Sentiments by Denise

It's All About the Vegetables!

People often ask me what I eat since I don't eat meat anymore. My reply?

"Vegetables! Lots of vegetables!

Tonight when I came home from work I knew I needed to use up some food in the fridge to make room for my CSA delivery tomorrow.

I chose some crimini mushrooms, mini sweet peppers, zucchini, yellow squash, red onion, and broccoli slaw. I cut up these vegetables and tossed them into a pan with a bit of grapeseed oil (great for sauteing or stir-frying, as it's suitable for high heat).
Then I added a few wheatberries that I had cooked the other day (these are a great source of fiber), some red kidney beans (more fiber and protein), and about a 1/4 cup of brown rice that was leftover from Ed's stirfry. I seasoned this with a bit of black pepper and my staple favorite - szechuan sauce!

 
Doesn't it look great!?  This is enough for two servings - I'll have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

I love mixtures like this - they are quick to make, very nutritious, and fill me right up! Vegetarian cuisine can be so easy and I find now that I don't center my meals around meat, I am much more creative in my cooking and how I put my meals together. I like them to be colorful (vegetables give me that). I like them to be healthy - choosing a variety of vegetables, legumes, and grains make it so. And I like them to taste great and all of these flavors combined (or combining other flavors - veggies with beans or veggies with grains) really satisfy my taste buds.

Tonight it's cold outside so I think a cup of hot tea might just hit the spot.

 
I'm rockin' the Green Tea - extra special since it tastes like candy canes and is decaf! Love that!

Healthy Reflections of 2010

A little over a year ago (Dec '09), I sat in my doctor's office and cried. I was overwhelmed with how poorly I felt. I was not getting enough sleep. My skin and hair were dry and unmanageable. I was extremely overweight. I had no desire to exercise. I was irritable, sad, and weepy.

I was a mess.

Fast forward to two weeks ago (Dec. '10). I was in the doctor's office again, waiting to see her. She peeked her head in the door and mentioned that she needed to check with the nurse who measured my weight/vitals, as she thought there was a number recorded wrong. I asked her about that and she said that the chart showed I had lost a significant amount of weight. Then I stood up, twirled around and said, "Does it look like I've lost a significant amount of weight?"  Sixty pounds are gone! No more cholesterol medications (since Mar.'10)! Sleeping so much better! I'm exercising on a regular basis and eating a primary plant-based diet. My doctor was beyond pleased with my hard work over this past year.

There's something to be said about making your health a priority. I've learned so much over the last twelve months on how my body works, what is best for me in terms of food and fitness, sleep and managing stress. I've read many books on nutrition and health. I'm learning the best way to manage the diseases I have (past and present) so that I can live a low-maintenance life.

Here are a few things I've discovered the past year that have been helpful to me:

• I am what I eat. If I eat highly processed, sugary, saturated fatty foods - then I'm going to feel listless, fat, angry, sad, slow, and tired.
• Reading books on health, nutrition, and fitness have provided me with the right tools to make the best decisions for improving my health. Books such as: The China Study by T. Colin Campbell, Foods to Fight Cancerby Richard Beliveau, In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan, Eat to Live by Joel Fuhrman, The Cancer Survivor's Guide by Neal Barnard, Clean Food and Clean Start by Terry Walters. I've read many others, but these have had a definite impact on many of the changes I've made over the past year.
• Strive to get a minimum of seven hours of sleep each night. I'm not going to lie - I struggle with this one on a regular basis. My job is such that I must commute over 45 minutes each way and I work a minimum of nine hours each day. This makes for a crazy long day! And it doesn't leave me much time during the week to do the things I need and want to do. So often I sacrifice sleep. Not good. I notice how much better I feel overall when I sleep those full seven hours (or more - usually on weekends!). This translates into more energy, more alert thinking, less irritability, less baggy-looking eyes, and remembering to think before I speak ;) The body does a lot of recovering/healing while you sleep, so it's important to make this healthy habit a priority.
• Exercise gets easier the more I do it. Until I had lost the first 30lbs, I was not able to move very well, so I didn't exercise much. Then after I had lost some weight I started slow, using Leslie Sansone's walk at home DVD programs. These are great for beginners, but I still use them on a semi-regular basis to supplement my fitness workouts. Thirty minutes in the morning is a great way to start my day. Then, if for some reason I can't make it to the gym or get outdoors to walk, I know I've done something healthy for my body in the way of exercise that day. Our Church has a fitness center with an indoor track, fully-equipped weight room/cardio equipment, assorted fitness classes, and a personal trainer available. Taking advantage of these opportunities this past year has helped me so much in my journey towards wellness. I'm already setting goals for the new year in this area (I'll share those in another post).
• Thinking outside the box when it comes to food. I'm learning to combine foods that I would never have put together in the past. For example: roasted vegetables (like squash or brussel sprouts) over leafy greens, different whole grains added in unusual places (wheatberries or quinoa on salads, stirred into oatmeal or as a yogurt topping), green smoothies (raw spinach teamed with banana and other fruits make an amazing smoothie!), a veggie omelette with goat cheese, or even raw cheddar slice on whole grain seed bread with pumpkin butter. Some of these combinations may sound crazy to you, but I've been using a little bit of creativity to make sure I get my daily allowances in and the tastes that I'm experiencing are really fabulous. I try to make my meals as colorful as I can by incorporating different fruits and vegetables. Yellow peppers, green zucchini, red onion, orange carrots, brown crimini mushrooms, and purple cabbage all add great nutrients and wonderful color to a veggie saute mixed with red quinoa and brown rice. Who says cooking vegetarian can't be adventurous?
• Not focusing so much on my weight (as an end goal), but pursuing wellness and good health. Losing weight (and it continues) has been a great benefit to the changes I've made over the past year, but it hasn't been my only goal. Sixty pounds is nothing to sneeze at, but I think I'm even more encouraged by the other things I see happening in my body that are benefiting me in the long run. Surviving cancer twice in my life, and dealing with an incurable kidney disease, along with hypothyroidism, has made me focus on my overall health and not just losing weight for the sake of being a certain size or seeing a certain number on the scale. I have more at stake in my wellness journey than just fitting into a certain size pair of jeans. For that reason, I only weighed myself every two weeks throughout this past year and every weigh-in day I either lost weight or stayed steady. I can honestly say that I have not gained any of the weight back that I've lost so far. In the past when I participated in other weight-loss programs (Weight Watchers, etc.) I would see-saw back and forth in my weight loss until I made my "goal" weight. Personally I think it was because I didn't really understand my body or nutrition and how it impacted my body, so losing weight became more of a game. I went clothes shopping today (desperately needed!) and found that I have dropped four clothing sizes in the past year! I still have weight to lose to get to a normal weight and BMI for my age and height. I don't stress about it - I know it will happen as I continue this journey that I'm on. (Fun fact: this past Christmas season is the first one that I can remember that I didn't gain any weight nor over-indulge in eating as I have in the past. That is an accomplishment in itself, as I realize that so many of the things I've learned this past year have helped me make the best decisions for ME!).
  ****************************************************************
  This post is getting extremely long, so I should close, but I want to leave you with a couple photos. The first was taken back in Oct. '09 at my 30th high school reunion. I like to think of it as my "before" photo. The second photo was taken a few days ago by my husband (sorry for the blurriness). This photo is my transition photo, as I still have a continuation of this journey to wellness that I'm pursuing.

 
(photo taken by David Hubbard)

 
(Photo taken by Ed Foxworthy)

Excited to see where 2011 leads me on my path to wellness!

 

 

Merry & Bright!

Some fun things:

 
~ Our Christmas tree with gifts underneath!

 
~ Fresh pomegranate seeds from Trader Joe's (great mixed with yogurt or as a topping on my morning oatmeal!)

 
~ The pumpkin spice soymilk is great mixed with certain flavors of hot tea! The Candy Cane green tea is so minty good!

 
~ The stockings are hung (no fireplace mantle here) - notice both kids' stockings are bulging with gifts already!

 
~ A butternut squash: this is what a bored young man does. Stephen drew Mr. Lunt who was later turned into Butternut squash /white bean soup by Emilee. Vegetables are loved at our house!

 
~ Sons who visit on Sunday afternoons

 
~ Daughters who cook on Sunday afternoons

Just wanted to share some things going on in our house lately as we prepare for Christmas in the days ahead.

 

Thanksgiving - Turkey Optional

Our Thanksgiving took a different turn this year.

We decided, as a family, to participate in the Drumstick Dash this year. This is a fund raising event for feeding the homeless here in Indianapolis every year on Thanksgiving morning. The run/walk is 4.5 miles or 2.3 miles, with other fun events for children. Emilee and I decided that we would do the long course and Ed planned to stick with the shorter course. Stephen was asked to be a volunteer "celebrity" greeter and also did some other volunteer stuff while we were doing the walk.

 
It was dark when we arrived in the morning (before 7am). And very wet - the weather man called for rain all day.

 
Emilee is ready to Dash!

 
At first, Stephen's job was to greet the media and the other volunteers that arrived at the Applebee's restaurant to receive their instructions for the event. Stephen enjoyed rubbing shoulders with local tv/radio celebrities. Later he helped with the removal of the timing tags at the finish line.

 
Heading to the start line.

 
Umbrellas - necessary!

 
Waiting for the start - there were about 12,000 people participating in this event. An awesome turnout on such a dreary day - over $200k was raised at this event by Wheeler Mission to feed/shelter the needy.

When we reached the point where those finishing at 2.3 miles veered off from the rest of us, we were told that the long course (4.5 miles) was closed due to flooding, so Emilee and I finished with Ed. It rained fairly steadily the whole time we were out.

Afterwards, we grabbed a couple snacks (bananas/soup) at the food stations, rounded up Stephen, and headed home to start our own Thanksgiving feast.

I didn't take photos of our meal/meal prep as I was busy supervising the kitchen (both kids helped cook) and I had dish-duty the whole time!

We bought a fresh turkey and stuffed it with an apple/onion/celery and baked it for the time required, but even after that it still wasn't cooked through when we were ready to eat, so back into the oven it went. Emilee and I were opting out of the turkey eating anyway (she's following a vegan diet and I'm following a plant-based mostly), so Ed & Stephen didn't get to eat turkey for Thanksgiving dinner - they were completely full before the turkey was finally ready to eat.

Ed and Stephen are enjoying the leftovers, though.

We also had:
Appetizers - Delicata/Gruyere Dip, Stuffed Mushrooms, Raw Veggies w/hummus
Sausage dressing
Vegan dressing
Green Beans
Smoked Gouda Mashed Potatoes
Giblet Gravy
Homemade Cranberry Sauce
Sweet Potato Pie

Desserts - Apple/pear pie, Pecan Pie, Pumpkin Spice Cake

We ate plenty.

And it was all GOOD!

Hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful and time with family and friends meaningful to you also.

 

My Favorite Meal is Breakfast

I could never understand when people would tell me that they didn't eat breakfast - it's my favorite meal of the day!
I'm usually famished in the mornings and look forward to taking in some healthy and tasty nutrients to start my day. Since I've started eating with better intentions (healthier) this past year, I've tried to add some variety to my morning meals. Here is a list of my favorites:

Oatmeal

 
I dress it up with lots of healthy options. Above is banana oats with almond butter stirred in, some coconut shreds and cacao nibs on top.

 
This is non-cooked oatmeal called "overnite oats" where I mix raw oatmeal with yogurt, chia seeds, pumpkin (or banana or apple) and almond or coconut milk, then let it "soak" overnight in the fridge. In the morning I heat it for just a minute, add my toppings (here it's almond butter, almonds, and blueberries) and it's ready to eat! Saves a lot of time.
Other times I make steel cut oats in my rice cooker (my favorite way to make them now). I've experimented with additions to my oats - oat bran, ground flaxseed, or buckwheat groats. All of these raise the bar to a healthier breakfast.

 
Mixed in some fresh peaches, pecans, and peanut butter!

Sometimes I get fancy and make amaranth:
 
(yes, there's whole grains under all those yummy toppings!) I try to always add some kind of raw nuts or nut butter (sometimes both!) to my whole grain cereal - a great source of healthy fats and protein. Here I've also added a tiny scoop of coconut butter and some cranberries - this is a winning combination!

Smoothies

 
The green ones are my favorite! Simple recipe of a frozen banana, a couple handfuls of raw spinach, chia seeds, yogurt, other frozen fruit (like mango, strawberries, or peaches - although this is optional), and some almond or coconut milk. Lately, I've been adding a 1/2tsp of Matcha (green tea powder) to my green smoothies.

 
This is known as the Purple Slurple - same ingredients as above except add frozen or fresh blueberries as your other fruit option. I make a Cherry Banana Slammer, too, with frozen cherries. There are all kinds of options for great smoothies. You just have to be creative!

 
Besides adding the green tea and fun ingredients like the POM juice pictured above, I love to add pumpkin (1/3 cup) to my smoothies. What a great way to get some extra beta carotene in your diet!

Pancakes, Cookies, Muffins, and Bagels

 
Chocolate spelt pancakes with blueberries. I've even made them with fresh raspberries, too.

 
Skip the high calorie butter and syrup - add a mashed banana, some coconut shreds and some cacao nibs. These are amazingly filling at only about 500 calories for 3 medium pancakes. I love that these are made with spelt flour - a whole grain that is full of protein!

 
Whole grain muffins (blueberry flax) with a 1/2 cup of Greek yogurt and fresh fruit. Most of the time I eat yogurt as a snack (the Greek kind is higher in protein!), but for a heartier breakfast I'll have a small whole grain muffin with fruit and yogurt.

 
Mini wholegrain bagel with nut butter (almond - my fav!) and a sliced nectarine. This photo is from a few months back (archived). I like to eat fruit in season as much as possible as it's so much better tasting that way.

 
Sometimes something as simple as millet french toast with nut butter, sliced banana, and a few favorite toppings. I don't even miss the syrup anymore, but if I ever do eat it, I like to choose pure maple syrup (though it's very rich tasting).

 
Oatmeal breakfast cookie! If you're friends with me on Facebook, then you probably saw this posted on my page a few weeks ago. Here's the recipe -

Breakfast Oatmeal Cookie

1/4 c. quick oats
1 egg white (1/8 c.)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 T. dark chocolate chips
1 T. chopped nuts
1 T. dried cranberries
1.5 tsp raw sugar or honey
2 tsp flour (whole wheat, spelt, or your favorite)
(sometimes I add a couple tablespoons of pumpkin puree, too!)

Mash ingredients together to combine. Form into a cookie shape on a plate. Microwave for 45 seconds on high. Let cool. EAT!
*this cookie is great with a thin spread of nut butter spread on top!**

 

I hope I've given you some ideas for breakfast and that you will try these to add a healthy start to your day. As you can see, my morning meals are never boring. And every once in awhile I'll have a bowl of cereal - I love it when I find a great nutrient-loaded one like this:

 
What are some healthy choices you make for breakfast?

Highlights of October

This month is flying by and I haven't made much of an effort to post on this blog. The month started off with our trip to Madison for the weekend (see previous post on that adventure!).  Here are some more highlights:

Tea -
 
This is a new tea that I bought in Madison - love the flavor! The added bonus of caffeine-free makes it great to drink any time of day for me. I'm loving the hot teas more now that the days are cooler. I usually start my day off with a mug of hot tea with breakfast or I make a flavored tea latte (green chai, coconut chai, or mango oolong with 1/3-1/2 cup of almond milk added) in my travel mug to sip on my long drive to work in the mornings. I drink several more cups  (2-3) at work in the morning - mostly Sencha green tea - and often have a cup of vanilla spice at night before bedtime. Love my teas!

Worship -

We are loving our new church so much! Our choir sings only once a month, but we do all three services (Sat night, 2 Sun mornings) so it makes for a busy weekend when we do sing.  For the past six weeks our pastor has been doing a series on prayer and it has been powerful! I have learned so much! The weekend in October that the choir sang, we also did a special Sunday night service called a Night of Worship and Prayer. It was an emphasis on everything Pastor Philbeck had been bringing to us in the past few weeks, worshipful songs of praise to our Lord, and a time to bring our prayers/petitions to God. What an evening of blessing and praise to God! Here's a link of one the songs we sang: Revelation Song (this will link you to our Worship Pastor's blog - click on the link to see/hear the video. Can you spot me in the choir? ). I didn't get permission from Brian to post this video to my blog so I'll just link to his - the blessing you will receive is beyond compare!

 

IKEA -
 
Last weekend my dear friend, Bonnie, invited me to go with her to IKEA in Cincinnati. I had never been before - what a fun store! We spent several hours browsing through the model rooms, oohhing and aahhing over all the fun furnishings. I actually had a couple things on my list to get and I snagged those, plus a few more. I left the store only spending less than $45, but know that a trip in the future is bound to happen. Lots of great ideas and fun ways to organize areas in the home.

Soup -
 
Emilee and I have been itching to make some soups lately, so yesterday after our grocery shopping trip to Whole Foods and Trader Joes (we do this twice a month), we decided to dive right in to making some great vegetarian soups. Pictured above is the split pea soup (flavored with liquid smoke to replace the pork that is so popular in this soup- tasted wonderful!). We also made a butternut squash/white bean soup and a minetrone soup.
 
(Roasting the butternut squash and onions)

I also roasted some pumpkin that my mom had brought me from their garden a few weeks ago, pureed in my food processor and froze for future use in recipes (smoothies, breads, muffins, or as a mix-in for morning oatmeal).

Today our Sunday lunch with the kids consisted of a sampling of homemade soups with some Irish Soda bread that Emilee had made. It was all very good!

 
Loving these Autumn days and nights!

 

Weekend in Madison

A couple months ago I made reservations for an overnight stay in a Bed & Breakfast in southern Indiana. Since Ed has been out of work for over a year, it didn't make sense to spend money on a full blown vacation, but a weekend away sounded wonderful to both of us. My job has been overly stressful lately and Ed will be starting a new job (WooHoo!) this next week, so it seemed like the perfect time.

The B&B that I reserved a couple months ago is about a 2+hour drive from Indianapolis. We drove down Friday mid-morning, took our time and stopped along the way for lunch at one of our favorite restaurants - Key West Shrimp House in Madison IN. We've stayed in Madison several times, always at a wonderful B&B there called the Schussler House (the first time 14 years ago). This time, though, I thought it might be good to try another small Indiana historic town with quaint B&B's for a change of pace. I booked a room at the Rosemont Inn in Vevay IN (back in July).

When we drove up to the Inn we were greeted with a beautiful historic home with a fabulous view of the Ohio river.

But, we also noticed this sign in the front yard:

There was a gentlemen on the grounds that came to talk to us when we drove up (the gardener, maybe?) and he let us know that the B&B was closed and had been for the past 30 days! No one had contacted us (by phone or email). I called the realtor to get some more details and found out the establishment was for sale (complete with all the furnishings) and the previous owners are now in federal prison. It didn't look like we'd be staying there on Friday night!

(the view of the Ohio river from the B&B - our room would've overlooked this view!). 

After checking out another B&B close by recommended by the gardener and finding it was full for the weekend, we began to panic a little that we would have to return home. (Staying at a hotel does not have the same finesse that a B&B does - especially when we were expecting the B&B experience for the weekend).

I decided to call Dave at The Schussler House and, fortunately for us, he had a room available for the night! We were very glad! We drove back to Madison - familiar stomping grounds for us - and checked in to our room. Then we proceeded to poke around the town, shopping, enjoying the gorgeous Autumn weather, and looking for a good place to have dinner.

 

Our room at the Schussler House - we stayed in the Blue Room.

 

Thomas Family Winery - the music corner

 

 It was perfect weather for walking up and down the streets in this small town.

 

 This cute kitty sat in a store window, bathing and completely ignoring us. He/she had the most unusual amber colored eyes, but I couldn't get a photo of him/her looking straight at me.

 

 Shoe shopping for Ed - needed for new job he's starting this week!

 

 The ones he chose to purchase.

 
On to dinner that evening at Bistro One - clearly the best restaurant in town!

 

 The atmosphere is so inviting and the aroma (from the fabulous food cooking) permeates all of your senses when you walk into the restaurant.

 
I chose the Italian Gnocchi, a dish I've never had before. Ed opted for the Chef's Fancy, which was a special dish that the chef (Nick) prepared daily. This time it was Mahi Mahi.

 

 The gnocchi was a perfect blend of spices, wonderful potato pillows matched with tomatoes, spinach, basil, kalamata olives, garlic, and flavorful asiago cheese. I loved it!

 

 Ed's mahi mahi was pan-seared with a honey butter sauce, topped with a bursting flavor of orange zest souffle. He loved it and ate the entire entree, along with a sampling of this:

 

 roasted veggies (potatoes, carrots, and green beans) with garlic pasta.

Strolling the sidewalks at dusk was a must to work off some of the calories we devoured! The food was excellent, the walk invigorating, and the night air refreshing.

We slept very well that night.

It was so quiet - no TV or internet in our B&B. Some people would probably be put off by that, but I enjoyed the peacefulness and opportunity to talk with my husband and read before going to sleep.

In the morning, we had every intention of getting up to walk down to the coffee house (about 6 or so blocks from our B&B), but it was downright chilly (about 41deg) and we wanted to carry our laptops so we drove. Breakfast at the B&B wasn't served until 9am and since we're early risers normally, we decided to head out for a hot beverage and catch up on the news and email.

 

 Comfortable couchy chairs at the coffee shop

 

 I tried both the green tea latte and the chai latter over the course of our overnight stay. I also found a special little tea that I'll share soon in another post.

After enjoying our morning hot drinks and realizing that we still had some time before breakfast would be served back at the B&B, we decided to walk down to the Farmer's Market in the town square.

 
There were about ten vendors set up, with some folk musicians warming up and an outdoor cafe serving up breakfast, too.

 

 Lots of Autumn fare, tasty baked goods (an Amish vendor was there, too), some watercolor paintings/cards, and other homemade goodies. We bought a few tomatoes, a couple hand-crocheted dishcloths, and a little sample bag of homemade corn nuts (Ed loves these!).

 
This beautiful table greeted us when we arrived back at the Bed & Breakfast. There was only one other couple staying and we met them at breakfast. The food was fabulous (no photos, I got caught up in the conversation at the table and totally forgot to take them!). Dave served a fruit cup of pineapple, blueberries, and bananas along with sour cream muffins. The main dish was a quiche with bread cubes, several cheeses, eggs, cream, peppers, and jalapenos (not exactly low-fat!) and a couple sausage patties on the side (which I snuck over to Ed's plate!). We sat at the table, eating and talking for over an hour and a half. Great company and wonderful food - our stay at the Schussler House did not disappoint at all! We highly recommend it if you are ever in Madison IN.

We drove back to Indianapolis later that afternoon and we were greeted by drizzly rain. So glad it held off so our weekend was not hampered with bad weather.

We had a wonderful time - so relaxing and fun. Even though it started out contrary to what we were expecting, we had a great time!   
   

Simple Weekend

This weekend has been a time for relaxation and enjoyment after a stressful week at work. I made up my mind at the beginning of the weekend that my choices this weekend would encourage a simple time.

We started out after work Friday evening at the fitness center (Ed met me there on my way home). We walked the indoor track and had a chance to unwind, talk about our day, and also get some exercise. This might not seem enjoyable to some (the exercise part), but I'm learning how important it is for me to engage in some form of exercise every day - it really gets those endorphins flowing!

Saturday morning, the kids both came over and we did our bi-monthly shopping trek to Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. My niece and her two girls met us there - it was a fun adventure!

Here are some things I'm excited about cooking with this coming week:

 

Look at all the squash! There's spaghetti squash, yellow, acorn, zucchini, and a cute mini delicata squash, too! Plus a couple sweet potatoes and an abundance of carrots. I'm looking forward to eating this seasonal bounty and creating some great meals with these wonderful vegetables! We also picked up quite an assortment of apples. Stephen, Emilee, and I all picked out a different variety and then when we got home, sorted them so we each had an assortment of each variety. All of them are good eating apples, but I think I might need to add them to a salad or a bowl of hot oats, or even pairing them with some of the squash that will get roasted. Use your imagination when putting fruits and vegetables together in dishes - you might be surprised at how wonderful the flavors blend.

Saturday afternoon was a perfect time for a nap. With the windows open and a sweet breeze blowing through, I was able to catch a few winks and relax even more.

In the evening Ed and I went to church. I love the option of Saturday night church and am so glad our church offers this service. It was a great way to end the day - the worship music was outstanding and our Pastor continued his series on prayer with encouraging words that we should pray boldly, without hesitancy - the way Jesus taught His disciples (Luke, chapter 11). I really like this series Pastor Chris is doing - it's really strengthening my faithwalk as I ponder it throughout the week.

Today started out with a cool Autumn breeze and a bit of morning rain. The kids both came over after they had attended their church services. We had fajitas (chicken and veggie) and enjoyed a relaxing time around the table, talking and listening to them talk about their week. I love those times! Since they both live on their own now and have such full, active lives we don't see them as often as we'd like. Sunday dinner is a time each week that we can have some great family time.
Emilee and I went on a little outing this afternoon (book browsing at Barnes & Noble, sipping some tea) while Ed watched football (and napped) and Stephen caught up on some grading.

In my last post I showed you a photo of a wonderful wrap that I made with a "secret" ingredient.

Did you guess that I had added figs to this veggie wrap?

I loaded a Flatout multigrain wrap with spread of hummus, some feta cheese, sliced mini peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, and leaf lettuce. Then added a sliced fig - it was the perfect blend of sweetness to this flavorful wrap. Figs are showing up in stores now in the produce section. Grab a few the next time you are shopping and be adventurous with this wonderful fruit. Figs are high in fiber, potassium, manganese, and calcium. A great snack using figs is to stuff them with a little goat cheese and chopped almonds. I also like to add them to a salad, in yogurt, or even a bowl of cereal or granola with some almond milk. They are sweet and the seeds add a great little crunch!

I hope you had a relaxing, simple weekend. 

I feel refreshed now to head into the work week tomorrow.  

Lemonade with a Passion

Rumor has it that Starbucks has a Passion Tea Lemonade drink that many are raving about. I haven't tried it. Yet.

I figure I can make the same thing at home with just a little extra effort. Starting with these:

 
Fresh lemons always make the best lemonade.

While squeezing the juice, I put a pot of water (6 cups to be exact) mixed with one cup of raw sugar on the stove to boil. This makes the syrup for the lemonade. You can always add more sweetener later to your tastes, but I love it tart (!) so this amount works well for me!

Yes, it looks brown - that's the raw sugar (cane sugar, less processed than white refined sugar). Raw sugar has a more complex flavor, much richer than regular table sugar. The color may throw you off when you first begin to cook with it.

First I wash the lemons, like any other raw fruit. You'll see why in a moment. Next I roll each lemon around on the countertop with some slight pressure from my palm to get the juices flowing.
Then comes the juicing. I realize there are easier ways to do this (I even have a little manual juicer), but I didn't mind squeezing  just a few by hand. This recipe used ten small lemons. This will make a little over one cup of pure lemon juice. Mix it with the syrup water, stir, and cool at room temperature for about an hour.

The day before I had made some Tazo Passion Tea and put it in the fridge to chill.

 

Isn't it a lovely color? It's made with hibiscus flowers (and other delightful flavors). The best part is it's caffeine-free! You can find this at any grocery store that sells the Tazo brand.

 

I usually mix 2/3 tea with 1/3 lemonade to make a glassful, adding ice to chill it. This is an awesome, refreshing drink! Not sure what the Starbucks version tastes like, but I love mine!

Oh, you're wondering about my wrap pictured above with my Passion Tea Lemonade? Well, it has an unusual ingredient  - can you guess what it is?

I'll be back next time to share more about this delicious wrap!

p.s. when using fresh lemons, take a few minutes to zest several and freeze the zest - this will come in handy later for those holiday baking recipes!

  

Livin' for the Weekends

It seems these days I live for the weekends to come and bask in both the activities and relaxation they bring. My work week is so busy, stressful, and I endure such long days - getting up at 4am, being away from home for 11+ hours each day - that when the weekends roll around I'm ready to just enjoy them.

I like to do my morning exercise outdoors on the weekends, because I sleep later and by the time I'm ready, the sun has come up which makes it safer for walking or bike riding. I love to walk outdoors in the brisk air when the sun is just peaking through. What starts out, however, as a quiet peaceful walk quickly turns into a medley of neighborhood dogs barking (in their homes or yards) as I walk by and stir things up! I'm sure my neighbors appreciate that more than I know! Ha!

Last night we attended the first anniversary celebration of our favorite coffee house downtown - Calvin Fletcher Coffee Company and enjoyed seeing lots of friends, listening to some great music, and partaking in the awesome beverages that CFCC offers. I'm a tea drinker rather than a coffee drinker and I love that CFCC has such a great variety. I've been hearing some good things about their Chai tea latte (blended) that I think I'll have to try it the next time I go in. My husband loves their espresso (and buys a pound bag of beans quite often to enjoy at home) and both of our kids frequent CFCC a lot.

I'm excited that the calendar shows this next week is the beginning of the Autumn season. My favorite! I'm already thinking of all the different recipes that I can try with seasonal vegetables and fruits, especially from the squash family! Pumpkins! There is some pureed pumpkin in my freezer that I'm excited to have, as I'm not sure how plentiful that beautiful orange gourd will be this year again.

Recently we had a couple "giant" zucchini that my Mom had given me from her garden - you know the kind... so with Emilee's help, we made a great stuffed zucchini meal loaded with good healthy grains and vegetables.
 

Stephen & Emilee both helped with this meal (I love that our kids enjoy cooking so much and are excited to try new ideas). The extra large zucchini were cut in half lengthwise, seeds were scooped out, and they were placed in a baking dish with a bit of water in the bottom of the dish. 
Emilee stirred up a filling of brown rice, red quinoa, lentils, onions, mini bell peppers and some seasonings. This was added to the "boats" and they were baked for about 45 minutes in a 375deg oven. We added some organic cheese to the tops (except for Emilee's) during the last 3-4 minutes of baking. Oh, and we got a little adventurous and put dried cranberries on a couple of them, too!
 
  
A very tasty and filling entree. Perfect with a salad and some steamed broccoli! These were even better as leftovers the next day when I took a half (of a half!) to work for my lunch!

This morning when I weighed myself I rejoiced at hitting the 50-lb loss mark and realized just how beneficial this new way of eating for me has become. I haven't missed many of the foods I've given up - I just don't crave meat, sugar, fast food, or processed food anymore since I've been concentrating on nourishing my body with such good healthy options. Eating has become a great adventure for me and not something I just "settle" for to fix a craving or get past a hunger pain. I like that I don't have to count anything (points or calories), I don't have to drink a special "diet" drink or depend on a pill to burn off the calories - just turn to the food that is in its most natural state and choose from the many options before me. I love challenging myself to try a new vegetable, fruit, or whole grain every couple weeks and incorporating it into my menus. I've found so many delicious foods this way that I never would have tried otherwise. So far, after eating this way exclusively for the past nine months, I have to say that it has not become boring at all!

This afternoon we attended a first birthday party for the daughter of one of our young married friends. It was so fun to see them again and celebrate this joy with them. We miss the ministry of working with young married couples since we left our former church, but try to stay in touch with as many of them as we can. It's great watching their families grow and seeing them thrive in God's goodness and His plan for their lives. We're starting to make some new friends at our new church as we get more involved there and are thankful for God's timing in leading us to a new place of worship. The teaching is just what I've been yearning for and I look forward each week to the pastor's message of Truth. Just last week we started attending a weekly small group with people mostly our age and I've joined the choir, which I've missed. More things may be happening - I'll keep you posted as they come about.

I think I'll head out right now for an evening walk in the neighborhood before the sun goes down - it just seems like the best way to end a wonderful weekend!