Sentiments by Denise

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!

 

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.  

Mornings with Amaranth and the Word

This morning we woke to a pleasant cool breeze blowing through our house, after sleeping with the windows open a crack all night. It made me hungry for a hot cereal breakfast, but not oatmeal.

So, I put my little red rice cooker to work, making some amaranth to enjoy!

 

Amaranth is a grain (seed) that is:

• high in protein
• contains vitamins A, K, B6, C, riboflavin, folate and minerals calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper, manganese
• great for reducing high blood pressure and cholesterol with regular consumption
• also high in antioxidants, which help the immune system

My rice cooker is a gem and does a great job cooking so many grains/rice without much interaction from me!
I poured one cup of dried amaranth grains into the cooker with 2-1/2 cups of water, pushed the START button, and just walked away. Twenty minutes later there was a small pot of cooked amaranth just waiting to be consumed. This portion ratio, as noted above, actually makes 3-4 servings.

Cooked amaranth has a consistency similar to cream of wheat. It is darker in color and has a slight sweetness, which surprised me.

Naturally, I had to add some other fun, healthy ingredients to it - organic coconut butter (a healthy fat that is good for healing dry/damaged skin and has other amazing benefits - one of which is stimulating the thyroid, which is one that I truly need!), dried cranberries, and sliced almonds.  
I also added a splash of almond milk to cool it down some so I could eat it. This is so good! You must try it!
 

When I put some thought into the meals that I eat, mentally assessing the nutritional value of what I am putting into my body, healthy foods taste so much better to me than grabbing a quick, non-healthy option.

 

 Leftovers, about 2 servings worth, go into the fridge for a couple more meals this week.

This morning I'm reading/studying out out 1 Peter, the last chapter. Our pastor finished up a sermon series last week on the book of 1 Peter and we missed this last sermon because we were out of town.
The great thing is that the sermons are video-taped and posted on line, so I can catch up on what I missed (and not only hear the expressions, but see them as well!).

That's my morning.

Then on to enjoy this long weekend, doing some housework, laundry, grocery shopping, reading, and a possible road trip on Monday with my husband in the Triumph. Driving on the backroads of central/southern Indiana, looking for adventure! Sounds fun to me!

Have a great weekend!  

Farmers Market and Homemade Egg Salad

This morning Stephen came over so we could go together to the farmers market. We try to go at least every other week, but will probably start going more often once the farmers begin to get more produce in.

Before we headed out, I made him a bowl of steel cut oats topped with almond butter, golden raisins, chia seeds, ground flax seeds, and milk. He usually doesn't eat oatmeal, but I think he really liked  this combo.

I didn't take any pictures at the farmers market, but we picked up several more herb plants (cilantro, curly parsley, tarragon) and also several plants for the garden - orange bell pepper, sweet banana pepper, grape tomato, black krim tomato, mexican mini tomato. As soon as we get these transplanted into the ground or into pots, I'll show photos of our little garden.

Additionally, I purchased some green onions that looked really good. When I returned home I decided to make an egg salad sandwich for lunch for myself (Stephen headed home to get ready for graduation ceremonies today at the school where he teaches).

 

I purchase a dozen eggs each week from a gentleman at our church who has his own chickens. The eggs are always so fresh and great tasting.

First I chopped up four hardboiled eggs, then added:

• 1 sliced green onion
• 2 sliced red radishes
• 1 sliced stalk of celery

 

 I also added a few squirts of yellow mustard and about a half cup of plain Greek yogurt. This gives the salad a fabulous tangy taste!

Then I headed outside the back door to snip a few leaves from my chive plant that I have growing in a planter in the back yard.

The fresh chives were a perfect finishing touch (along with some pepper and paprika) to the homemade egg salad.

I mixed all the ingredients together and stuffed a couple small spoonfuls into a mini whole wheat pita (sliced in half) with some organic lettuce leaf that came in my CSA delivery this week.

 

Great lunch! This recipe makes two servings, so there's enough for leftovers!

Kick-Starting Saturday

I started my day with a nutritious smoothie - very green!

This blended combination included:

~ large handful of fresh baby spinach
~ one frozen banana
~ 1 T. chia seeds
~ 1/2 T. ground flax seeds
~ 1/2 c. plain Greek yogurt
~ 4-5 frozen peach slices
~ 1/4 c. almond milk, unsweetened

This morning's Green Smoothie, which was very thick and creamy, was paired with a blueberry bran muffin (slightly warm) and a tablespoon of almond butter (very melty on the warm muffin).

Great start to a new day... which holds:

• grocery shopping
• preparing luncheon for our Young Married class tomorrow
• finding some clothes to fit - my pants are getting too baggy (!)
• making a large pitcher of raspberry green tea to enjoy
• relax this afternoon with a good book
• iron a batch of shirts for my husband
• dinner out tonight with good friends!

It's raining here today, but that doesn't stop me from enjoying the day.

What are your plans on this Saturday?