Congrats on the triathlon Donna! You look great! How was that smoothie?

Hi Gals!

Belated Happy Anniversary to each of you, Karrie and Jacquie.

Grats on the triathlon Donna. Great pic Another triathlon in 5 weeks! Wow, you're amazing!

Mihani, I'm happy the new software lets you work from home more often. Soon it will be second nature. Nice that you had some time yesterday to do things around the house, including some prep work for the week.

I finished my batching for the week about an hour ago, so I should be set for the week. I have a friend coming for an overnight crafting session tomorrow, but she's watching what she eats so I think I'll be able to stay on track. Maybe some extra coffee, but I'm not sweating that right now.

Ruby is in the figurative doghouse right now because she got a hold of my precious woven scarf that was laying out to dry on the table outside. It is chewed and snagged, and pretty much trash now. I will use it as an excuse to buy more yarn to make another! I'm thinking about making a couple for Christmas gifts.

Jacqueline, we're anniversary twins!!

Donna, you look great in your pic and congrats on the finish!! Woo hoo!

I spent the afternoon and evening getting myself prepped for the week. It's the only way I can do this thing properly.

I made Day 1 meals and snacks. I know Dr. F says no snacks, but if I don't have something healthy ready for me, then I will grab pretzels or some such unhealthy thing. Maybe later I won't need so many snacks, but for now I need to be prepared to keep me on track.

Tonight I'm going to make Day 2 meals and snacks. Then I will alternate between Day 1 and Day 2 for the week. And then next week I'll have a brand new Day 1 and Day 2 set of meals... Least amount of prep, least amount of leftovers getting freezerburnt that I'll end up throwing out, and more free time than trying to do all my cooking every single night (which burns me out and makes me want to quit).

Day 1
Breakfast: Overnight oats with pomegranates
snack: orange & banana
Lunch: Homemade tomato soup with (lots of) garlic and basil
snack: cherries & nuts
Supper: Sweet & Sour meatballs (made with black beans and navy beans) on rice with a big salad

Day 2
Breakfast: Berry Bowl with walnuts and cinnamon
snack: banana blueberry lemon spelt muffin
Lunch: raw zucchini hummus and veggies, with raw chocolate pudding for dessert
snack: lemon pie date balls rolled in coconut
Supper: Quinoa salad with lemon and red pepper on mixed spring greens


The raw hummus is made with zucchini, tahini and a couple of other things I can't think of right now and then I'm having it with lettuce leaves, celery, carrots and cherry tomatoes.

The chocolate pudding is made with bananas, avocado and cocoa. It's super tasty!!

Hi All - Hope you are having a great start to your week.

Donna, I start work on the 27th. I'm doing a trial run this week on meal plans. Breakfast will be oatmeal, ground flax, berries, nuts and 1/2 tsp brown sugar. Lunch will alternate between: potato (russet or sweet), black beans, massaged kale w/hummus, salsa OR Ezekiel toast w/hummus, tomato, mushrooms, red peppers w/mixed green side salad. Snack of fruit or larabar.

Dinners, for now, will be portion controlled versions of what the family is having. I'll be using a 13 week cookbook with full menus, time lines & shopping lists. This way, any one of us can open the book and run with it. It's definitely a SAD cookbook (midwestern comfort food), I will opt for a big salad and small portions of the prepped food, and leave off the cheese.

I picked up new eyeglasses this morning. I was long overdue and I'm now into bifocals. The doc said to keep them on all the time for the first week and then wear as needed. I can already tell that I'll be limiting screen time while going through the adjustment period.

Karrie, I'm saving your menu! It all looks delicious.

Carla, is this typical behavior for Ruby? I know our dog misbehaves when he's stressed or his routine changes. I empathize with you! Tucker chewed up a hand crocheted lace table topper a few years ago. It was a wedding gift from a dear friend.

Mihani, good choice on ditching the temptation! It is so hard to throw away food, but it's for the best.

Donna, you are an inspiration! Don't feel out of place at these events - you are a role model for the younger participants.

Mihani - sounds like a good plan. I like wasa crackers...I did so well yesterday until I dove into baked pita chips.

Karrie - Keeping my fingers crossed for you and the inspection. I am sure it will be a relief when it sells.

Mini tri day. Walked dogs 1 mile, biked to the pool and back on mountain bike (7 miles) and then swam 900M. Pool was unusually busy and Brooks & I were in different lanes. This 30 y/o guy was in my lane, he passed me twice so I know he knew I was there...and it is so funny that without verbal communication I knew he was not happy I was in his lane. He actually hit my goggles on the left side and gave me a bit of a black eye. He said he didn't know I was there.....I was stunned, sweet little life guard came running over who saw it happen and offered to get me ice...I asked the guy are we swimming clockwise in lanes or just splitting the lane (usually people swim clockwise in lanes)....he kept saying I was in his lane......I said sweetly: no worries, I will change lanes with my husband but if you punch him he will punch you back! (hahaha this is so not Brooks...I have never seen him punch anyone but I was putting this jerk on notice), he did not know I was with Brooks who is an excellent swimmer but Brooks was upset too (again non verbal communication, I could tell by the way Brooks was swimming). This guy was not one of our usual locals. When my lane cleared out Brooks joined me and we did this practice swim where he sets the pace doing the breast stroke and I am working on my reach and glide part of the stroke. I did my fastest 100m this way!

Brooks made an excellent salad but I forgot to tell him I was quitting fish. He is trying so hard to eat healthy that I just ate the tuna. He just recently accepted the no chicken in my diet for good.

House is clean and somewhat organized. Going to make a few BD cards and then later on falafels for dinner. 99* now.

Mihani - thats what made me mad..he didn't apologize or ask if I was ok...and I am, just a small bruise/black eye. Good thing I had my goggles on...they protected by eye.

I have never heard of Santa Claus melon. It sounds good! Good job prepping.

The TJ's falafel mix were good. Brooks loved them.

I'd have been so mad at that swimmer...in fact, I AM mad at him! What a jerk. You're rocking the activities as usual, Donna.

I think no news yet is a good sign Karrie!

School does seem to go back in session earlier lately. That or kids go back sooner in the US than Canada. We always went back the day after labour day.

I'm having my batched food this week, but still having some sweets that are definitely not on plan. I need to stop having anything after dinner.

The smoke from the wildfires around us has been bad the last few days. The fires aren't a threat in our area, but our usual breeze from the ocean is absent. It is supposed to improve a bit today and the forecast is for rain all day Sunday. I am SO looking forward to a cool day with rain!!

It's official!! The house is SOLD!!!

Congratulations, Karrie! What a relief to have it sold! Woot!

Carla, over the weekend we experienced extensive haze from Canadian wildfires hundreds of miles away. I cannot imagine being closer! Hope your lungs are handling it.

Donna, your dinner sounds delicious and has reminded me that I bought some citrus balsamic that I keep forgetting to try. A salad is in order for lunch!

Mihani, I'm gonna track down the detox salad and give it a try. I want to prep something that I can eat all week at work.

My progress has not been stellar this week. I'm eating ETL at about 50%. Lots of "let's have coffee one more time", dinner out with hubs, lunch with son (who has a first girlfriend and is starting his major on Monday at the U - he needed to talk). All this to say, I really let life influence my eating. You don't realize how much your life revolves around food until you try to take it out of your life events. To that end, the routine of work will make it easier. This job will not have "goodies in the breakroom." As long as I avoid the bistro, I'll be fine. I'm going to ask my daughter if she'd be willing to make one dish a week for me to keep in the fridge. She has an interest in culinary and time on her hands this Fall.

Congrats on the house sale, Karrie! Possession in 2 weeks is pretty fast, but I guess since you aren't living there it is a schedule you can work with. Soon you'll have all your crafting items in the new house...is that good or daunting?!

Mihani, how are you adjusting to the new software? Bok choy and mushrooms in a stir fry...YUM! Lately I've really been enjoying my stir fry with a sprinkle of coconut aminos after it's done. We did that with some veggie kabobs we baked in the oven and they were delish. Joe picked up a charcoal BBQ (we donated our old meat grill to the office a few years ago) but with the smoke and heat we decided to skip the outdoor grilling.

Eating out is a challenge for me too, Jacquie, especially when I'm not fully in the groove of things. There's always the pull to have something that is extra tasty or feels like a treat. A cup of tea or black coffee just doesn't have the same feeling as going out for a coffee and pastry. That will be so awesome if your daughter pitches in with making a healthy dish each week for you!

Donna, I pictured "the puncher" as an expert swimmer that was irritated and intentionally hit you. I'm so glad that that doesn't seem to be the case, even though it was still very rude of him. There needs to be a warning sign put up when he's in a lane! How's your eye doing?

There's a nice big wind coming in off the ocean and smoke isn't in the forecast for tomorrow! Today is going to be 13* F cooler than yesterday, and looking ahead at the extended forecast, we have nothing but temps in low 70s coming up. I'm sure we'll still have a few hotter days, but I have been stalling on washing and drying all of my fleece so I'll need to get on that the next time we have a particularly warm day. Aside from that, low 70s is my fave so I'm pretty excited about that. One of our trees has a few bright red leaves and it has me excited for fall weather.

I just received my order of dyeing supplies for cellulose fibers. I prepped my fabric yesterday and with the wind it will be ready to play with today. I really want to concentrate on that today, but I also have a big weaving project on the go at the local art center and I haven't been there in almost 2 weeks. I'm renting the loom so I really need to put in some time. I'll probably go to the center today, work on Friday, and then dye fabric on the weekend.

Mihani - how did it go tonight?

Tried Trader joes cauliflower gnocchi !!! Brooks said they were very fluffy and good before I told him they were made out of Cauliflower. He liked them...of course I put a lot of pesto on his.

Yesterday we got a little rain, and so far today it has been raining as well. Not a huge downpour, but a pretty good amount of water over time. It's a nice change and will hopefully help out with the fires.

I've been dyeing cotton fabric using various thicknesses of dye and different techniques. I've been enjoying it. The only part I don't like is mixing up the chemicals wearing goggles (therefore no glasses to see properly) and a respirator. It's pretty foggy and fuzzy! I can make most of the mixtures up in batches ahead of time, so I don't have to do it too often. The fabric I've done so far has cured and is the wash now.

I'm not up for batching this week, but the meals are very simple, so I'm going to make them on the fly each day, or maybe make up a few at a time and have a few days off in between. We've decided that now that we have 2 large binders stuffed full of meal plans, we can probably cancel our membership and repeat our favorites for a while. We can sign up again when we need some extra motivation.

Good luck on your first day at the new job, Jacquie!