Three Short Weeks

Posted on April 11, 2009 by Jenn

Today marks the completion of three weeks of my 30-day self-challenge to practice yoga 6 days a week and eat vegetarian. (I said I would give myself one day off a week from the vegetarianism, but I haven’t needed a day off).

Earlier this week I felt briefly like I was struggling with the yoga with feelings of weakness, both physically and mentally, but I just kept going and today I feel fantastic. Last week I even felt the urge to quit, but this week I can’t believe there is only a week left of my challenge, and I don’t want it to end. I find myself feeling a little angry with myself for thinking, I can’t continue at this pace, it’s too expensive to go to yoga 6 times a week, or that I don’t have the time in my life for 6 days a week. In reality, it doesn’t have to be as extreme as 6 days a week. I have had to miss things to be able to practice 6 days a week. But it’s doing for me exactly what I had hoped, it’s making me appreciate what a regular, consistent yoga practice feels like. When the challenge is over, I plan to make more time in my weekly routine for yoga, and to continue to eat vegetarian as much as possible.

When I feel angry or anxiety rising inside me, I really try to take a deep breath, to think back to that wonderful feeling I get just after completing my practice. I try hard to swallow down that uncomfortable lump in my throat, to remember that bringing a smile to your face softens your whole body. Whenever I feel myself sucking in my tummy, in an unconscious effort to be smaller, skinner, I start belly breathing, just a bit, to remind myself that I don’t need to hold all that in. It’s ok. And it feels so good to let it all out with an audible sigh.

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Spring Has Sprung?

Posted on April 10, 2009 by Jenn

It doesn’t officially feel like spring yet even though the vernal equinox was on March 20th. There is still quite a chill in the air some days. Other days are nice, but those feel rare and few and far between. We have a large bush/shrub/plant in our backyard which is usually just green during summer and fall and looks incredibly bad in the winter when it has no leaves. But in the spring, watch out, the forsythia blooms and it is so beautiful. We’re seeing the beginnings of that finally.

We finally got all of our seeds planted for our garden in our new indoor 4 tiered greenhouse (thank you Price Chopper!).  We got the greenhouse this year because for the past two years Jasper has been eating all of our sprouts!  We call it her salad bar.  We’ve had these planted for a week, and she has shown no interest.  We’re even seeing sprouts of lettuce already.

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Posted in Gardening, Life | 2 Comments

Getting Burnt Out?

Posted on April 8, 2009 by Jenn

picture-2I am in the middle of week three of 30-days of yoga and vegetarianism.  I am doing great with the veggie eating, but I had a hard time at yoga again last night.  Really wasn’t into it, and really didn’t feel strong at all.  I felt downright weak in fact.  Even when standing straight up, my legs were shaking unless I locked my knees, which is never a good idea.  I complained to Ryan about the light headedness and the overall feeling of weakness, and he blames my lack of meat.  I wonder if that is it?  I know I should be drinking more water too.  Maybe I am just getting a little burnt out from exercising 6 days a week for the last two and a half weeks.  Not sure what to change, if anything.  I am planning to just keep pushing through.  We’ve been busy in the evenings, so haven’t had much time for trying new recipes in the last week or so.

Posted in Exercise, Life, Yoga | 1 Comment

Best. Tree. Ever.

Posted on April 5, 2009 by Jenn

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I see this tree often in my travels and it always makes me smile.  It looks especially cool in the winter, when it doesn’t have any leaves and you can see all of the wind chimes.  I imagine that the people who live in this house live very peaceful lives.  I would love to hear how wonderful all of these sound on a windy afternoon.

I wasn’t really into yoga this evening.  It was the first day in 2 weeks that I didn’t want to go.  I have taken Friday off for both weeks, but I think I am going to switch my day off to Sunday – it’s just so hard to get motivated to do anything on a Sunday evening.

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Cashew Curry

Posted on April 2, 2009 by Jenn

Caitlin turned me on to a great website called 101 Cookbooks. Tonight I tried one of Heidi’s recipes for the first time. When I realized I didn’t have the most important ingredient, curry, my husband was nice enough to pick it up for me on the way home. Crisis averted. The recipe was quick, easy, delicious, and of course – meat free! I substituted in some fake chicken instead of tofu. I also added fettuccine noodles which really absorbed the sauce nicely.

Cashew Curry Recipe from 101cookbooks.com

1 cup whole coconut milk
1 – 2 tablespoons curry powder
scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1/2 large red onion, chopped
1 medium garlic clove, chopped
1/3 cup water
4 ounces firm tofu, cut into small cubes (optional)
1 cup green beans, cut into 1-inch segments
1 1/2 cups cauliflower, cut into tiny florets
1/3 cup cashews, toasted
a handful of cilantro, loosely chopped

Bring half of the coconut milk to a simmer in a large skillet or pot over medium-high heat. Whisk in the curry powder and salt, working out any clumps. Now stir in the chopped red onion and garlic and cook for a minute. Stir in the remaining coconut milk and the water, and then the tofu. Cook down the liquid for a couple minutes before adding the green beans and cauliflower. Cover and simmer for just about one minute, maybe two – or just until the cauliflower and beans lose their raw edge and cook through a bit. Remove the pot from heat and stir in the cashews. Taste and adjust the seasoning (salt / curry powder) if needed. Serve with a bit of cilantro topping each bowl.

Serves Serves 2-3.

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Another Successful Night

Posted on April 2, 2009 by Jenn

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We drank wine, we ate delicious food, we talked a little about the book and a lot about life . . . another successful book club (March 2009)

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Baking Makes It Better

Posted on April 1, 2009 by Jenn

I felt like I was spinning my wheels at work today, going in circles, redoing work I’ve already done. I was happy to have my yoga practice tonight, but sad that I didn’t make it home from work in time to bake muffins for our last class. We had tea afterwards, and people had mentioned bringing snacks. Class was great, as usual. I’m sad that it was the last week, but excited to start the intro to power class in a few weeks. Afterwards we had delicious tea and watermelon. When I got home, I decided to bake the muffins anyway. They don’t look quite as nice as last time, but I think that’s because I used whole wheat flour this time. Even though they looked different, they were just as delicious!

Berry Muffins

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 cup blueberries or mixed berries
Topping:
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Combine 1 1/2 cup flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder

3. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup, add egg and enough milk to fill the cup.

4. Mix with flour mixture.

5. Fold in berries.

6. Fill about about 10-12 muffin cups.

7. Combine ingredients for topping and sprinkle on the tops of muffins

8. Bake 20-25 minutes.

Posted in Recipes, Work, Yoga | 3 Comments

Welcome Maddock

Posted on March 31, 2009 by Jenn

Congrats to my cousins Mark and Ashley on the arrival of their new baby boy, Maddock.

March 27, 2009!

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Chili-Cheese Black Bean Enchiladas

Posted on March 31, 2009 by Jenn

Day eight with no meat and still not missing it. I made this dish on Sunday night, and baked it for dinner last night. Ryan was skeptical, but LOVED it. “This is a keeper,” he said. It’s going on a recipe card, and into the new recipe box, just as soon as I rearrange the kitchen. Last night we searched for recipe card dividers and Ryan volunteered to make some for me – I am excited to see how they turn out. We also got all of our seeds, pots, soil, etc for our garden this year. We’re late getting going but optimistic. Focusing at yoga last night was a challenge. There was a car alarm going off intermittently in the parking lot for the entire 75 minutes and another distraction I would rather not mention.

Chili-Cheese Black Bean Enchiladas

Cream cheese binds the filling and gives it a silky consistency. Look for red enchilada sauce in the Mexican food section of your supermarket. If you’re unable to find soy crumbles, chop thawed veggie burgers to use in their place.

Yield:6 servings (serving size: 2 enchiladas)

Ingredients

  • Cooking spray
  • 1/2 cup chopped onion
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 (12-ounce) bag frozen soy crumbles, thawed (such as Morningstar Farms)
  • 3/4 cup bottled salsa
  • 1/3 cup (3 ounces) block-style fat-free cream cheese, softened
  • 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded reduced-fat extrasharp cheddar cheese, divided
  • 12 (6-inch) corn tortillas
  • 1 (10-ounce) can enchilada sauce

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add onion, and sauté 4 minutes or until tender. Stir in cumin, oregano, chili powder, garlic, beans, and soy crumbles, and cook 2 minutes, stirring mixture frequently.

Stir in salsa, and cook 1 minute. Remove from heat, and add cream cheese and 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, stirring until cheese melts.

Warm tortillas according to package directions. Spread 1/3 cup enchilada sauce in bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Spoon about 1/3 cup black bean mixture down center of each tortilla, and roll up. Arrange enchiladas, seam sides down, crosswise in dish. Pour remaining enchilada sauce evenly over enchiladas, and sprinkle with 1/2 cup cheddar. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Cooking Light, SEPTEMBER 2003
Posted in Recipes, Yoga | 1 Comment

IZZIE GOES TO THE FARM

Posted on March 30, 2009 by Jenn

We had an absolutely wonderful weekend in New Hampshire. On Friday after work, we packed up the car and the dog and headed to Boston to pick up Amy. Her place is adorable, and we wanted to just camp out in her cozy little room, read all her books and look at all her old pictures of our family all weekend. But we knew wonderful things were waiting for us in New Hampshire, so we got on the road again. We got there about 10:30pm, and everyone was already sleeping! Such is life, now that there is a baby in the household. On Saturday morning my cousin’s wife (who will hereafter be referred to as my cousin), Jess, took me to At Om Yoga in Concord, New Hampshire for an all levels class taught by Denise. The studio was in a wonderful old building which used to house some sort of theater. You enter the studio by walking through the old theater and the waiting room is on stage right (not actually on the stage). The stage is covered with what I can only imagine is every backdrop ever used at this theater – so much history in one place! The waiting room also had a beautiful storage area made of branches, where frequent yogis keep their mats. And the bathroom had an awesome Babar’s Yoga for Elephants poster – I want it! The class was amazing. I am loving trying new studios!

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Later on Saturday, Amy, Ginny and I went to the King Arthur Flour Baker’s Store in Vermont. They had every kind of flour and baking accessories you could imagine. I wanted to buy everything and anything! I settled on a bread saver (kind of like a bread box), some bread flour, some maple candy and some pastry from the bakery. On the way home, we stopped at a sugar house which is literally the garage or barn of a family who makes maple syrup. I cannot even begin to describe the smell – best. smell. ever. After getting a little lesson on how they make it, we walked away with 1 gallon and a half of maple syrup between the three of us. Dinner Saturday night was chinese food. I had planned on possibly taking the night off from my vegetarian eating, but didn’t have to. I did eat one shrimp. I forgot shrimp was meat momentarily. And my goodness, it was delicious. On Sunday, I started out the day with yoga again, led this time by Jess. Even though we were practicing in an upstairs bedroom while people were sleeping in rooms all around us, we were focused and relaxed. We spent the rest of the rainy Sunday trying to get Jess and Dan’s almost one-year old daughter Evelyn to take her first step. She’s so close, and oh so adorable! Izzie enjoyed her trip to the “farm” so much, and is still exhausted. Ryan and I got to pick up our beautiful new recipe box made by Todd (pictures to come soon, we’re still trying to decide where it will live in our kitchen – I think it may be causing me to do a kitchen rearrangement).

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Posted in Babies, Birthdays, Family, Izzie, Travel, Yoga | 4 Comments