This was not a good week. It was long! It was difficult! I was tired! And grumpy! And things went wrong! Not big things – just a bunch of little things. And since I was on edge and tired and often running late, the little things were really annoying and very stressful.
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| I asked at the gardens and they said this was a California Buckeye. I looked it up and it seems to be poisonous. Oddly enough, it reminded me of my week. |
Really, it was just life. Nothing horrible - and I'm grateful for that. Just a "common case of everyday reality" Like the country song Darryl Worley sings:
“Sounds like life to me it ain’t no fantasy
It’s just a common case of everyday reality
Man I know it’s tough but you gotta suck it up
To hear you talk you’re caught up in some tragedy
It sounds like life to me” (Darryl Worley, Wynn Varble, Phil O’Donnell)
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| My week was just annoying but sadly this 300 year old, beautiful oak tree had to be cut down because it was so unhealthy. The asphalt around it had damaged it and even though the gardeners tried to save it - it was too late. |
Last night I watched Grey’s Anatomy (saved on my DVR) and one scene made me laugh so hard and vicariously feel tremendous relief from my week of stress. The doctors were being trained in trauma, and the requirements were not set in their favor. It was a “Kobayashi Maru” (for those of you familiar with Star Trek) or a no win situation. Finally, after hours in the rain with “patients” losing their lives, one spunky gal (Dr. April Kepner played by Sarah Drew) picks up her remaining patient dummy and puts him/her in the emergency vehicle. Dr. Owen is shouting that she can’t use the vehicle. And she basically says, “I’m taking this patient to the hospital. So get out of my way or I will run you down!” I’ve watched that scene about 4 times.
Last time I wrote about work but I’ve also been thinking about fun. The idea that “a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down” seems like a good philosophy to me. Well, maybe not literally using sugar – too many empty calories, but I do think it is important to find those things that make work and life more fun.
So here are a few of my “spoonfuls of sugar” hints.
I love most vegetables but there are a few I just sort of tolerate. However, I have found that you can roast just about any vegetable and it tastes great. When I think about eating boiled Brussels sprouts or steamed green beans, yuck. But roasted Brussels sprouts or Green beans. Yummy! Or if that doesn’t work, put it a soup. Vegetables always taste good in soup. Not fond of kale? (But it’s so good for you!) Make a “creamy” (using vegan alternatives, of course) spinach and kale soup and it is delicious!
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| Truly Delicious! - Roasted Brussels Sprouts |
I don’t like mopping floors or cleaning cat boxes, or washing dishes, or dusting, or… well, you get the idea. But listen to Pandora Internet Radio or a great audio book on my IPod, and cleaning house and doing chores becomes much less of task and more of a treat.
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http://www.pandora.com |
And then there’s exercise. I think we all realize that I’m not a fan. It takes a lot of “sugar” to make this “medicine” tasty. Of course right now, I have Sam and Dean to keep me company. No, they are not my trainers – they are the Winchester brothers from “Supernatural”. I recently discovered this demon-fighting duo and ordered the DVDs. While I exercise to the “Walk Away the Pounds – 3 mile Version” DVD (on a little TV next to my big TV), I also watch a favorite show using close captioning and listen to “happy” music (mostly country, but any of my favorite music with a fast beat) on my IPod. I know it sounds complicated but my feet start moving when I listen to music with a beat and I actually look forward to exercise so I can watch another episode.
Of course, I also love to walk in the Descanso Gardens, but since most mornings I exercise very early when it’s still dark – walking outside is not really an option. However, when I get the chance to walk in the gardens, I not only get to exercise my muscles, I also get to feed my “spirit”.
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| I get to look at something beautiful when I exercise indoors. (I got the picture from this link: http://www.fanpop.com/spots/sam-winchester/links/3633418) |
Of course, I also love to walk in the Descanso Gardens, but since most mornings I exercise very early when it’s still dark – walking outside is not really an option. However, when I get the chance to walk in the gardens, I not only get to exercise my muscles, I also get to feed my “spirit”.
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| And something beautiful when I exercise outdoors. |
And then there’s food. Food has always been fun to me. I like buying it, and preparing it, and feeding it to other people, and feeding it to me. For me, food is life, and comfort, and love, and fun. So why do I include it on a page about making things that are “not-so-fun” more fun?
I think to understand my challenges with food you need to know about my recipe for macaroni and cheese (a pre-vegan recipe). It had butter in it – lots of butter! And cream – real cream! And 4 kinds of cheeses! People talked about my Mac and Cheese. Just recently, a friend I don’t see very often asked if she could pay me to make her my macaroni and cheese. When people ate my macaroni and cheese, they sighed, they gushed, they asked for the recipe. Yes, it is true that if you ate a lot of this sinfully delicious, almost rapturous food, you would die of heart attack, but while you were eating it, it was blissful!
I think to understand my challenges with food you need to know about my recipe for macaroni and cheese (a pre-vegan recipe). It had butter in it – lots of butter! And cream – real cream! And 4 kinds of cheeses! People talked about my Mac and Cheese. Just recently, a friend I don’t see very often asked if she could pay me to make her my macaroni and cheese. When people ate my macaroni and cheese, they sighed, they gushed, they asked for the recipe. Yes, it is true that if you ate a lot of this sinfully delicious, almost rapturous food, you would die of heart attack, but while you were eating it, it was blissful!
Unfortunately, my former favorite foods are the cause of my weight problems, and my high blood pressure, and my health issues. Blissful or not, they have to go! And so I need to find a way to make healthy foods, not just healthy, and not just eatable, but delicious and satisfying and maybe someday – blissful! Healthy Food Hint #1: Make healthy versions of unhealthy favorites. Hint #2: Try substituting a new ingredient in a familiar favorite recipe. Hint #3: Add vegetables when ever possible to recipes – you get to eat a lot more without a lot more calories.
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| Tempeh, Lettuce, & Tomato Sandwich |
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| Stir Fry "Chicken" & Veggies |
Here’s a new favorite recipe: Spinach Salad that follows all the hints. It is a healthy version of spinach salad. It uses new healthy ingredients like flax seed oil, miso, & jicama. And you can eat a lot of spinach for very few calories. It isn’t macaroni and cheese but it is a great way to start a meal and it really is a delicious way to eat spinach. I have made vegan versions of Mac and Cheese and I’ve enjoyed them but they aren’t really Mac & Cheese. I’m still working on the perfect macaroni dish.
Simple Individual Spinach Salads w/ Healthy Garlic-Herb Dressing
Salad Ingredients:
Spinach
Red Onion
Mushrooms
Tomatoes (Optional)
Jicama and/or Cucumbers (Optional)
Soy Bacon
Dressing Ingredients (Plenty for 1 Salad)
1 Tb red wine vinegar
1 TB water
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp flax seed oil
Juice from ½ of a lemon
Pinch of salt
¼ tsp of Agave Syrup (or sugar)
½ tsp Mrs. Dash Garlic-Herb Seasoning
¼ tsp Mrs. Dash Tomato-Basil Seasoning
¼ rounded tsp Miso (Red or White) or Dijon Mustard
Directions:
1. Sauté mushrooms with cooking spray until brown. (Because mushrooms go bad so quickly, I cook the mushrooms on the weekend, store in fridge, and then just heat them when I want a spinach salad.)
2. Cook bacon until crisp. (We cook in the microwave but you have to be careful because it burns easily.)
3. Thinly slice red onion and cut into bite size pieces. Dice tomatoes, cucumber, and jicama if using.
4. Assemble Salad. I didn’t put ingredients for amounts of spinach & vegetables. Put as much as you like.
5. Mix dressing ingredients and pour over salad.
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| Weight at end of Oct. |
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| Weight 11/7 |
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| Weight 11/14 |
I didn't visit the gardens one week. I just felt so tired, discouraged, and depressed that I didn't go. I realize visiting the gardens might have helped but sometimes I don't always do the things that would actually help me. However, I did go back the next week and the gardens are beautiful right now.
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| Beautiful View |
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| Falling Leaves |
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| Red Leaves |
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| From Green to Bronze |
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| Outdoor Cathedral |
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| White Camellia |
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| Beautiful Rose |
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| Golden Trumpets |
