Grateful

There are a lot of thoughts swimming through my head so I'm going to do my best to organize them clearly for ya. I definitely want to share that I had a great Tuesday for MANY reasons and I think that my thoughts will demonstrate that my great day was the result of choices I made that made me grateful.

I had a dentist appointment before work which meant getting up early after a long night of class. I whipped up my favorite cereal, choosing peanut butter and a drop of fig jam for toppings with an egg white alongside before heading to the doctor's office.

I made it into work and chugged through the morning despite battling a bit of fuzziness after lots of thinking, etc. as a result of 5 hours of class.

On my walk home for lunch I had a great phone call with my mom that helped me think through some ideas I've been mulling over. She was supportive and encouraging - I love my mom!

Lunch was a serving of split pea soup along with the last 1/4c of baked beans and a slice of Udi's whole grain bread toasted and topped with tomato paste and a schmear of hummus.

Instead of constantly checking my blackberry as I headed back into the office I deemed it a technology-free 10 minutes and thought about what I was grateful for. That might have been the big turning point in my day.

The afternoon flew by and before I knew it I was heading to my late afternoon meeting. It went well and then I headed over to the quad to witness Bid Day with my office. Bid Day is when freshmen find out which sorority they will be joining and they gather on the quad to meet those chapter members and begin their Greek Life careers. I was so happy and back in my element for this hour that I think I scared a few colleagues with my enthusiasm. It brought back so many positive memories of when I joined my sorority and made me feel proud and inspired to continue to be a part of my organization and Greek Life as a whole today. I was on Cloud 9 for the rest of the evening.

I headed to the gym after work (!!!) for an elliptical session inspired by who knows what. It didn't hurt that I wanted to have exercised some before parking it on the couch to watch the Biggest Loser though! I did 2 miles in 20 minutes not wanting to overdo it with my foot (I'd say its maybe 90% better at this point). You have to start somewhere, right?

After a quick stop in the store for a few items I headed home as the sun was setting. Instead of grumbling that sunsets are getting earlier I paused and took in the beautiful sky. Those few seconds inspired even more happiness, yay!

I played in the kichen, roasting up my first kabocha squash, a sweet potato, and kale and got dinner ready. It was time to break into a pouch of Bob's Red Mill polenta and I wanted to make sure I had some for lunches for the rest of the week.

Tonight's bowl contained broccoli, one carrot - grated, fresh grated Cabot sharp cheddar, and a serving of polenta. On the side I had kale chips and a sample of my roasted veg. You'd have thought it was November or December with all the comfort I cooked up!

Now I'm snacking on an amazingly flavorful ripe pear from the farmers market and watching the Biggest Loser. I am pleased to report that it's much, much better than the season premiere was. I have a conference call at 9:30pm that I doubt I'll complete because I am exhausted. I had quite the full day!

 

What are you grateful for today? Do you find that positivity and a "good day" is a conscious choice you make?

The Best Start to Fall

Can you believe it's the first day of fall? Celebrating Labor Day feels like just yesterday and now we're on the tail end of September! I guess if it has to be fall already, it might as well arrive in my favorite kind of way - with temperatures in the 90s! Way to go DC :-D

This morning my body wasn't quite sure what season it truly was. I craved a bowl of hot cereal but topped it with blueberries, 1/4 of peach diced, and almond butter drizzle. Mmmm.

Work flew by as I spent most of it in meetings that left my head spinning and tummy rumbling by the time we wrapped up. Insert a thrown together lunch of sorts - taco salad! On top of a bed of romaine and spinach I added roasted carrot, broccoli, and okra (what was in my fridge) and Mexican-inspired baked beans plus a toasted corn tortilla and some Cabot lite cheddar shredded.

The beans were super easy to make: I put 1 serving kidney beans and 1/2 serving of black beans in a bowl onto which I sprinkled cumin and chili powder, ketchup, BBQ sauce, mustard and garlic powder, and a tiny pinch of brown sugar. Stir. Microwave for 1.5 minutes, stir, and pour on top of your salad. Quick and easy (TWSS).

The afternoon flew by equally as quickly and a late afternoon meeting squashed my hopes of a triumphant return to pilates class. Drat. I snacked on the remaining 3/4 of a peach plus 1/3c of cereal for a snack before my meeting to prevent any hangriness.

Instead I stopped by Whole Foods for 3 items and left with only those 3 items in mind, plus a few nibbles O:-)

I decided to put to good use a huge batch of black beans I whipped up in the crock pot earlier this week and mark the start of fall with my first batch of soup of the season: Black Bean Soup! I've been craving it and finally had the time to cook.

Ingredients:

• 2c black beans
• 2 carrots, diced
• 1/2c onion, chopped
• 1/2c frozen bell pepper strips, roughly chopped
• 2.5 - 3c vegetable broth
• 1/3 teaspoon cumin
• garlic and chili powder to taste
• 1T soy sauce
• splash of balsamic vinegar
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/3 teaspoon oregano

First chop your carrot and onion. Heat a pan sprayed with non-stick spray and add your veggies. Add garlic powder and saute until soft. It may be helpful to add a couple tablespoons of water to ensure that you don't burn your veggies.

Once the onions are translucent add your beans, peppers, broth, and spices and bring to a simmer. Partially cover the pot with a lid and allow to simmer for 20 - 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

When veggies are tender remove pot from heat and remove the bay leaf. Once the mix has cooled down a bit pour into your blender and roughly blend until mix is somewhat pureed. I wanted my soup to have a thicker feel so I did not puree until completely smooth. I also left a ladle-ful of soup in the pot unblended. Once you've blended your bean and veg mix, add it back to the pot, stir with remaining bean mix, and enjoy.

This made 4 ~1cup servings that clock in at 150 calories, .5g fat, 9g fiber, and 8g protein.


For dinner I had 1.5 servings on top of spinach and mixed veg alongside a slicee of Udi's toast with some cheddar. Plus a few random nibbles here and there - I couldn't get full!

The rest of the night was spent doing dishes, watching the return of Modern Family, and catching up on Glee which I skipped last night in favor of Biggest Loser. However, I wish I had caught Glee live as Biggest Loser was extremely slow - they spent 1hr 55minutes picking contestants and 2 teasing you with what's coming for the season. Those 2 minutes were the best part. Disappointing. Here's to hoping the season picks up - Biggest Loser is one of my favorite shows!


Alright, bed time for me. I've been sleeping horribly and am hoping to break the streak!


What are your favorite TV shows? Have season premieres impressed or disappointed so far this week? Glee and Modern Family were amazing, BL10 disappointing, and I cannot wait for Grey's Anatomy tomorrow!!

Happy Go Lucky

My tantrums of Monday quickly faded away into a new and sunny day yesterday! I still have no reason for my case of the Terrible Twos but I can tell you that after taking my iron supplements again I seem to be in a better mood. Welcome to life being anemic I guess. Thank you gluten intolerance :)

Breakfast was a berry good bowl of hot cereal: the usual base (BRM hot cereal and buckwheat, 1/4c almond milk, 3/4c water, 1/2T chia seeds, cinnamon) with a generous 1/2c of berries mixed in. There were strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries, all topped with 1/2T PB and crushed almonds and cacao (which is a good source of iron!). Plus an egg white.

I actually came home for lunch to get in a little movement and to whip up something fresh. I dusted off a (new) old favorite recipe: Spring Greens Soup! This batch contained:

• 1/2c diced onion and celery
• 3/4c chopped parsley
• 4 oz potat veggie broth
• .5c water
• 3c spinach
• 3c mixed greens
• 1.25c frozen broccoli florets
• garlic, salt, pepper, to taste

The whole batch clocked in right around 300 calories, 1g fat, and 21g fiber!  I had a generous 1c serving along with toast topped with 1/2 a slice of provolone cheese.

This combo held me over quite well (~3 hours) and I was happy when snack time rolled around. A little fun fact about me: I would often have 3 "afternoon" snacks in elementary school. In the 6th grade we were allowed to have an afternoon snack, so I (always hungry at this age) had a plastic baggy with potato chips or some something similar. Then when I got home I'd have another snack (or sometimes 2). This could include, and I kid you not, carrots, fruit, or a salad, an Uncle Ben's rice mix like my favorite - Chicken and Broccoli (before we knew it was definitely not GF), or barbecue beans either of which I would cook up on my own. Of course, then it was off to various sports practices or to play outside for hours until dinner. I definitely earned my childhood nickname of "the Bottomless Pit"  :-D

This afternoon snack was a fun mix of foods: a Persian cucumber purchased from the farmers market this weekend, Fuji apple with some AB, and 1/3c of heaven Nature's Path Crunch Maple Sunrise cereal. I will be sharing my thoughts on this cereal later but just know that it's fantastic!

I ran some errands after work including a trip to the bookstore. 3 books and a Logic Puzzle magazine later, I headed over to Whole Foods. I had 1 item on my list and left with only that item (which cost under $1). Cheapest WF trip yet!

Dinner was my last Bistro veggie burger on half of an English muffin (topped with BBQ and hot sauce) and various roasted veggies. Tuesdays have become burger / barbecue night in the Gluten Free Grazer house and I like having that routine!

Of course, my snack of the other half of English muffin and Asian pear was consumed while watching my favorite part of Tuesday - Biggest Loser. They were in Dallas on last night's show and I got teary-eyed a few times! This show is one of my biggest sources of inspiration to stay healthy and I ended up doing a bunch of arm and abs exercises during it.  I really love the show!

I didn't fall asleep as easily as I would have hoped but I'm just kind of rolling with it. My day was a break from the norm and I'm factoring in the copious amounts of sleep I got over the weekend.

A Whole Lot of New

There was a lot of new today, despite it not being a particularly notable one. The weather was new - cold, gloomy, and rain for most of it.  What else was new? A true, true desire to have gone to Cardio Sculpt today. I really needed the stress release. In fact, I jokingly wrote this to a friend:

"Dear Foot, Please heal. I have a lot of pent-up aggression to exercise out. Then I feel like I'll be back to my normal self. Love, Me"

While it's not new for my patience to be wearing thin with my injury, it's new for me to be feeling to antsy about it.

This morning I had a new combo in my hot cereal - raspberries! I loved this pink bowl of deliciousness! In the mix:

• 1/4c BRM hot cereal and buckwheat
• 1/4c unsweetened almond breeze
• 3/4c water
• pinch of salt
• cinnamon
• 1/2c frozen raspberries
• 1/2T chia seeds
• 1/2T PB
• sprinkle of crushed sliced almonds

Before the rain hit around noon, I did something new - I took my lunch break! I had a craving for a lunch I haven't made before so I decided to walk home to whip it up. So what exactly was this craving?  It started with this baby artichoke (one of 4 that I precooked on Sunday to have on hand for the week).

And the heart (best part) made for the perfect sandwich filling!  I toasted up 2 slices of whole grain gluten free bread, one spread with dijon mustard and one with BBQ and buffalo sauce, a slice of 2% provolone cheese, spinach leaves, and the artichoke heart. Reheated ever so slightly to melt the cheese. Yyyuuumm!  Enjoyed with a salad.

Snacked on an apple this afternoon and learned a new tip from a health article.

During a meal, your body naturally has a "put down the fork moment." You know, the pause where you put down your fork, go to the restroom, stop eating, etc. That is a natural cue that you are full but not stuffed. I've heard similar tips before but this one made sense.

After work I did something I haven't done in a LONG time - stretched! My legs were really achy and in need of some attention so I stretched them with various yoga poses that I could do without being on my foot. It.felt.so.good.

Dinner utilized some more of my prepped veggies from Sunday.

• 1/2c diced carrot
• 4 broccoli florets
• 1/2 a zucchini, diced
• full 1/4c frozen edamame
• 4 or 5 chopped asparagus spears
• pinch of chopped onion and celery
• GF brown rice pasta
• veggie broth
• garlic powder, crushed red pepper, pinch of dill

1. Spray a pan with non-stick spray and saute carrots, onion, and celery until soft. Sprinkle with garlic powder.
2. When starts to brown, add a splash of veggie broth and keep stirring veggies.
3. Add remaining veggies and cook until softened. Continue adding broth and pasta water to keep mixture moist.
4. Add serving of spaghetti to the pan of veggies with more broth and pasta water, stir until incorporated.
5. Serve topped with a pinch of dill, salt, and parmesan cheese.

This was fresh, flavorful, and creamy without any of the guilt (or tummy pain) of a traditional creamy pasta! The more I mixed it up, the better it got. And, with the article from earlier fresh in my mind, I realized that I put down my fork with about 1/3c left and saved it for later.

Before 8, the dishes were done, the apartment straightened up, and I am enjoying a new Biggest Loser AND... GLEE!! Can't wait to see what new songs they do tonight! And I'll be snacking on this.

I'm out :)

Off my Rocker

There's no other way to describe the day but feeling a little out of sorts and "off my rocker." It must also be Southern-ism week here at the Gluten Free Grazer because my use of the word "y'all," cravings for bbq and other Southern delights, and use of idioms is out of control. This is one week that my brother can't call me a Yankee though ;-)

The day started off routine enough with blueberry maple hot cereal, topped with mostly almond butter because I'm out of peanut butter. You know what's coming soon...

Worked through the morning and nothing was unusual or uneventful. I got hungry for lunch and had a large, simple salad of romaine, carrots, banana peppers, and 2 pickles. I was expecting to get to eat leftover lentil sloppy joe mix as well but only had about 1/3 of the serving I brought before getting full.

That's when the quirkiness of the day began. I couldn't sit still for the life of me! For the rest of the day, I must have been up and down every 20 minutes, in addition to walking to a few meetings in other buildings on campus. I guess a month of not running, walking, and ellipticalling is finally getting the best of me. My legs were utterly restless!

I also figured that I would be hungry before snack time especially since my lunch was pretty light. That feeling of hunger didn't hit until right before the end of the day. I munched on a delicious Fuji apple as I headed to the store to make a return.

Since I was around the corner from my gym (at the Jewish community center) I stopped in to pick up a pool schedule (in anticipation of getting to do something besides abs and arms soon!). I chatted with the trainer for a while and realized how much I miss it there! Not just the workouts but the people as well. I've built a whole group of friends through classes, etc. The trainer encouraged me (if the dr. says it's ok, of course) to come to class for the arms and abs part and to skip the cardio. Just being in the gym reminded me of how good I feel when I work out. Yes, I do enjoy spending a lot of time being active, whether that's walking around the city, taking class, or running / cross-training. It is a great outlet for my energy, I feel confident and strong after a  tough workout, and I find that my mental clarity is better, I sleep better, and all around feel good. It's not my drug but my happy pill!  This might make me a bit off my rocker for enjoying some of the torture of some of my workouts, but it's just like pampering yourself with a pedicure or shopping - it's treating myself to something I deserve and love!

Coming to this realization over the past month has been a process and at this point, I simply cannot wait to resume (read: slowly ease back into) my normal activity. Being forced to slow down and spend my time otherwise has been good, yet I've also realized that exercise and being active contributes to my happiness and quality of life!

I came home from the gym and was actually hungry (!) so I started on dinner. I wanted to use up some lima beans I had in my freezer so I threw together a succotash stew.

• 1.5 c lima beans
• 3/4c corn
• 1.5c chopped orka
• 1/3c chopped onion
• 3 large carrots, diced
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1/4c water
• salt and pepper
• garlic powder
• paprika, chili powder, oregano

Saute the onion and carrot in a pot sprayed with non-stick spray until soft. Add the rest of the  vegetables, water, and spices and stir. Allow to simmer for 20 - 25 minutes until the carrots are tender. Makes 4 1-cup servings.

I topped a bowl of this with a light sprinkle of cheese and hot sauce, and also had one of these new multi-seed English muffins I discovered at Whole Foods. I don't think I've ever had an English muffin before and this was really good! They come frozen which means you don't have to worry about them going bad. I ate one half with my stew and am saving the second half for "dessert" alongside my pear.

I'm watching the Biggest Loser and taking care of a few things. It's funny, the show used to motivate me to stay active (and it still does) but I've been loving the non-exercise parts of the show since my injury! Kinda crazy but I swear I'm not too far off my rocker!

G'night!

Past and Present

Hi there!  I realized that in my Sunday night sleepiness, I failed to give details to the great dinner that my friends and I had. Since that was more fun than the news I got today, I wanted to start things off with a flashback. We went to Jaleo, which is a Spanish tapas restaurant. I hadn't been there in over 2 years and forgot about how good their food is!

We selected the restaurant because of their gluten free menu and my friend and I immediately asked for one as soon as we were seated. The host asked if anyone else had allergies, explaining that in addition to their gluten free menu, they have a fish / shellfish allergy menu as well as dairy free! Especially at a place where so many people share dishes, it was really great to know that my food would be safe - something I've often had problems with at other restaurants in DC.

The decor is colorful and fun, modern with a touch of comfort.

And we were ready to get down to business once we were seated. Because of everyone's allergies and food preferences, we didn't share dishes but ordered our own. Those that could shared bites and tastes. Everything was beautiful and tasted delicious!

I ordered: the beet and citrus salad with sherry vinaigrette on the side(didn't eat the blue cheese - don't like the taste)

Sauteed cauliflower with olives and dates

Wild mushroom risotto topped with cheese (I forget which kind)

It was a perfect wrap-up meal with Marsha and friends!

 Flash forward to today which began [not so] bright and early. I did not sleep very well last night due to some noisy neighbors >:-(  I was headed back to my new BFF, my foot doctor, for the ever-present broken foot. I enjoyed from blueberry hot cereal and an egg white and then was on my way.

If all had gone according to plan, I would have had a great shot at getting the 'ok' to not wear the boot anymore. However, man plans and G-d laughs. (And I then, use cliches) My foot has remained swollen all around the big toe joint which means that it's not healing property.

I am now going for an MRI tomorrow morning so that we can hopefully figure out what's going on.  I've tried to stay really positive and good-natured about this because injuries happen and I don't think there was one specific reason which caused me to break my foot. However, it's been a month now since I've really worked out and I'm starting to miss my endorphins, along with putting on a regular left shoe. I will make sure to report back with what we find!

I was pretty upset when I arrived at work and wasn't hungry until well after my usual lunch time. When hunger did hit, I enjoyed a 1/2c of seaweed salad and leftover noodle stir fry from last night.

Snacked on an apple and fruit leather with some blueberry tea

And then stopped by Trader Joe's to pick up a few things. Spring has definitely arrived in DC - it's going to be in the 60s (and maybe even 70) for the rest of the week! Amazing!  I started off dinner with a salad:

Romaine lettuce, beets, a carrot, topped with peach salsa and a couple of crumbled tortilla chips

Then I had a BBQ inspired dinner using a 6-bean mix I picked up at the store. I heated up a serving of beans and made a BBQ sauce using mustard, syrup, ketchup, garlic powder, and onion powder. I served it over some brown rice alongside green beans. Yum! The beans tasted like my grandmother's version.

It's Biggest Loser night and catching up on a few things online. I'm glad that tonight's episode is focusing on a lot of other aspects of the competition besides working out. I need to not watch others do what I cannot right now.

See y'all in the morning :)