Radio Silence

It has been over a week since my last post. Radio Silence. What a week it has been! I'm sure there was a week in my life that had more stress or more tasks or more emotion. There has to have been. Perhaps it was that week in 1996 when I had a benign lump removed from my breast 2 days before a hurricane blew through and we lost power while I was recovering. It could have been the week in 1999 when we moved to North Carolina from Texas. That was a long week with us loading up a moving truck and driving two different vehicles across half the country only to arrive at midnight to an empty house and a full week of rain. I don't know. The week I broke my leg and had surgery to repair it then had a party with 40 guests into my home was a bit crazy. Granted that was a pretty easy party all I did was direct traffic from my couch throne.

Last Saturday Kam was stung by a hornet. Her hand and arm swelled to twice the normal size and she ended up at the ER. She is fine now after a week on steroids to bring the swelling down. On The Fourth of July we started having car trouble. That same Saturday the mechanic said I needed to add Sea Foam (I'm sure it is spelled differently but in my mind all sea foam is greenish blue and blows down the beach when the wind is high) to the gas tank and drive it until the check engine light came on. I can tell you I was not interested in driving around aimlessly. I had knitting to do. Fortunately the engine was so unhappy the light came on with a few short errands. On Tuesday the car was fixed enough that we were told to drive it until the check engine light comes back on and then we can determine what might be happening now. Wednesday I went to Charlotte for a product training that was amazing and full of information on bone and joint health. Crazy sleep there though because the hotel room was noisy with the AC coming on and off. Not just my room but the AC from the room next door kept me up. Then the food was weird in the morning. I have learned over and over that I must bring breakfast for myself. I cannot count on finding "real" food. sigh  Thursday was a great day. Laughter and home and all was due to be perfect for the rest of the week. I planned a fun afternoon run for Friday and a relaxing weekend mixed with outdoor exercise and knitting. Friday morning it started raining. Then the battery light came on in the car. Weird thing was the charge dropped when the car was put in gear. Yeah. The car is down again. Waiting. Waiting for something. Not a new battery. That was replaced last winter when we experienced the insane cold. Apparently car batteries don't like being exposed to -10 windchill any more than humans. I resigned myself to the car not working and thought I'd catch up on some bookkeeping. I sat to the computer and the keyboard went out. Just the battery but very eerie when you think about what was going on with the car. When I replaced the batteries in the keyboard the whole computer shut itself down. Fortunately it came back on and posed no further trouble. Oh...I almost forgot...Tuesday Kam replaced the washer. She and our son Geoff went to pick up the new washer at 8 pm. They brought it home and hooked it up. It had a factory defect. Instead of putting water into the wash tub it put water onto the floor. They returned it and hooked up a new one on Wednesday. To get the magical new one though Kam had to spend over 30 minutes on the phone with customer service and speak to 5 different people.

Needless to say I was busy this past week. I was a bit stressed for creative thought. I was also in need of a break from interacting with the world. I knew I needed to get back to writing. I chose instead to continue my silence and extend it a bit. I unplugged myself completely from the internet. What a welcome relief. I'm not sure about my reentry. It is happening. It will have to be a slow one. I'm dipping my toe in, just bit by bit. I am ready to start sharing my meals again. I needed inspiration. I needed new display dishes. I want shopping! Who doesn't like a few new dishes to perk up the kitchen boredom?

My Sunday morning started a bit late. I slept in. With all the rain this weekend I found sleep just a bit too inviting and indulged in a Sunday morning rest. Breakfast wasn't easy in the house. No car for a few days meant no groceries. Fortunately (or not depending on how you view the situation) Kam had rented a car to attend her father's 86th birthday party on Saturday (Oh...did I forget to mention that detail?) and we still had use of it. We opted for breakfast out at Whole Foods before purchasing food for the week. I ate most of it before remembering to take a picture. What did I eat? A yummy frittata made with eggs, cheese, turkey bacon, bell peppers, and new potatoes on top of a bed of spinach. I had some fresh fruit on the side, just a few bites of pineapple and honeydew melon. Kam wanted me to share this picture.

Lunch was a bit of roast turkey. My master plan for protein this week was to roast a turkey so there was meat ready for every meal. By Sunday we were feeling the same way about turkey as you do in late November. We sauteed green beans in some garlic olive oil, steamed baby carrots, and made an oil and vinegar coleslaw from a baby cabbage to go along with the turkey. 

For my afternoon snack all I wanted was some fresh berries with nuts. Kam wasn't impressed. She made me eat more turkey first. I'll spare you the picture. It is about as uneventful as eating it was. 

Dinner was fabulous!! I roast a boneless lamb roast, sweet potato, and asparagus. We had more of the fresh coleslaw with it. The flavors were amazing!

Crafting in the week? Oh, YES! I have been quite productive! I finished 3 socks, have one just over an inch from complete, another ready for the heel gusset, and have spun up 3 ounces of wool and am working on plying it now. Productivity has been wonderful. I might really need to consider this as I move back into my internet world. 

The handspun merino is on the left. The cob web laceweight indie dye is on the right. The center is the two plied together or to be honest in process of being plied together. I should mention the spindle on the left broke today. I still have over an ounce of merino to spin. I dropped the silly thing. I've dropped them before. This one hasn't been used much. It bounced and the hook broke from the top. 

This pair was in process. I had one complete and was working on the next. I'm happy to say the pair is finished!

I started this sock on the Saturday when Kam was bit. It is a differently constructed sock. It starts at the toe and works sideways around the foot and up the leg. The pattern is Skew from Knitty.com. It fits perfectly. I understand there are plenty of knitters who have trouble with it though. I have smallish ankles. I think that is why it fist so well. When I have the two knit I'll share a photo of the pair actually on feet. The heel construction is amazing!

I have the second of these socks almost ready for the ribbing on the cuff. They have been so much fun to knit!

And finally I started this pair on Thursday. Another faster than anticipated knit. The yarn really makes the stitches pop!

Breakfast, Lunch, Where is dinner?

It is pretty safe to say my Friday this week was tinged with some Monday highlights. WOW! I thought I'd get in some simple tasks, a few big meals, and some nice craftitng. What I ended up with was plenty of simple tasks, a few larger tasks, and some unexpected add on bonus events. Meals were small and I missed one somehow. Crafting? There was some of that cardio-knitting stuff and some evening catch up knitting on a pair of socks. The cardio-knitting progress was small. Not enough to see a big difference. Just a few rounds walking back and forth to the gym. The second sock however is quite obvious. I was 2 inches from the heel turn yesterday morning. I finished up the gusset, turned the heel and made it through an inch of the leg.

Breakfast was fast. I had errands to run before heading out to the gym. Grilled pattypan squash and chicken sausage. 

Morning snack was 1/8 of a fresh cantaloupe and 1/2 ounce of cheese. Lunch was late. Remember I had a few added tasks. I sauteed pattypan squash, roasted a chicken breast and had arugula salad with it. I decided to have some gluten free blue cheese dressing with it because the meal was lacking in healthy fats. 

And this is where the day fell apart. I needed to move forward and plan dinner. I needed to get on with meal prep instead of get caught up in miscellaneous stuff that didn't progress my day. There was an apple and a few nuts. Then at 9:30 I realized I was hungry. Not the kind of hungry that is really thirsty. No I realized I forgot about dinner. YIKES!! I really wanted a salad and a bit of protein. Yes. I am one of the weird people in the world that craves salad and can be happy with one for breakfast or for a late night snack. I didn't have salad. There is another story explaining why I had not purchased groceries. I'll save that one for tomorrow. What did I do? I had purchased shrimp from the coast. I steamed it up with Old Bay seasoning. We ate peel and eat shrimp at 10 pm. It tasted wonderful. It was lacking the cold beer that came with late night peel and eat shrimp in my early 30s. 

The moral here? Plan meals and eat meals. Be flexible in your day so you have food available when last minute or forgotten appointments change your meal plan. 

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. 

Sunday Runday!

Sunday is normally a long run day in my world. The last few Sundays however have not included a long run. Yesterday Kam and I went out for 6.5 miles through the neighborhoods. Our intention was to be running before 9 so we caught the last of the chilly morning air. Unfortunately we missed that mark by an hour. It was 10 when we headed out. By 11 the sun was really warm and I was not enjoying myself any longer. At the end of our run we stopped by the house and picked up the dogs for a nice walk around the block...another 3/4 of a mile around the block. They were happy and we were so hungry it was no longer funny.

What to eat before a 6 mile run? I usually have coffee and nuts if I am running in the morning. Eating and running are not a good combination for me. I had an ounce of walnuts, half a cup of fresh blueberries, and a cup of coffee. During the run I had a serving of Gu Chomps, Peach Tea is my favorite flavor. I had plenty of water. Hydration is important during a run. After the run though real food was priority. Breakfast was perfect! Eggs and bacon over top fresh spinach greens with a bit of pepper Gouda on top.

I spent a bit of time out in the front yard spinning yarn. It was so refreshing. I had my audio book going and a lovely iced coffee to sip. Before I knew it I had spent 2 hours out there. The yarn I spun was 110 yards long. It is starting to look promising!

Then I relocated to a friend's pool. Well, not her own pool but one that is on the property where her house is. I took knitting for the poolside entertainment. I even managed to get through most of the gusset on this sock! It was quite an afternoon of crafting in public.

After the pool we went to her deck for a snack. Guacamole and carrots. I would much prefer to have chips and guac but I'm not eating chips right now. Carrots are just as good a vehicle as chips for moving guac to the belly. They also have more fiber, more nutrients, and less processed carbs. So carrots win over chips right now. 

Dinner? Oh yeah. We had some of that too. Funny thing about running days, we are always at least one meal down. We burn extra calories and rarely find the time to replace them. Dinner was a version of Mexican salad. Spinach and arugula in the bowl first, then seasoned black beans, then seasoned browned ground turkey. I topped this with a handful of roasted pumpkin seeds. Then topped it all off with a tablespoon of fresh salsa, two table spoons of fresh guacamole, some green olives, and a slice of fresh mozzarella. It was quite satisfying! 

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.