Beautiful Yarn!

Oh the day that was Wednesday. Breakfast was creative. I had that black bean and corn salad still. I wanted hot food. I hadn't put any dressing on it so I decided to saute it up and have turkey bacon with it. Protein and veggies or sort of veggies anyway.

Lunch was roasted zucchini and pulled turkey. The apple was more a desert thing since I ate it after the meal.

Dinner was almost gone by the time I remembered I needed a picture! I sauteed the rest of the corn and black bean salad with a yellow squash. and added sliced chicken breast to it. I had it over a bed of arugula and topped it with pumpkin seeds.

Thursday morning I had a Bengi workout. I ate an apple and had a coffee. I took a meal into the gym to eat after the workout. I remembered the picture an hour later! What did I eat? I diced a sweet potato and sliced up a chicken andouille sausage. I put these on a lightly oiled pan and put it under the broiler for 15 minutes to cook the sweet potato. It was quite tasty. 

Lunch? A skillet meal of course! First I sauteed half an onion and half a pound of ground turkey in olive oil. Then I added one small diced sweet potato, one ear of fresh corn cut from the cob, one can of black beans drained and rinsed well. I have a spicy Mexican meat rub that I've been using for flavor lately. It is some obscure thing I found. I will do my best to start using seasonings that are replaceable. The base however is chili powder and cumin. I believe it has coffee in it. It sure smells like it. 

Dinner was spectacular! Sauteed pattypan squash! YUM!! I also had fresh tuna brought from the coast. I sear that. I coat with sea salt and cracked pepper before searing on a hot griddle for a few minutes each side. The salad? I have a kale salad I like to make. It goes through many incarnations based on the availability of ingredients. This one was dinosaur kale chopped fine, 2 tbs finely chopped scallion, 1/2 cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley, 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds, and an ounce of grated Romano cheese. The salad dressing was 1/4 cup of olive oil and 2 tbs white balsamic vinegar. It really is one of my favorite foods! The sliced pear was intended as garnish but added fabulous flavor!

Crafting? Oh yes! There has been spinning progress! I have been walking and knitting. First the sock. I'm not walking very far. Only enough to do a couple of rounds. I have thought I should start walking the long way and adding in 1/2 a mile. I would also have to leave earlier for work and it is rather warm in the afternoon. Maybe I'll just start plopping myself down on the bike more often and getting in some serious cardio knitting. 

Spinning though. I have completed 17 ounces of wool! I had an issue last night. My flyer (this is one of the vital parts of the spinning wheel) malfunctioned. That is to say it separated and spins where it should be still. I recently watched the Lego Movie. I know that Everything is Awesome in the world. This was not awesome. I thought that if Kragle worked so well on the Legos it might work on my flyer. Here it is being held down by two of my cast iron pans. It stayed this way overnight in hopes that setting the glue would work.

It did work. It worked long enough to finish the last ounce of spinning and the plying of the final yarn. Then it started spinning where it should be still again. The wheel is 44 years old. I'm feeling like it might be indicating this is its last yarn. I'll share the yarn a day early. You deserve it after that horror story. I now have 540 yards of yarn. I'm not sure what pattern I'll be using but I know I'll be knitting up a vest for Kam. It is her request. I like it when she requests my hand knit items!

Holy Sore Calves Batman!

Sunday's run left a lasting impression. Calves were sore until today (Wednesday) and I couldn't focus on anything until...well...I'm not sure I am focusing yet. Lesson there? More food and more street running to build up the endurance level. I've been running mostly trail. Trail running is much softer than street running. There is more technical skill and much more core involved but not nearly the pounding that the body takes from running on the pavement for 6+ miles.

Monday's food was interesting. I wasn't interested in much. That makes it tough. Breakfast was grilled zucchini and cabbage with bacon. It was fuel but weird breakfast food.

My mid-morning snack was caprese salad. That was tasty. I could have eaten twice this much. However this was a serving. 

Late lunch was fun. I slow roasted lamb shanks. How did I do it? I lined the bottom of a large casserole with vidalia onion. Then I put chunks of sweet potato and kohlrabi over it. I put the lamb shanks on top and added 8 ounces of broth. I scattered 1 tsp each of oregano, thyme, and rosemary over the whole thing. Then I baked it at 300 for two and a half hours. The veggies were tender and the meat was falling off the bone. I served it over a bed of baby spinach.

Afternoon snack? The standard!

After work I was hungry but not wanting to eat too late. I roasted chickpeas and reheated some of the leftover veggies. This I had over top of arugula.

Tuesday's breakfast was late. I did a workout so I started my day with a runner's breakfast of nuts and coffee before heading to the gym. After that I needed protein. I'm out of butter. Eggs done in olive oil are just not the same. I cooked onion and arugula in olive oil. Then I cracked two eggs on top and added 1/2 cup of water and covered to steam poach the eggs. I had it with turkey bacon to add more protein to the meal.

My afternoon snack was a piece of watermelon and some nuts. I know. Nuts don't really go with watermelon. I have to balance the meal with protein or fat so I went for the nuts.

Late lunch was leftover pulled turkey. I made that about a week ago and had put it into the freezer for later. I roasted more zucchini for my hot veggie. My cold salad was fresh corn, canned black beans, sliced scallions, topped with fresh salsa and a side of guacamole. The taste buds were quite happy!

After work I was not interested in cooking. We decided to go out to eat. What a fantastic plan! We started with salad. Field greens with walnuts and green apple.

I had the steak. I did say earlier in the day I was getting tired of eating red meat. I know that steak is red meat. It was the best gluten free option. The meal was not Rapid Results but it was Sure and Steady. Roasted potato salad (roasted baby potato wedges in an olive oil dressing with roasted peppers and onions), topped with roasted asparagus, and finally the steak on top of that. The fun little things on top? Fresh made potato sticks. The whole thing was drizzled with a wine reduction sauce and sprinkled with fresh blue cheese. So tasty!!

Crafting progress over the last few days? Spinning of course! I'm up to 450 yards! It is so pretty!! I'm still enjoying playing with the yarn and watching the colors blend. 

Midweek Crazies!

Thursday was busy. Many clients, my own workout, and the random business that is life. With all that I neglected to post my Wednesday meals. Sorry. Wednesday was just as busy as Thursday. I woke super hungry and by the time I remembered I needed a picture of my breakfast it was already in my stomach. Not to worry. It wasn't fancy or full of extensive complicated recipes. Just a basic turkey burger with a green salad. A rather large turkey burger because I was super hungry and needing the protein for recovery from my Tuesday workout.

I made a one pot lunch that covered lunch and an afternoon snack. I like one pot meals for the ease of clean up. This one was similar to chili. Kam wanted to know what I called it. It really isn't chili but close so I told her it was Whitish Chili. It stuck. How did I make it? Sliced scallion, jalapeno pepper and garlic sauteed in coconut oil. When they were almost cooked through I added 3/4 of a pound of ground turkey to it (remember I had that burger in the morning so there wasn't a full pound). After that was browned I added diced zucchini squash, fresh corn cut off the cob and cannellini beans. I used 2 tsp of chili powder, 1 tsp of oregano and 1 tsp of thyme. To give moisture I added in a cup of water then covered and cooked until the squash was done.

After work I sliced up squash, cabbage and Italian sausage. I drizzled it with olive oil and put it on jelly roll pan in a single layer. I roasted it at 430 for 20 minutes. Simple all one dish cooking and satisfied all my veggie and protein needs. I had a bit of a sweet tooth so after I had an apple with peanut butter. 

Thursday morning was my second kettle bell workout with Bengi. I started my day with an Awake shot and an ounce of walnuts. I'm doing my workout first thing in the morning but really need to eat before I workout. A full breakfast would make me sick so I'm opting for a simple snack like meal. 

After workout I tossed veggies and chicken into the oven while I showered. I had less than an hour between the end of my workout and my next client. I had to make every minute count. 

Lunch was 4 oz of steak under the broiler and 2 cups of fresh kale. 

My snack was a fresh pear and an ounce of Brazil nuts.

After work Kam and I enjoyed a late night meal. I made bison turkey bacon burgers. I chopped up the bacon, some scallions and parsley. I mixed this all in with the ground bison and fried them in a pan in coconut oil. I think they were the best tasting burgers I've had in forever.  

Knitting progress? Wednesday I went to the laundromat...long story there...and knit on the Stitch Surfer socks. Thursday I managed lots of cardio knitting. I walked to and from the gym quite a few times. I had a client do a no-show on me so I spent half an hour on the bike knitting. Then I spent a bit of time in the evening knitting. It all totaled up to almost a complete sock. Here is the sock "knit in the wild" while cardio knitting.

And here it is just before I picked it up again yesterday.

Kettle Bells Rock

I started my workouts with my son again. He is a fantastic trainer. We are doing what we refer to as a Power Half Hour Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Boy was yesterday morning a powerful workout! He is working out with me. Pretty fun to do a mother son workout. We used kettle bells for our cardio bursts. Body weight rows with the TRX got the back. Battling ropes hit the shoulders and arms while providing extra cardio. Finally he had us do some chest using the cable cross overs. After a half hour I was ready to quit! I pushed hard. I think I pushed extra hard because I don't want to seem weak. I what to be able to do whatever he says. It could be a bit crazy to compare my 49 year old body's abilities to his 30 year old abilities. I'm not really. Not the weights I'm moving just the endurance. Still crazy.

I needed more food for recovery than I ate. I struggle with getting enough meals and big enough meals. That is one reason I'm challenging myself to share it with the world. Or at least the portion of the world that is interested in reading. For those in the know you will notice I needed another cup of veggies with my breakfast. The gluten free chicken Italian sausage had 18 grams of protein. It was enough for the meal. I had baked the sweet potato while I was at the gym. They were perfectly soft and piping hot when I returned home. Yes, that is butter on the sweet potato. It is real butter and whipped so it looks like lots when it is indeed just a bit.

I repeated my lack of green veggies at lunch. Again not a good plan. Why did I do this? I'm claiming burn out. I was just not interested in cooking more food. Some how I reasoned with myself that chicken and sweet potato would be enough to see me through. Could be that snack I had late morning. There was an apple and peanut butter that somehow managed to get into my belly without having its portrait taken. 

Before going into the gym for my evening clients I had early dinner. Another chicken breast, roasted sliced cabbage and a roasted zucchini. It was yummy but not enough food to take me through the entire evening. I was done with clients at 8:30 pm and famished again. I'm blaming the kettle bells.

What did I do? I heated up gluten free chicken meat balls and sauteed some spinach. The radish garnish was tasty but not really much additional nutrition. 

I followed this with a pear and the last few table spoons of yogurt topped off with walnuts.

Knitting? I started another sock! This is the Stitch Surfer sock from Knitty.com. What a fun concept! Intarsia knit in the round that fades one direction and another. The appearance of surfing from side to side is intensified by the stripe contrasted with the tonal variegation. I think these socks are going to be a fast knit. I'm pretty happy about that.

Broccoli is too Breakfast Food!

In the interests of a low glycemic impact meal fresh veggies are of utmost importance. Every meal needs to have fiber and protein. Sometimes that means breakfast might include foods that are not considered "normal" breakfast foods. Broccoli is one of those. Yes, broccoli can be found in a quiche or in an omelet. It is rare to find steamed broccoli on a plate with eggs and bacon. Well, it is rare to find that in the average American kitchen. My kitchen is not average. I go for whatever green vegetable I have on hand when it comes to breakfast. I'm about over the eggs for breakfast kick. It doesn't last long for me. There will be changes coming soon!

I purchased two boneless turkey thighs on Friday. I was feeling creative so I rubbed them with 1 tsp of sea salt and 2 tsp of Kickin' Chicken spice. I put them into a deep casserole dish and covered them tightly with aluminum foil. Then I baked at 325 for two and a half hours. The result? Pulled turkey barbecue. If I was a bread eater I would have made a wonderful sandwich. I'm not a bread eater. I had two meals using this meat. The first was simple. Just over baby spinach.

The next was pretty simple as well but had more fat in it. Kam is on a wedge of iceberg lettuce kick. So we did a wedge salad (gluten free blue cheese dressing for me), fresh tomato with chopped parsley and fresh mozzarella with the turkey thigh. 

My mid-afternoon snack was an apple with peanut butter. Just a tablespoon of the healthy fat as is appropriate.

At the end of the day I was feeling the need for more food. I didn't want a full meal yet I was feeling hungry and needed something. I chose to make a healthy desert. I sliced fresh pear and put it under the broiler for 10 minutes until it just started to brown on the edges. Then ate it with 1/2 a cup of Greek Yogurt and some raw walnuts. It was quite tasty!

Sock progress? There was plenty! Oh yes. I managed to get to half the foot!

What happened Friday??

Oh yes. Friday. That would be the day I somehow forgot to take pictures of some of the meals. Then there was Saturday when I was to write about Friday. Well...Friday I started a headache that has not yet gone away. Headaches don't put you in to mood for writing and tend to take away some of the spontaneous memory abilities. Yeah. Long drawn out excuse which really means...I forgot.

On with Friday! The meal I forgot to take a picture of was breakfast. It wasn't that exciting. Bacon (yes I'm often get into that turkey bacon at breakfast rut), eggs and greens. If you are curious what that looks like just refer to Thursday's breakfast. It was very much the same.

Snack time though. That is something new and different. I had a friend drop off some grape sized plums. They are very cute. They taste just like a normal plum and have a pit in the center. The difference? They fit in your mouth in one bite. I also had a protein bar. I'm not a big fan of the average protein bar. I don't like the taste of them and they often use ingredients that I can't digest. A client shared Epic bars with us. They remind me of my dad. He loved Slim Jims. They are not high on the food quality list but they were his favorite treat and every time I see them I think of him. Epic bars are made from high quality ingredients. They come in a variety of flavors. As with all food items I think the flavor you like is a matter of personal taste.

I had an acupuncture appointment in the middle of the day. My hope was it would take away the itch and knock my headache back to a dull hum. The itching was better for a bit but the headache just climbed. I knew it was going to be one of those weekends. To make my life easier and be sure there was plenty of food on hand I stopped off at Whole Foods on my way home. I picked up clean meats, fresh corn from South Georgia, and some beautiful red cherries. Lunch was simple assembly since I also bought chicken salad. Chicken salad is easy enough to make and I make it in a way I enjoy eating. That will happen soon. Maybe next weekend since we have a three day weekend coming up. 

My afternoon snack was roasted chickpeas. They are one of my go to foods. I rolled these in a bit of that coconut oil since it is liquid right now I'm enjoying using it. I then added sea salt and garlic powder. I was in a hurry. I waited too long for snack time so I just put them under the broiler to crisp up a bit. A fast 5 minute snack! I use a full can of chickpeas but only ate half. 

Dinner was fun. We have someone local that brings fresh sea food from the coast on Thursdays. I bought sushi grade fish so we could have sushi at home. Salmon and tuna on arugula with water chestnuts and wheat free tamari. Don't worry. There was plenty of food. Seconds and a small bowl of cherries helped to fill me up. 

Now for the knitting progress. I started the second lace sock. The cuff takes forever. Not the plain knitting around and around. That is pretty simple. Even the knit two together and yarn over round that forms the ridges of the picot edge is pretty easy. It is the picking up the cast on edge to make the folded hem that takes a long time. I did find a trick that cut the time somewhat. I used a single double pointed needle the next size down to pick up the stitches. Not all of them that would be silly. Just a few at a time. Then I made it through a couple of repeats of the lace chart. Pretty good progress when you realize I had a full day with errands, appointments, and clients. 

Return of the Protein

I had a client ask me if I was eating enough. It seems I'm not documenting all my snacks. OOPS! Sorry!! I have had an apple or two that didn't get all glammed up and into the shots. For today's post you can note there were two snacks that didn't make it to pictures. One was an apple with peanut butter and the other was an ounce of raw almonds. I was just so hungry I forgot to get a photo. Really though how exciting is a picture of an ounce of almonds?

Yesterday marked the return of the protein. I started my day with the same squash on a bed of arugula with a half cup of blueberries but added uncured turkey bacon to the plate. It seemed such a treat!

Lunch may not look like much but it was filling. I sauteed yellow squash, green onion, and broccoli in a teaspoon of coconut oil and added in one chicken Italian sausage. I had this over a bed of fresh arugula greens. Plenty of flavor for something that is not all that creative. 

Dinner was one that we do when we are over tired and just need a quick meal. I made a fast chili. Not one to write home about. Not one that needs to go down in the history books or even near a cook book. Just a chili that fills the belly and satisfies some of those nutritional needs. This one was simple fresh garlic and onions sauteed with some ground bison. I added a can of black beans and some tomato paste to it. I used  a fun meat rub for the seasoning. It has the flavor of chili with some deep notes of chocolate and coffee. Once there was enough water to mix it all through it was simply a matter of simmering for 15 minutes. I had half an avocado and a nice green salad with it. Perfect.

Knitting? Oh yes! I did some cardio knitting...well walked back and forth to the gym and around at the gym a bit. By night fall the sock was an inch away from the toe decreases! Here it is measured up to its mate.

The blue sock? I spent a lovely lunch hour knitting on the porch swing. I took a picture of the start point. Silly me forgot to take a picture of it before I started knitting today. Today I finished it. You will have to wait for tomorrow's post to see the completion. Here is where I started on it though. I have to say I'm so enjoying the blue against the flowered nail wraps.