he heads to the boat and we meet in the middle and walk back together. The view from the promenade walking between the marina and the Inner Harbor is just beautiful at night. I need to take some pictures so that I can share the view with you. It takes my breath away every time I see it.

Once we get back to the boat we have dinner, relax with some tea in the cockpit and talk until it is time to head for home. This has become our usual evening and we both enjoy it quite a lot. There is something incredibility relaxing about being on the boat. I love the sound of the water lapping on the hull. Our marina is surprisingly peaceful during the week and I couldn’t ask for anything better.

We take the boat out on the weekends but during the week we just stick around the marina. The boat has everything we need to be comfortable, a kitchen, bathroom, dining area, stereo and TV (with cable). But the best part of being on the boat is the view. I love watching the sun set over the water. There are few things in life that I enjoy more. Any time I can spend on the water I am there.

We always head home to sleep because the fur babies haven’t been to the boat yet. Since everyone knows how spoiled they are I am sure you understand why we go home. Our cats always sleep in the bed with us so we need to be home at night. We both keep saying that we need to get a litter box for the boat and take them with us but we haven’t done it yet. If Binky decides to spit up hair balls on the bed in the boat cleaning up won’t be quite as easy as it is at home. *shakes head* Those of you who follow me on Facebook understand why I brought that up. LOL

I grew up on the water (Lake Michigan) and vacationed on the water every summer as a child (Garden City, SC which is near Myrtle Beach but was less commercial back then don’t know what it is like now). I think this is why I love the water so much. We have other friends that grew up near water and they still love it. I think there is some validity to the notion that you get salt water in your veins, which a saying I have heard many times before.

There are quite a few people who live aboard their boats at our marine which is very nice. It means that there are always people at the marina during the week. So if you are someone chatty like me you always have people to socialize with. Additionally having live aboards at the marina means that there are people there all the time and that reduces the likelihood of theft which is also great. It is very nice to have neighbors to look out for you. When I was in graduate school I lived on my power boat to save money. If you can manage to part with most of your stuff (the kitchen gadgets would be the most difficult for me to give up) living on a boat saves money, and means you are reducing your carbon footprint which is a win-win for everyone.

A few of the people at our marina already know that we are vegan and they took it better than a lot of our old friends. I had one woman tell me that after knowing me she could see herself giving up meat. *woo hoo* I think that because I am a laid back vegan makes the lifestyle less threatening to omnivores. Of course it also helps that I am always willing to share food with people and good food it good food be it vegan or omnivore. As my grandmother always said you get more flies with honey than you do with vinegar. I guess I need to change that to brown rice syrup from honey now. ;-)

Speaking of boat friends here is my best dog buddy at the marina. This is Peyton who is the most precious dog I have ever met. His human parents (Chris and Tim) told me that he is a Woodle and is hypoallergenic. You all know that I am a cat person but Peyton could make a dog lover out of me. He is so precious and always greets me with a rapidly wagging tail when I am coming down the dock.

Patoot (duck in Arabic) and I have also bonded. I was talking to Louis on the phone today when my little duck came to see me and when I started to talk her as though she was a toddler Louis immediately inquired when I was bringing her home. Apparently all my friends realize that I have bit of Doctor Doolittle in me. Am I that transparent? LOL

Being a Good Boat Guest:

I thought I should write this because our friends are always asking us what should I bring, do, etcetera when coming to the boat. This is what I think makes a great “boat guest”:

• The first thing that comes to mind is to wear non-marking soled shoes. Those of you who own boats get this immediately but landlubbers don’t so I will explain. When you wear shoes that leave marks this means a lot of work for your boating friends. Black marks frequently need to be removed with polishing compound and that means a lot of rubbing for your friends. Since most of you don’t have boat shoes wear white soled sneakers those work great. :-)

• Show up when your friends ask you to arrive at the marina. Our last boat had a deep draft keel and because of where she was docked we had to leave and return at high tide. When people were late we ran the risk of hitting the bottom and causing a lot of damage to our boat. Please be timely when boating with friends so everything starts off well right away.

• You need to realize that sailing is pretty much an all day affair. Sailboats go really slow so there is no way you will be back to the marina in two hours. If you are an impatient person and your friends invite you to go sailing be prepared to sit back and relax if you accept their invitation. Sailing definitely required patience and time. When Dan and I go out a short trip is 5 hours and normally they are more like 10 hours if there is good wind.

• Don’t forget to bring sunscreen as well as a cover up in case it gets cold. You will be out in the sun a long time and people tend to burn. Additionally the wind on the water makes it cooler than being on land so you need to be prepared to add layers just in case.

• If you have children and your boating friends do not make certain that your kids come with properly fitted life jackets. Most boaters have plenty of adult sized life vests but children come in various sizes so it is always better to bring your own life jackets to be safe.

• Boating and intoxication don’t mix. I am not saying that you can’t enjoy an adult beverage of two while on board but getting drunk on a boat is dangerous since you could go overboard. Also drunks on the water tend to get nauseas and if you do that on your friend’s boat you will probably not be invited back for obvious reasons.

• If you bring food on the boat come with your own cooler and ice. Cold storage is at a premium on a boat so your host will really appreciate your thoughtfulness. Additionally if you bring a dish that you know that your host likes you will get lots of points. At least you would from me but then again everyone knows how I am about food. ;-)  LOL

• What should you do if your friend asks if you want to steer? Go for it! They probably want to share something with you that they love and you don’t have to take the wheel for long. Also maybe they just need a break for a little while so they can relax. Standing at the helm, scanning the water for debris and other boats can be exhausting. Give your friends a little break and chip in. Don’t worry about hitting anything they will be watching to make sure that you are safe.

• Last but certainly not least don’t clog the toilet on the boat. Ask your friends what you need to know so that this doesn’t happen on their boat. Clogging the boat toilet means your friends have a nasty job on their hands. This would be another way to get yourself officially removed from the guest list. Boat toilets are relatively easy to clog so be sure to ask your friends what to avoid doing so this doesn’t happen to you.

I hope that gives you some ideas of boating guest protocols 101. Since I didn’t know these things before we got our first boat I wanted to share them with you so you can avoid any potential unpleasantness.

You Are Here:

If you are a fan of Eckhart Tolle’s “The Power of Now” or if you just want to learn to be a calmer person I highly recommend this book "You Are Here". I picked it up from the library a week ago and I can’t put it down. I am on my second reading of the book and will probably buy it to add to my lending library. This book was written by a Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk and was my introduction to Buddhism. However if Buddhism is always like this where do I sign up?

Signing out:

It is very exciting to have high speed internet access at the boat now. I can’t tell you how nice it is to be connected again.

How is Life?

What a crazy busy life I have had recently. I am not complaining mind you because most of it has been fantastic but it has also kept me away from home and off the computer. I did take many pictures so I can fill you in on our adventures.

Almost every day we spend some time at the boat. I love sitting in the cockpit and watching the sunset while digesting dinner. The best decision we have made in a very long time is keeping the boat at the Inner Harbor 15 minutes from home.

Speaking of the marina my little duck friend took food right out of Jackie’s hand on Sunday. It wasn’t a fluke because she did it twice. Jackie (Walid’s wife) and I have given her a name “Patoot” which is Arabic for duck. Patoot now comes when I make that kissy sounds that people make to call cats (though they rarely come when called)….talk about adorable! She is really a precious little duck.

Okay so enough duck gushing here is some of the other stuff I have been up to lately.

Ferran and Jose:

The end of September Dan, Will and I spend the day together. We started with Vietnamese (at Me Kong Delta Cafe) for lunch which Dan and I love and Will agreed. In fact he said the Pho was the best he ever had. Will used to work for Ian and used to create many of the dishes you saw on my blog before May 2011 when he went to work at Woodberry.  As you see above we ordered a veggie stir fry.

After our Vietnamese lunch Will and I hung out at the boat until we picked up Dan to head to DC. Ferran Adrian and Jose Andres were having a talk at George Washington’s Lisner Auditorium and we got tickets to the sold out event. Will borrowed by copied of El Bulli 2003, 2004 and interviewed Jose for his thesis so he was looking forward to the event as much as we were. It was fascinating to hear Ferran talk about his thoughts on food, recipes and philosophy. My favorite part was watching Jose as Ferran spoke. The admiration Jose has for Ferran was absolutely touching.   I love stuff like that.

We all came home with signed copies of Ferran’s new book “The Family Meal” which isn’t vegan but the ideas I will get from this book will be invaluable. Dan’s copy will be going to my best friend Louis who loves cooking as much as I do and will go into his signed cookbook collection.  Love you Louis!  :-)

After the table we went to Jose's restaurant Jaleo for dinner because Will hadn’t been yet. We were there during the tomato festival so we had to get the watermelon and tomato caviar skewers which were delicious.

Will ordered the dessert which was a tomato and strawberry sorbet (which didn’t seem to have any added sweetener) over olive oil cake with yogurt foam and macerated strawberries. I just love how Jose’s mind works.  I always get ideas eating at Jaleo.

The Boat:

As you know I absolutely adore my husband. He asks so little of me that when he does I do my best to comply. Recently we have been spending every spare moment on the boat. Like I said Dan asks so little from me I really couldn’t say no, nor did I want to. Spending time at the boat has meant working on, shopping for, sailing as well as relaxing at the marina. We have made huge progress on the boat so far and have really been enjoying relaxing in the cockpit (the back) watching the sunset while sipping mugs of green tea. The back of the boat has become our floating deck and we both just love it. Docking the boat 15 minutes from home has been fantastic in case you missed my earlier comment. ;-)

The only problem with spending so much time on the boat has been the wifi speed which was painfully slow. Seriously slow doesn’t accurately convey the problem. It was so bad I gave up taking my laptop to the boat. This was both good and bad. The good part was that I was able to relax and/or be productive on the boat depending on my mood. The down side was that I got so far behind on the blog that I had difficulty pushing myself to get back into the habit. However we now have a wifi booster on board and that should make it easier to keep up the blogs. *fingers crossed*  Today went well so let's hope that continues.

Aimee and Michael ("the kids") were the first visitors to the boat which was very fitting I thought. We took the boat out for a quick trip to the Inner Harbor at sunset and Aimee enjoyed it which was a miracle since she isn’t a huge fan of water other than pools.

Here are a few photos of what the boat interior looks like at the moment. We still have more work to do but we are making a lot of progress I think.

Food on the Boat:

We have been eating dinner on the boat most evenings and I am still getting my sea legs in the galley (kitchen). However I am starting to come up with some shortcuts that would work at home or on a boat and here they are:

• Premade spice mixes has been a life saver. I have come up with three mixes so far (Mexican, Southern Italian and Indian) and those have been key to make quick dinners on board.

• Keeping dried mushrooms on board has also been very useful. Not only do they take up little space but they add a lot of flavor to a variety of dishes. I soak them in hot water in a sealed container for 30 minutes before I start cooking and they are ready to go.  The dish above was a whole wheat noodle soup with dried mushrooms.

• I took an electric hot water kettle to the boat and that has also been very helpful. It boils water faster than using the propane stove which is great for making tea or preheating water for making risotto or pasta on the stove.   This pasta dish was topped with red sauce, fresh greends Tatsoi I think, and nutritional yeast.  Fast and delicious, does it get any better than that?

• We bought a pressure cooker for the boat and that also is great. It means that meals cook quickly and with much less propane. Additionally it means I can keep dried beans on board and those take up less space than canned beans which is also fantastic since you know how many beans we eat. ;-)

• Peanut butter sandwiches on whole wheat toast with either apple slices or bananas have also played a big role in food on board. They make a quick nutritious breakfast that is easy to keep on board.

• I have been keeping whole wheat pasta, soba noodles, and risotto on board as well. These are take up little room and I can cook a partial package and have just enough for the two of us with no leftovers to store. Additionally when you combine the dried mushrooms with the risotto you can whip up something when guests stop by which isn’t your typical boat fare.

• We have been eating a lot of hummus with crudités. This really is the ultimate boat food. Collard wraps with pecan nut meat are also great to have in the refrigerator. Raw meals come together quickly on board if you do the prep work at home.

• Additionally I have also been making a lot of raw cashew and veggie based sauces to keep on the boat. One was cilantro, lime, garlic and curry and that turned out very well. Another one was tomato, balsamic and garlic which I really loved. There is also a roasted red pepper, sherry vinegar and smoked paprika sauce. These are great for dipping veggies into, or for topping sandwiches. This was a veggie burger topped with a tomato, raw cashew, balsamic and garlic spread and veggies.

• Roasted portabella mushrooms have been very popular with us lately. These can be cooked at home or on the boat. I have come up with a few different marinades for the mushrooms to add flavor. One is balsamic and Dijon and we like this one a lot. Another is balsamic and Worcestershire (vegan of course) and that one is more “meaty”. These roasted mushrooms are good hot or cold and work well on toasted bread, topped with one of the sauces above and some arugula. They are also good sliced and slipped into a rolled collard leaf. This time I used the roasted veggies but sliced them and added Swiss chard, kale, onions, garlic, crushed red peppers and served it over quinoa.

• For snacks I am keeping the following on board: roasted seaweed, dried fruit, trial mix and nuts (both flavored and plain). These are all very handy to munch while sailing. When I also have peanut butter on board I have been stuffing dates with it and that makes a nice snack.

I hope this gives you some ideas for quick and nutritious food. Trust me if I can do this quickly in a little galley on a boat you can definitely do it at home.

Dr. Greger:

I mentioned that Dr. Greger was looking for volunteers to help with his site Nutritionfacts.org and since I love his work I felt compelled to lend a hand. Dan thought I was biting off more than I could chew but it was such a good cause how I not help? I have been enjoying my interaction with Dr. Greger. He is as nice or possibly nicer than I expected him to be. If any of you have a little free time to help out please do. It is a great cause and you might just learn something in the process….volunteering is definitely a win-win in my book.

Here are a few shots I took for an upcoming Dr. Greger video. These will be posted on his site (nutritionfacts.org) on December 2 if you want to check them out. I will put a link up to the video when it is posted.

Phil was in Town:

Last week our buddy Phil was in town from Springfield, Missouri. It is always wonderful to see Phil. I picked him up at the airport, we stopped at the marina so he could see the boat and then we went to dinner at the usual place. I know I have said this before but it is a shame we live so far from Phil. However I suppose because of that we appreciate the time we spend with him more.

Dan and I ordered our favorite appetizer the antipasti platter which they make vegan for us.

Ian has also added a daily vegetarian special. The night we were there it was a whole wheat pasta dish with olives, tomatoes and feta. We had them substitute mushrooms for the feta and it was perfect.

Phil got the garden Caesar salad and the chicken and olives. I just love that we have a neighborhood restaurant where we can get vegan food and our omni friends can order something with meat.

What if Life isn’t Perfect?:

I am constantly surprised by the number of people who seem to believe that my life is without problems because nothing could actually be further from the truth. The only difference in my life is that I refuse to dwell on the negative, but trust me there is plenty of it there. I think that when you dwell on what is wrong you give it more power over you. Instead of focusing on cancer, my aging parents, my ever growing to-do list and complete lack of free time I choose to put my attention on what is good in my life. This positive focus doesn’t make my problems go away but it does help me to forget about them. There are times I go weeks and don’t think about cancer and that is a great thing. Stress isn’t good for anyone’s health and the more you can reduce it the better off you will be.

No I haven’t always been like this in fact for most of my life I was the opposite. I would obsess about what was wrong and this just seemed to made things worse. It finally occurred to me one day that my own behavior was causing me more harm than the things which I was upset about. It took me months to train myself not to focus on what was wrong. Believe me if I can do it I know you can.

I try to write my blog as I live my life. Since I don’t dwell on my problems in real life I do the same thing on blog. Now I am curious have any of you tried not to focus on the positive rather than the negative in your life? How did it work for you? Do you feel more at peace with life when you don’t give the negative aspects more focus than is necessary? What do you use to keep life in perspective? When I have difficulty letting go of what is wrong I find that quietly meditating works wonders to clear my mind. Sometimes all I need to do is concentrate on my breath and that is enough to quiet my mind. I am very curious to hear what techniques you use to bring more peace into your life.

Happy Thoughts:

Wow, life has been very good lately I am not sure where to start, but here goes:

• Spending evenings on the boat means that my husband is taking time to relax each day and this is huge. Dan works entirely too hard and too much so any time he relaxes I am thrilled. Deciding to keep the boat at the inner harbor was one of the best decisions we made.

• We have been doing a lot of work on the boat and it is really starting to show. She is definitely starting to come together and is feeling like “our” boat.

• I have made some friends at the marina and I love that. One of the ladies I met has been very curious about our food and said recently that she can see herself giving up meat since meeting me. *woo hoo* You have no idea how happy this made me. I get so excited when I hear things like this.  

• I love that I have a duck friend at the marina that follows me to the boat when I arrive. She did this on Monday and I thought it was the cutest thing ever!

• Hearing Ferran Adria speak was a once in a lifetime treat that I will never forget. How often do any of us get to listen to the father of molecular gastronomy talk about his philosophy about food? I am such a foodie geek. LOL

• We are becoming friendly with the captain (Robert the retired MD) who brought our boat up from Grenada. He is a wealth of information and a very kind and generous man. Sometimes you just never know where you will meet people with whom you will click.

• The weather this past weekend and today was in the mid 80’s. We had fantastic weather for sailing over the weekend and we used that to spend time with Walid and Jackie.

• I took some pizza almonds that I made to Pam (our CSA farmer) this past Sunday and she really enjoyed them. These has been so popular with everyone that I might investigate what is involved in selling them. Clearly I would need to have a commercial kitchen make and package them and I am not positive I have enough free time to make that happen soon. But it is definitely worth investigating.

Signing Out:

It is a nice walk around the Inner Harbor from the marina to Dan’s office. I am going to get a few miles in this evening but walking over to meet him and then we will walk back together. Nothing like face time with my hubby to put a smile on my face.

More Nautical Stuff and Another Spice Blend

I am sure you will not be surprised to hear that we were on the boat again. Our to-do list currently has 78 items on it. Thankfully many of the items are small and 17 have already been accomplished. Still… there is a lot left to do. It is funny somehow when you enjoy sail you only remember the part you love and not the work. However I will say that the good definitely outweighs the bad when it comes to sailing.

Monday night after work Dan replaced the pump on the toilet. I went to the boat with him for moral support. Talk about a dirty smelly job. No wonder he had no desire to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a plumber. :-P Can’t I say I blame him one bit after being onboard while he was doing this plumbing job. Here is the new pump in place.  Next up... breaking out the steam cleaner.

After he had his job taken care of it was my responsibility to clean the head (nautical speak for boat bathroom) and the bilge. We get all the fun don’t we? ;-) We could have paid someone to do this stuff but really that just seems incredibly wasteful and lazy to both of us so we did it ourselves. Sometimes I think neither one of us has good sense. LOL

Sorry I haven’t been posting much but the wifi speed at the marina is not the best. I have been calling the wifi provider and hopefully they will do something about it soon so that I can get back on a regular schedule. I tried uploading a few photos to Facebook on Tuesday and they timed out. *argh* The slow connection is extremely frustrating. I am trying to just go with the flow but I can honestly say I feel a little odd being so out of the loop electronically. On the bright side our friends Christine and Tim also had wifi problems and those have now been resolved so I am hoping that ours will also be resolved quickly.

The food recently has been nothing much to speak of. We have been eating leftovers and quick meals, nothing really worth sharing. I do need to get back into the kitchen soon and make something interesting if for no other reason so I don’t get bored. Dan will eat anything as long as it tastes good and doesn’t mind repeats one bit. I am the one who needs to change things up in the food department.

What do we eat when I am not in the mood for cooking? Since there is definitely a pattern to what I do I thought I should share it with you. We almost always have a salad with both lunch and dinner. These can be anything but I typically combine: raw greens, veggies, fruit and nuts or seeds and sometimes quinoa.

I also gravitate to soup a lot since that is easy and reheats extremely well. Beans make a very filling and nutritious addition to soups and stews. If you want to make it more hearty you can serve the soup/stew over quinoa and not only it is more filling but you have then covered your bases in terms of essential amino acids. I just love quinoa which you probably guessed based on how often you see us eat it.

Dinner on the boat was a simple meal that I could make easily given the limitations of using a propane stove. I brought cooked quinoa, a sweet potato and kidney beans from home. I made the Mexican spiced tomato and bean sauce on the boat. Cooked a small spaghetti squash in the oven. Our dinner was spaghetti squash and quinoa topped with the Mexican tomato and beans to which I added diced sweet potato. This was easy to make because I now also keep a Mexican blend of spices on board that includes: dried minced onion, powdered garlic, no-salt seasoning, cumin seeds, paprika, oregano, cinnamon and cocoa powder. With the spice blend and little hot sauce dinner came together quite quickly.

Next I am going to make an Indian spice blend to keep on board and I should be able to make a decent variety of meals from standard pantry items. At least that is my plan we will see how well it works on in practice. However so far the Southern Italian and Mexican spice blends have been very handy as well as not taking up much room which is very important on a boat.

After dinner we lounged around the boat for a little while and then cleaned up and headed for home. We have been spending almost every night on the boat. It is fabulous being about to sit in the cockpit every night and enjoy the lights twinkly on the water. Now I can’t imagine why we ever had a boat that was over an hour away from home. What the heck were we thinking? ;-)

Happy Thoughts:

• The boat smells much better since the toilet has been fixed. Dan got major points from me for resolving that problem so quickly.   Having scented candles on board also seems to help.

• We are making good progress on our boat to-do list. While we would rather be sailing than doing work be both also want to get everything taken care of sooner rather than later. Not to mention it is incredibly relaxing being at the marina. We both love sitting in the cockpit, sipping tea and looking at the water. Additionally we have nice boat neighbors and that helps make the work part a lot more palatable.

• The fur children are starting to get used to mommy being gone more during the day and are much less panicked when I get home. This makes me feel less guilty about leaving them home. Realistically I know that they spend most of their time sleeping during the day but I see feel bad leaving them by themselves.

• The weather on Tuesday was absolutely magnificent. We had temperatures in the upper 70’s with a gentle breeze. It was one of those days where you just couldn’t get enough time outside.

Signing out:

Now I need to get productive. I have lots to do at home before I head back to the marina to meet Dan for dinner. Oh yeah, I also have more work to do on the boat but that doesn’t even bother me since I will be on the water. Talk with you again soon.