Good morning!
Surprisingly, I am not sore after the Earthquake run ‘n shake 5 point oh no last night! It must have been all the Polly’s Yoga for runners that I did afterwards. :tongue:
Eric and I also watched The Recruit last night, after deciding that a laid back movie night was much in order!
Bum + couch = bliss. ‘nough said.
Eric is home today and tomorrow and he doesn’t have to be anywhere near the G20 Summit. I am very happy that I don’t have to worry about him being there!
We also picked up our CSA box last night…
We both agreed we have never seen green onions this big before!!
IT’S ALIVE!!!
I am officially stock piling Garlic Scapes now! LOL
Last week, I didn’t have time to make my Easy Vegan Garlic Scape Pesto but this weekend I vow I will make a huge colossal batch and freeze a bunch of pesto. A reader suggested this to me, and I think it is a wonderful idea. I also heard that the garlic scapes can be used as ‘green beans’ in a stir-fry. Just chop them up and throw them in!
Scapes, spinach, mixed lettuce, asparagus…
Asparagus is almost out of season now. *sniff.
Fluffy lettuce.
Zucchini…
Apples with character :biggrin:
Mmmmmm, the star of the show!
When life gives you strawberries, make JAM!
Last night I whipped up a homemade strawberry jam to use in this morning’s Vegan Overnight Oats.
Easy Homemade Strawberry Jam
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup of strawberries, stems removed and chopped in half
- Sweetener, to taste (agave, maple syrup, sugar, etc)
- 1/2 tbsp chia seeds or a bit less (absorbs water)
Directions: In a bowl mash strawberries with a fork until a jam-like consistency forms. Add a little sweetener to make the strawberries pop. Now stir in 1/2 tbsp or a bit less of chia seeds into the jam and place in fridge overnight or for 1-2 hours until it thickens.
The strawberry jam was very watery after mashing the strawberries, so I added the chia seeds to absorb the water and to thicken it up. It worked like a charm!!! I am convinced that chia seeds are a pantry essential. They are just so versatile.
The result was fresh, homemade strawberry jam with an antioxidant kick.
My vegan overnight oats this morning were the carob powder variety with a mashed banana mixed in to marinate overnight. I layered with the strawberry jam. I also put a layer of frozen banana (1/4 of a banana broken up into chunks), 1/4 of a Chi Glo Bar, 1/2 tbsp peanut butter, 1 tsp shredded coconut, and a cherry strawberry on top!
Perfecto.
Keep It Simple Stress Relieving Tips
This morning, I read an article called Tips to eliminate stress in your day on the Huffington Post.
Some of the tips offered by Gretchen Rubin include:
- Never let your car’s gas level fall into the "empty" zone.
- Put your keys away in the same place every day.
- Turn out the light as soon as you’re sleepy.
- Walk around the block.
- Take 10 minutes before bed to tidy up.
- If you have to pack a lunch for anyone, get it ready the night before.
- Make your bed.
I liked this article because it showed very easy and simple ways that we can reduce stress in our lives without feeling like we have to tackle some huge obstacle in front of us. I am especially guilty for letting my car go into the empty gas zone! I also rarely make the bed in the morning. I do however put my keys in the same spot everyday. I would also like to try implementing this 10 minute tidy up trick before bed. I think that would make a big difference in the morning!
Do you do any things on this list? Are you guilty of not doing any of the above like I am? Do you have any SIMPLE ways to reduce stress on a daily basis?
* Never let your car’s gas level fall into the “empty” zone.
>Sadly, I pretty much always let my car’s gas level go below the “empty” zone!
* Put your keys away in the same place every day.
>I always out my keys in the same place and make sure they are visible!
* Turn out the light as soon as you’re sleepy.
>Whenever I’m sleepy I turn off the light. If I feel like reading, I use a small night light so the room is still nice and dark.
* Walk around the block.
>Nope, sometimes I do but I usually go for a run or swim instead.
* Take 10 minutes before bed to tidy up.
>I should really start doing this. I still haven’t fully unpacked everything I took with me for college last semester…
* If you have to pack a lunch for anyone, get it ready the night before.
>At my house, lunch is always cooked and ready the night before.
* Make your bed.
>For some reason when I’m home I never do this…at college I do though. I should probably start making my bed at home as well.
My Stress Tips:
1. Read a book before bed
2. Wake up early and have a relaxed (non-rushed) breakfast.
3. Eat at a table
4. Keep an agenda for appointments and things you need to get done
5. I keep all my clocks at least 5 minutes fast so I am always early.
6. Drink hot tea before going to bed
These are some great tips! You’re getting mighty creative with your VOO parfaits there ;) keep it up! It looks absolutely delicious. :D
Wei-Wei
The jam looks so tasty. How do you come up with all these great/yummy ideas??? I can’t wait till our local Valley strawberries are out so I can give it a try.
Very wise de-stressing tips. Walking around the block is my favorite go-to move right now.
Also that strawberry thing looks amazing!
Hmmm. I guess I really fall outside of the mix on this one. I think these things are fairly unimportant. Stress for me comes from work and and relationships. Everything else doesn’t matter. Maybe I’m just not wired to “the little things”. I suppose the philosophy is: if you deal with the big things, then the little things just take care of themselves, or if they don’t take care of themselves, they don’t matter. (But this could be because I spend so little time in my home, so I really hardly know what it looks like during waking hours.)
Awesome idea to add chia seeds to make jam. It looks marvelous!
I try to do as many things on the list as I can. One thing that gets done every single morning is making the bed. If I don’t get it, my husband does. The ones that I slack on is making lunch before bed ( I make mine, but not the husband’s…he gets the short end of the stick because it rarely gets made in the morning too!) and placing me keys in the same spot. I use different bags for different jobs, but use the same set of keys, so it can be hard to keep up.
That jam would make such a good waffle or pancake topping!
Writing out to-do lists is my number one way to reduce stress. Having everything written out helps to stop me from going over and over the list in my mind.
I can’t wait to try making jam!! Do you think it would work with frozen strawberries? Or just fresh ones?
I’m afraid I let my gas tank get to empty FAR too often! But I like this list – some very simple, effective ideas. :)
I do a lot of those, but generally keeping my house clutter free helps me avoid stress. If papers or junk pile up I get anxious.
An easy freezing tip for the pesto is freeze it in ice cube trays then it is already in a single serving and you can just pop one out when you need it
Ooooooooooo, that looks mawvelous dawlink!
Never let your car’s gas level fall into the “empty” zone. – I’ve only done this a half a dozen times and the hubby always tells me….what were you thinking…uh that’s just it, I wasn’t…LOL!
Put your keys away in the same place every day – I highly advise this, as we get older, that tends to be one of the most vital things to remember.
Turn out the light as soon as you’re sleepy – Gosh I’ve never heard this one, but it sounds good.
Walk around the block – Not when it’s 105 heat index…doh!
Take 10 minutes before bed to tidy up – I do like to have my sink empty of dirty dishes before I go to bed though.
If you have to pack a lunch for anyone, get it ready the night before – Always, in fact I make my GMs and my hubbies smoothies the night before.
Make your bed – Always like to have a made up bed…I know, the hubby thinks it’s goofy cause we’re gonna mess it up anyway…LOL! Mom always said, have your bed made, you never know who’s gonna visit surprisingly. :)
My addition to this, I always get my clothes ready for the next day…always!
mmm…fresh strawberry jam with out gelatin….sound devine!
I do all of these things :) I’m farely OCD about cleaning ie I wash all my pots/pans before I eat my meal and will pack my lunch for work the next day before dinner. I just function better in a clean environment!
I’ve found that listening to a 10-15 min. nighttime meditation in bed with the lights off really helps me relax physically and mentally so my mind isn’t racing! Plus a good sweat session always helps burn some stress :)
Cuh-razy nice looking parfait there, Angela!! And what an awesome idea to use chia seeds to thicken up the jam! I am definitely going to do this jam recipe.
I always make hubby’s lunch the day before (no time at night!) but I am AWFUL about the keys. I never know where they are like currently I am using the “spare” key as my own key because I seem to have misplaced my giant jumble of keys…again (see: always)
Thank goodness your hubby is home safe with you today and not downtown in the madness. Maybe he could prep everything for your garlic scape pesto?? (a gal can dream right?)
oh my goodness your strawberry oats looks fabulous! What kind of carob powder do you use?
Thank you!
I need to add the make the bed and the clean up 10 minutes each night. I think that could make a big difference and make my weekend tasks so much less daunting. Sometimes I’m really good about leaving my car keys in the same place, and sometimes I’m not. I get much better about these types of things when I’m in a routine but lately I’ve been traveling way too much for work!
Love the stress relief tips! Especially making your bed and leaving your keys in the same place every night – I do those and they definitely help! I have a problem with not letting your gas gauge reach “empty” though – I’m so bad about that!
I think you should have a page JUST for your Vegan Overnight Oats. The are seriously the most amazing photos!