Meatless Monday? Almost....

If you follow my blog or other food blogs, you've probably heard of Meatless Monday. Quite simply, that just means eating vegetarian one day a week. I don't follow it as a rule; it's just a concept I have in the back of my mind. I wasn't even thinking about it yesterday but there didn't seem to be any meat in any of the food I ate yesterday! Then I realized it was Monday and I was thinking, Hey, I'm actually doing Meatless Monday without realizing it! And then, as I was eating my leftover spaghetti and sauce, the next two forkfuls I picked up had two tiny pieces of leftover meatball in them....Oh well. Lol! :)

Heathy food=lots of energy! :)

Cross posted in The Daily Yay!

After taking an unusual route yesterday from Meadowbrook Playfield and having to go out of our way due to lack of sidewalks, Rena and I "somehow just randomly" ended up at Whole Foods just before lunchtime. (Hubby said it was typical Pie.) So I bought us some food that we could take and eat at one of the benches outside. Our healthy fare consisted of a Jamba Juice apple and greens smoothie; organic minestrone soup with veggies, beans, peas, etc.; and herb Mary's Gone Crackers.

Rena not only perked up (she had napped in her stroller on the way there from the playground) but walked herself almost the entire way home without even being very worn out by the end.

Cute compliment from hubby! :)

Cross posted in The Daily Yay!

Hubby called me a "hot chocolate." It made me chuckle as I mixed water, organic skim milk, organic vanilla extract, organic and fair trade unsweetened cocoa, and organic maple syrup in a pot to make my healthier version of this favorite drink. ;)

Post-Party Excursion

Cross posted in The Daily Yay!

When we got home from the party, hubby decided he needed some root beer so I headed to Whole Foods to get a healthier version than diet or regular, Oogave made with agave. I bought that and also picked out a treat for myself: A Theo milk chocolate bar- organic, fair trade, and with a Jane Goodall seal. (Yes, it does have sugar but I rarely eat a treat with sugar in it!)

I headed for a bench outside the store, purchases in hand. After enjoying my chocolate bar, I finished my blog post about the night before. Then I relaxed on Facebook and listened to someone singing and playing ukelele in the background. Ukelele seems to be a popular instrument around here.

When I started to get chilly and the hour was getting late, I headed home to hang out with hubby and give him his promised root beer. :)

"Slumber Party" with Hubby! :)

Cross posted in The Daily Yay!

To celebrate my new job, hubby and I decided to have a special chicken dinner. I gave Rena an early, simple dinner of crepes (I make them with coconut oil instead of butter or margarine to cut down on my dairy intake, as I might be slightly lactose intolerant, and to avoid using a product with soy) with some raw tomato and some raw avocado on the the side (she loves them; I don't always have to cook side dishes for her) and then put her to bed. I headed to QFC at the University Village Shopping Center to get kosher chicken, as Whole Foods around here doesn't carry it.

I decided to call my parents on the way. They're three hours earlier, as they live in Cincinnati, but it's ok for me to call them late. They had actually just walked in the door: They'd been out late at the wedding of a local Chabad rabbi's daughter. They reported that there must have been 600 people there and that a bunch of them asked about me. It made me happy to know that so many people in my hometown still think and care about me. Even someone who wasn't at the wedding asked my mom about me recently when she ran into her at a grocery store.

At QFC, I headed to the kosher poultry section. I hadn't seen Empire Organic chicken in ages, but lo and behold, it was there last night! I bought all the drumsticks and left the whole chickens and boneless skinless breasts for others.

Back at home, I preheated the oven to 400 degrees and made a one-dish dinner out of a dozen drumsticks, a couple big bagsful of cremini mushrooms, and a pile of raw cashews; seasoned with salt, red pepper flakes, and a little turmeric; with coconut oil mixed in. Forty minutes later.... Yum! :) Hubby and I ate up all the drumsticks -- we each ate half a dozen and saved some of the other stuff for today.

Then we had fun singing, dancing, joking, and playing around. We do that part of a slumber party most nights, really, but this was special because we were celebrating my new job! :)

Gratitude to Bliss Project, Day 5

Cross posted in The Daily Yay!

1. I'm grateful that I did not accidentally delete the email draft where I'd saved links to recipes I'll be using for the week.
2. I'm grateful for my father-in-law and step-mother-in-law who took us to the
Children's Museum despite the rain.
3. I'm also grateful that they treated us to kosher Chinese afterward at Bamboo Garden.
4. I'm grateful that the food was good, even though it's a vegan restaurant so the general tso's "chicken" was made with tofu. Rena, who LOVES chicken, appeared to not be able to tell the difference: She scarfed it up the way she would scarf up real chicken.
5. I'm grateful Rena has her own bedroom, where she falls asleep fast usually and often stays asleep until morning.

Dancing: Great Fun and Great Exercise! :)

Cross posted on The Daily Yay!

I recently saw this video of the staff of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, the world's largest nutrition school, taking a dance break in the middle of their work day:





Today, while home with Rena and doing some work for my online shop, I felt really energized after eating some quinoa and mushroom skillet for lunch. I decided to take a half hour to turn on some music and dance while playing around with Rena. Sorry, there's no video of us because I can't really video while dancing and hubby is away at work during the day.

What fun I had! It made me really happy; in fact, I could pinpoint the exact moment the endorphins started to kick in. I think I'll be incorporating a half-hour dance break into my regular routine, at least on days I don't walk anywhere; i.e. days I neither go grocery shopping at QFC or Whole Foods, nor to synagogue for Shabbat services. It's much more enjoyable, and I get the chance to express myself freely and work my whole body. You can try it now, if you're alone or at least at home or another place where people won't be bothered: Press play on the above video or your favorite dance music, then get up and DANCE! :)