February Fitness & Fun
Carla_wfpb
Posts: 1,386 Member
Thanks for reminding us about starting a new thread, Austin..and for the title suggestion!
We didn't get our batching done this weekend with Joe's birthday celebration going on. It's an excuse, we just didn't prioritize it high enough. We'll limp through this week and batch next Sunday. We made a super easy pinto bean chili in the instant pot. It is one of our default options when we're low on time and inspiration.
We got our first snowfall of the year yesterday or the day before. A really light dusting of 1/4" or less, with about half of that still left today. I won't complain about the cold, what with some of us living in a "cold vortex" right now!
We didn't get our batching done this weekend with Joe's birthday celebration going on. It's an excuse, we just didn't prioritize it high enough. We'll limp through this week and batch next Sunday. We made a super easy pinto bean chili in the instant pot. It is one of our default options when we're low on time and inspiration.
We got our first snowfall of the year yesterday or the day before. A really light dusting of 1/4" or less, with about half of that still left today. I won't complain about the cold, what with some of us living in a "cold vortex" right now!
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Hi -
I hope all my northern friends are keeping warm. I appreciate the south right now.
I have been dealing with dizziness and headaches for last few weeks. Visited Dr. and he thinks it is an inner ear problem. I was getting very nauseous too...not a good way to lose weight. So weird...did not bother me swimming but did affect my walking. I started on Meclazine an it seems to help. With the dizziness not willing to ride my bike in this good weather.
I love my beans from scratch. I made garbanzo beans one day thinking I was going to use them to make hummus but have just been adding them to salads as they are so good. I should freeze 1/2 the batch because whatever beans I make become the bean of the week for soups and salads. Totally addicted to my black bean breakfast taco with vegan cheese...my new comfort food.
Had a fight with Brooks about our head of cauliflower (you know it is just too easy to go buy another head of cauliflower). He wanted to rice it and I wanted it for an OSG's recipe...better make it today. Hahaha. I won because I pointed out we had frozen cauliflower rice in freezer.
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Speaking of beans, have any of you experienced adverse reactions to undercooked lentils? I know that beans, particularly kidney beans, can be dangerous - even deadly - if undercooked. I was eating a dish this evening with an odd texture and realized it was undercooked lentils. The only thing I can find online says that it will cause gastric distress. I'd rather not have gastric distress - just wondered if any of you have had any experiences.
We had -60 windchill in my area of Minnesota last week. This week is a bit better but our roads are very slick and lots of snow is predicted. We're hanging in there!
Hope you all are doing well!
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Happy Nutritarian Wednesday, all!
@CoffeeandPie - I have eaten a lot of lentils and never had an issue. I do indeed cook beans until very tender. I dislike the texture of "al dente" beans. That -60 wind chill sounds brisk. Stay warm!
@bisky - I hope the inner ear problem has settles down! Your from scratch garbanzo beans sound delightful. I need to make some. I am eating on some plain kidney beans right now (delicious on a bed of greens!), and have lentils in the freezer up next. Garbanzos would be a good bean to have after that!
@Carla_wfpb - That dusting of snow sounds gorgeous, and the pinto bean chili sounds yummy!
I am planning to have a great ETL day:
B - spinach, coffee, flax seed & blueberry smoothie
L - steamed greens, pickled raw onions, kidney beans
S - apple slices & walnuts
D - bowl of Bravo onion soup, huge salad0 -
Austin - fantastic ETL menu.
I love kidney beans, I will have to try them next. I think I am going to roast some of my garbanzo beans tomorrow with seasonings so they don't go bad.
C & P - I read that when you soak your beans, rinse and then boil them that there is less of a "GI affect"....I don't know if it is true or if I am just getting use to beans in my diet.0 -
Donna, how are you feeling now? I've had inner ear problems before that have made me dizzy when getting up or down quickly & bending over. It took a few weeks to clear up but I didn't have the nausea with it.
Jaquie, I haven't had problems with lentils in particular. I feel like I'm still gassier than I used to be before eating this way.
Fantastic ETL day, Austin!
Things are somewhat off track here food-wise, so shopping and batching this week will be crucial.
B - coffee, smoothie
L - homemade pad thai w/ tofu & lots of broccoli
D - repeat of lunch
S - baked potato chips0 -
Hello, all!
I am having a good ETL day today, and hope you are, too!
B - smoothier (spinach, coffee, cashew milk, blueberries)
L - steamed spinach, kidney beans, pickled onions; plus a vegetable juice (carrot, apple, cabbage, kale)
S - walnuts and apples, if I want a snack
D - big salad, kiwi-cucumber dressing, cup of Bravo onion soup (last cup, darn it!)0 -
Carla = the dizziness is much better, I feel 100% but I am still taking Meclazine.. Made my Valentine cards last couple of days...I have the Mah Jonng group tonight. It has been a great incentive to keep my house clean and tidy (not all areas...I need to spring clean the master bedroom & bath) . Hope to get some soups and chilis made this weekend. Would you believe it got up to 80 yesterday...cooler today. Plus yesterday I saw some Mexican Free Tail bats flying around. I hope that does not mean mosquitoes are around.
Today I had a good vegan lentil soup called Yes (?).0 -
Hey y'all... some good ETLing going on! I hope to make some soups this weekend too. I need some things frozen and ready to heat and eat.
I have been hit or miss, eating well at meals but overdoing the starches and some pretzels here and there. Still staying away from alcohol though. Over a month now of no wine or beer.
Going to bed early tonight. Have been staying late at the office all week and getting to bed later. Definitely need a full night of sleep.
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Good morning, all! About to head out into -35 wind chill. Big fan. At least the sun is shining and it's gorgeous on the snow (we got 10 inches yesterday)!
My lentil crisis (
) was of no consequence. No issues at all.
Donna, glad your dizziness seems to be better. A real, live mahjong group? How fun! I've only ever played on a device. Mihani, small victories are still victories! Every veggie in the mouth is a win. Carla, are you still in the midst of a polar vortex as well? I'm looking forward to turning a corner on temps and snow! Austin, wow! You are mastering ETL!
Have a great weekend, all!
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Happy Friday!!
Mihani, congrats on 1 month of no wine or beer! Probably not the best time to mention it, but I haven't had a beer in ages and when we went out for Joe's birthday I had a dos equis lager and it was so good!!
Donna, I'm glad you're feeling better! How was your Mah Jong get together? Your cards are always amazing. Please post some of them.
Jacquie, we've had such a mild winter here and no snow until last week. I am almost looking forward to a good snow storm! Stay warm! So cold where you are but with the sun sounds beautiful.
Austin, I love my coffee, but I tried some in my smoothie and it was really blech. Do you put in espresso powder, or regular drip coffee? How much?
Magic, how are you doing? When is your "weekend"? Does it rotate or is it usually mon/tues off?
There's snow in the forecast, and a heavy snow fall expected a little further south of us, in Seattle. People have wiped out the shelves in the grocery stores. As long as we keep our power, we are good, it could snow 4 feet for all I care...but once the power is out, we have heating issues. Our fireplace chimney has a crack in it so we can't use it at all.0 -
Hey @Carla_wfpb -
It may be that I am the *only* person that likes morning smoothies this way. Here's what I do (and others may hate this!):
- 1 c homemade cold brew coffee (very smooth; cold brew cuts the bitter edge of coffee, and this is not as strong as regular brewed coffee; we make it in a carafe, and then I just pour out 1 cup)
- 1 c unsweetened cashew milk
- About 1/3 c blueberries
- About 4 oz frozen chopped spinach
- About 2 T ground flax seed
Mix until very smooth with immersion blender. Sometimes warm it up a bit.0 -
@AustinRuadhain Thanks for the info, I'm going to try it! Even if I don't end up loving it as a smoothie, I totally forgot about how much I love cold brewed coffee so either way a win.1
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Wow, an amazing smoothie recipe Austin.
Jacqui - yes live Mah Jonng. I learned when we were living in California and my husband bought me the game in Chinatown in SF.
Good for you Mihani. I do enjoy wine but not the calories.
Carla - here a couple of pics1 -
@bisky - I love Mah Jonng! I used to play with my grandmother and other relatives. I need to get a set so I can play again!
@Mihani - Congratulations on the "no alcohol" month!
@Carla_wfpb - I am glad it was worth it for the reminder about cold brew coffee. And I am so clear that palates are unique to the person, I just try things and share ideas and know all won't work for any of us. And yikes to the snow -- stay warm!
ETL Non-Scale Victory -- My husband was inspired to eat a "no oil" and all plants breakfast today! Not a spinach smoothie (those do not appeal to him, though he's polite), but he made a potato, onion, bell pepper, corn and cilantro hash. Woohoo!0 -
Carla, did the snow hit heavily at your place? Hope you are safe and warm!
Donna, glad you are feeling better. How was Mahjong night?
Austin, that's awesome that your husband enjoyed the breakfast.
Jacquie, did you start your new job? Maybe you said and I missed it. Hope it's working out well.
I am back on track today. I have a very close friend who has been diagnosed with cancer and the past couple weeks have been a blur. I fell back on my "comfort foods" like bread and pasta. I haven't gone too crazy but I can tell such a difference in just a week of not eating as much of the greens and fruit.
Only stayed at the office a few hours then went to the grocery. Going to do some cooking tonight and tomorrow. OSG glowing spiced lentil soup (not 100% compliant with the coconut milk but oh so good) and OSG lentil stew. I also got some veggies to chop and add to my salads this week. I've been eating a lot of plain ol' lettuce salads because I just didn't feel like chopping.
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Hello, all,
It has been a good ETL day today. I did not get out and get any exercise, so will need to do that tomorrow for sure.
My dinner salad included a version of the Quick Avocado Dressing from Fuhrman's Quick & Easy Cookbook. Seriously good and super easy. I mashed about an ounce of avocado, added 1 T nutritional yeast, 1/8 c plain unsweetend cashew milk, 1/8 c spicy vinegar from my pickled onions. Yum! Anyway, if your salads get too plain, @Mihani , this might be something to try.
Oh, and I made a dessert I have not had in a while -- banana (1/3, frozen), peanut butter (1 t), plain cashew milk (1 c) and cocoa powder (1 t) smoothie.
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Austin, I don't often make salad dressings. I am generally happy with a mixture of braggs or balsamic with some spicy brown mustard. I do love the tahini lemon dressing from CFDG website and make it every few weeks for a change of pace. My main problem lately is just not feeling the motivation for prepping and chopping my salad veggies and was getting bored with just lettuce.
B - oatmeal with vanilla plant milk yogurt, chia seeds, blueberries
L - salad of power greens, carrot, radish, sunflower seeds, grape tomatoes, braggs/mustard dressing
D - OSG lentil stew and the rest of my lunch salad that I didn't finish
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Hey there! Things have been quiet on the ETL board. I hope y'all are doing well -- keeping up with things, staying warm, having fun.
Jacquie, Carla and Donna -- how are things? Bisky, are you doing better with the dizziness?
I cleaned and reordered my fridge and freezer, and ended up making cranberry apple relish. Yum! That's the last of the fresh cranberries, and I will miss them.
Someone mentioned OSG, and now I need to make the Eat Your Greens Soup again! I'll be picking up the broccoli I need tonight so I can do that.
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This has to be one of the worst work weeks I've ever had. Just nothing going right and putting out fires all day every day. I am glad it is over and I have some quiet time this weekend in the office to catch up a bit. I wouldn't say I've been 100% ETL this week, but pretty close. I will take some time this weekend to shop and prep for next week.
Anyone have fun plans for the weekend?
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Hey guys! Sorry I have been MIA so long. We were without power for a few days and then snowed in for an entire week. Joe just got out of the driveway yesterday to re-supply us with groceries. The way up the driveway wasn't as easy...lots of shoveling, an attempt at towing, and by the end of the day some thawing that helped. We have today and tomorrow to recover, and then there's snow in the forecast again for Tuesday. Crazy weather! No snow in December which is when we'll usually get a dusting or two, and then suddenly a good foot of it mid February. We have a long, windy and steep-in-areas driveway which is why we have trouble even after the worst of it is over.
My food has not been great. I've had too much Ezekiel bread and English muffins and not enough fresh greens. It is nice to have a bunch of greens in the house again. This week my goal is to have a smoothie every morning for breakfast and a big salad for lunch.
Mihani, I'm sorry that last week was so awful. I hope the coming week is much better for you!
Austin, nothing like opening a freshly cleaned and organized fridge. It feels so good! Somewhat related - the bulbs in our chandelier needed replacing so we took it down to clean the glass dome. What a shock! We have never taken it down because it is kind of heavy and all glass, but when I washed it I discovered that it wasn't tinted glass...totally clear and shiny when washed. We've lived here 2.5 years and obviously I've never cleaned it before. Yikes! On the plus side, it totally catches my eye now when it is lit up and looks so fresh and pretty.
Donna, did you forget to attach the pics? Are you training for your next marathon/event?
Off to get my batch on! This week is French cuisine.
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Hello, all,
I spent Saturday being a Boy Scout mom. Sunday was church, Chinese class and a few other things. We watched a classic film last night -- Jumpin' Jack Flash, which was fun. Back to work today! Oh, and in ETL news, I made Jamaican Jerk Salad yesterday. It's a Fuhrman recipe, and my husband and I both love it.
@Mihani - I so hope this week goes better for you! And hurray for eating well during your tough week last week.
@Carla_wfpb - All those days with without power and then being snowed in sound so challenging. I loved your chandelier story. Enjoy those greens and those French dishes this week!
Today I am determined to drink a little more water, have a good ETL day, and go to martial arts class.
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Wow, Boy Scout mom, church, Chinese class and martial arts! Sounds like a fantastic range of activities and hobbies. The Jerk salad sounds interesting, is it in the ETL cookbook? I might have to dig that out again!
Yesterday's batch went well. I think we're getting a little better at it and used to it as well. By noon yesterday, we had a week's worth of dinners all ready and stacked in the fridge and had the kitchen clean and sparkling. That combo feels so good!
This is today's plan.
B - coffee, blueberry green smoothie
L - salad and quiche
D - French Dip sandwich au jus & fresh fruit salad
Snacks - I'm going to try having herbal tea today when i want something.
Here's the quiche we made for later in the week (and since I can't wait, I'm going to have some for lunch today too!)
It will be interesting to compare this quiche to the one we made a few weeks ago. The previous one was tofu based, and this one is chickpea flour based.
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Hey @Carla_wfpb , that's a gorgeous quiche! I hope it is half as yummy as it looks!
Yes, the Jamaican Jerk Vegetable Salad is from The Eat to Live Cookbook (p. 127). I make it with a larger bed of greens, and sometimes just use romaine as opposed to the baby greens in the recipe, It's good both ways. It's also a really pretty salad, and so is on my list of potential "company" dishes.
Today's plan:
B - coffee, blueberry spinach smoothie
L - black beans on a bed of steamed spinach with nutritional yeast, chopped onion and minced red bell papper
Snack - herbal tea; small serving apple slices and walnuts (less than 100 calories) an hour before class
D - big salad with avocado dressing (avocado, minced onion, nutritional yeast, cashew milk, vinegar from the pickled chipotle onion jar), blueberries warmed with a little cashew milk
General - Lots of water; I kept running short last week
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Carla the menu this week sounds delightful as usual and the quiche is beautiful! I am sorry to hear you were snowed in without power. That's something I don't miss about living in the country, but there were a lot of things I do miss.
Austin, you are staying very busy! I will have to look at that recipe for the Jamaican Jerk Salad.
I left the office a little early and brought work home for this evening since I wanted to make a big pot of the Eat Your Greens Soup. It is simmering now so I can eat soon. I added a can of chickpeas so it's a one pot meal.
Wonder how Karrie is doing. Haven't seen her in a while.
Better keep moving and stay busy here!
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Mihani, I was thinking about Karrie the other day. It has been a long time, since before Christmas. More frequent and longer power outages is something we've definitely noticed since moving to the country. One of these days we are going to spring for a full sized generator that will automatically kick on when the power goes off. The other day when we were batching, I was so busy and so hot. I stopped what I was doing and went out the door to pull down my pants and cool off. As I was standing there in my underwear, I was thinking about how I didn't have to look around or even think about it before doing that. No one around to see, except maybe a startled cow
Thanks for the page, Austin! I will check that out. To be honest, I have only made a few recipes from that cookbook. I find them to be lacking in seasoning in general. We did go through a phase where we made humongous vats of the Anti Cancer soup in what looked like a witches cauldron. A lot of work, but LOADS of super healthy things in there. (Flavor is so-so).
I completed the first draft of the user manual I've been writing, so now I should have more time for my tapestry project and to check in here and say hi.
The quiche was good, but not as good as the tofu-based one we made a few weeks ago. Still, it is nice to have a garbanzo bean based on since we always have dried beans in the house. The green beans turned out good too. I'm excited to have a recipe that I like since beans grow so well where we are.
The Dr. Greger video for today was on the benefits of ginger for improving blood sugar. I happen to LOVE ginger so I'm going to have some every day.
B - greens & blueberry smoothie w/ Amla, coffee
S- 1 Tbsp ground ginger in hot water
L - big salad with red wine vinaigrette & slice of quiche
D - French onion soup, salad w/ vinaigrette
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LOL Carla, hopefully that cooled you off. I agree about Dr. F's cookbook, but I keep thinking I should try a few more recipes. Maybe I just managed to pick a few that weren't my cup of tea and the next one will be great. I have liked the ones I've tried from the Quick & Easy cookbook so far. 'Grats on finishing the manual.
I need to get back to the store, out of lettuce and was at the office so late I just couldn't bring myself to stop tonight. Maybe I'll just do grocery delivery tomorrow.
Meals this week very basic. Soup and salad, fruit and nuts, some crackers here and there. Party this weekend that I've been looking forward to. I'm sure I'll have a couple glasses of wine but there will be lots of compliant food.
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Hi @Carla_wfpb ! Let me know what you think of the Jamaican Jerk Veggie Salad, if you make it. I did double the spices. I tend to take recipes and then alter them a bit as needed, and like you, I do like a lot of spice. I also did well with the creamy avocado dressing from that cookbook. Thanks for the lead on the video. I also love ginger, and am going to go have a cup of ginger tea after this.
@Mihani - My salad dressing tonight was inspired by you -- Bragg's, dijon mustard (only mustard in the fridge today), plus a little cashew milk and and nutritional yeast.
B - greens, blueberry, cashew milk & coffee smoothie, plus a few dried golden berries on the side
L - steamed spinach, navy beans, Bragg's yeast, plus a small dollop of cranberry apple relish on the side
D - big ol' salad (romaine, roma tomato, "flavor bomb" raw onions) with Bragg's & mustard dressing, steamed mushrooms, steamed green beans,0 -
Austin, I'll let you know what I think of the jerk salad. It might be a while because the weekly meal plans I'm making take us through the week so it is hard sometimes to fit in other things. Isn't it great when something you love (ginger) is also good for you?!
win!
Mihani, have you let the grocery delivery service pick out veggies for you? how do they do? I hope you have a lovely weekend and enjoy your party.
Joe and I are going out for Indian food for lunch today, so my food will be off. We have to batch tomorrow instead of Sunday due to plans with my family. There's jackfruit in this week's meal plan so I'm going to have to decide if I can handle how it looks! The substitute is mushrooms and since I do love mushrooms, I'm leaning pretty heavily that way. I think those cans of jackfruit are going to sit in our cupboard forever.
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Hi Austin, I usually sprinkle a little nooch on my salads too. Adds flavor and I think it helps the dressing stick to the greens. I am going to make the cabbage and kale casserole from Dr. F's Q&E cookbook today. Love that stuff, and didn't have to do too much tweaking of the spices.
Carla, I have ordered fresh veggies/fruit with grocery delivery but I find it is hit or miss. I figure there are times that I decide to completely skip a vegetable if the selection is sad so the shopper may just be getting the best of the bad in those cases. I ended up making it to the store myself anyway. I have had a few things with jackfruit and they were really good but haven't tried to cook it myself as of yet.
Party was fun, feeling a bit sluggish this morning for sure. Should be heading to the office but thinking about just hanging out here. I have a bunch of laundry and things to get caught up on.
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Good morning, all! I got through my big, all-day and all-evening event yesterday (school thing for son). I planned, prepped and packed meals, and managed an all-ETL day. Today I am wanting to veg a bit but have started tackling housework. I am out to have another good ETL day today:
B - blueberry-spinach-flaxseed smoothie, coffee, turmeric-and-cashew milk "latte"
L - big salad, may try a new dressing (balsamic vinegar, almond butter, spices; from Dr F Quick & Easy)
D - beans and greens, Italian stacked eggplant
I want to work today on meal prep for the week, including a pot of Eat Your Greens Soup!
@Mihani - If you like to order groceries, have you tried Imperfect Produce as a way to order veggies and fruit? I have not, but had a friend raving about it yesterday. https://www.imperfectproduce.com/join/subscription0
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