Greetings!
I loved reading your I Believe comments from this morning…what an amazing bunch you are.
I forgot something from my I Believe list this morning…
I Believe…
- The key to a happy relationship is telling your partner one specific thing you appreciate about them and why, every single day.
This applies to all kinds of relationships…romantic, family, friendship, co-workers, etc. Everyone loves to be appreciated!
When I tell Eric something that I appreciate about him I can literally see his entire face light up with pride. Sometimes all someone needs is a ‘I notice what you do and I thank you for it.’ Now, go on and tell someone in your life how much you appreciate them!
In other news, I could not fathom eating anything cooked/hot/heated up today. It was another scorcher! I was cooking myself and needed to be cooled off…
LUNCH:
2 pieces of Eziekel bread with 1 cup of tomato curry chickpeas. I used 1 cup chickpeas + 2-3 tbsp tomato paste + 1/4 tsp Arvinda’s curry masala spice.
[Ok, ok I lied…the bread was toasted!]
+ Purslane Green Monster made up of 2 cups of Purslane, 1 cup almond milk, 1.5 tsp cinnamon, 2 tsp raw maca powder, ice, ice baby. The cinnamon was fabulous and I didn’t even need any fruit! I can’t believe I have not been adding cinnamon to my Green Monsters all this time. I will also be adding some cinnamon to my next batch of Vegan Overnight Oats too. I remember how much I enjoyed it when Eric made me some and I totally forgot about it.
I am loving Purslane greens in my Green Monsters!
The Purslane is so energizing, largely in part to all the wonderful omega oils and antioxidants it provides. I felt on fire this afternoon and cranked through over 200 Glo Bars baked, packaged, labeled, and boxed up!
Today is our Plan B CSA day which means scarfing some major veggies to make room for the new box! If you need some motivation to eat more veggies I highly recommend getting a CSA share. Eric and I eat more veggies now than we ever have. Surprisingly, I think we have ended up saving money because we have cut down our grocery store trips by half and we aren’t making those impulse purchases like before.
Everything But The Kitchen Sink Salad
Ingredients:
- Greens = Spinach + Mixed greens
- 2 small carrots
- 1 large tomato
- 1 large avocado
- 1 huge green onion stalk
- 1.5 cups snow peas
- Dried parsley, to garnish
- Freshly ground black pepper, to garnish
- Better than bottled balsamic vinaigrette
Awesome salad! The snow peas were a nice addition!
On the side we each had a slice of cold pie…IN A JIFFY VEGGIE PIE!
I had mine on a bed of TJ’s Habanero and lime salsa.
It was a great dinner!
Dessert was the last of the Cherry, Banana, and coconut butter bread. I am fighting tears as I type this.
This was the defrosted leftovers and it was even more moist and gooey than before. It was so doughy…I was in love!
Just look at that gooey bread!
For Eric, this gooey bread was a texture nightmare.
He stuck to his ‘dry’ mini loaves that I cooked the hell out of last week (he just loves them though!).
To each their own. :tongue:
Healthy Eating: A Love Affair With The Kitchen
Recently, I received an email from a reader named ‘Krista’ telling me about all of these wonderful changes she has made to her health. One of the things that Krista mentioned was that since she has started eating healthier, she spends so much more time in the kitchen prepping vegetables, washing dishes/new appliances, and cooking among other things. She didn’t say that this was a bad thing necessarily, as she enjoys it for the most part, she just thought it was interesting to point out how much more time is required to eat healthy.
Oh did this email hit home with me!
I thought this was such an interesting point about how healthy eating requires not only a commitment to EAT healthier foods, but it involves a commitment to spend the time to prepare healthier foods.
As you can imagine, I spend hours and hours in the kitchen, not only because I run a bakery, but because I prepare and cook most of my meals. Eating healthy is a huge time commitment- there is the washing, drying, chopping, roasting, sautéing, prepping, packing, planning, shopping, DISH WASHING, APPLIANCE WASHING (damn you, juicer!!!!!!), cooking flops (story of my life), etc. Eric always jokes that I should put Professional Dish Washer (P.D.W.) on my resume because I wash so many dishes and so many appliances each day.
Because my time is limited, I rely on very quick and simple recipes. That is why you will rarely see me whip up a meal that takes longer than 15-20 minutes. Over time, I have figured out what will work for me. While some days the last thing I want to do is prepare a healthy meal for myself, often I enjoy the satisfaction that comes with creating healthy meals that I can feel good about.
Can you relate to having to spend more time in the kitchen to eat healthier? Do you spend more time in the kitchen now than in the past? What are your time-saving tricks to limit the amount of time it takes to eat healthy?
One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating. ~Luciano Pavarotti and William Wright, Pavarotti, My Own Story
I didn’t realize how much time I spent in the kitchen until I started graduate school this summer and suddenly didn’t have any hours left in the day! It’s been hard to adjust back to eating quick 5-minute meals and hauling sandwiches around with me on campus. I miss my “real” meals :(
Eating healthy does require a ton of time in the kitchen! It also takes a lot of time just planning ahead of time what you’re going to make. My life’s busy-ness has recently caught up with me and I feel during the week I’ve been spending less time in the kitchen than I normally do. I’ve never noticed the difference too! Hopefully I find some free time soon to get some healthier meals in my tummy :)
I agree! Healthy eating definitely does take more prep time and time in the kitchen, but it is so worth it! I feel healthier, happier and more energized!
I can definitely relate to this. I can never seem to keep up with the amount of dirty dishes in my home and I HATE doing them!!! I did them yesterday before I made dinner, and by the time I was done cooking, the sink was full again. GARRR!!!
Definitely! It wasn’t until I started cooking meals every night because it was cheaper that I noticed how unhealthy my meals were. I kept finding out things that I was eating were bad for me and kept changing little things. I would have been so intimated if I would have tried to change everything at once! It’s amazing how much of a true 180 I’ve made since I started cooking my own meals out of necessity!
I can relate, definitely. My problem though, is not with how time consuming healthy eating is, it is the fact that I wish I could be working with food more! I actually work in higher education and healthy eating, baking, and food in general is really just a lifestyle choice/hobby. All of which is great, but I wish it could be more of my life. How to pay the bills (including grad school loans :o( ) and make a career change into something I actually care about?? THERE is the problem!
I wish you all the best with your decision! You will figure it out :)
Thank you! I really hope so. This desk job is SO unfulfilling! I actually have a BA and MS in Psychology/ Mental Health Counseling. Not using that either! What you do is really admirable though, gives me a bit of hope – thanks :o)
Preparing our meals – the washing, chopping, mixing, tasting – it’s part of mindful eating. I believe that the more packaged our food becomes, the less we feel connected to our primary source of fuel and the more we abandon the ways our bodies were meant to feed themselves. I am a huge believer in the “therapy” that is preparing our meals. My mind slows when I’m chopping carrots, as I’m picking weeds from the garden. We were meant to spend this time with our food. Without it, we abandon our health.
Gahhh, I could write a book on dish washing, I do it all day! I try to rise everything right after I use it or at least fill all the pots and pan with hot soapy water so they can soak while I eat. Other than the food processor I don’t mind washing anything but I do so detest drying things. I don’t know why. Oh and I don’t enjoy having chipped nail polish ALL THE TIME from dish washing :(
I can’t wear nail polish anymore as a baker…well if I did I would have to wear gloves so I just dont wear it. Toes only!
I agree that rinsing helps a ton
There is a noticeable amount of time in the kitchen now – luckily my hubby will wash dishes if I unlaod. It works pretty great.
What is funny to me is I’m more committed to spending time on packing breakfast and lunch in the morning than I am to getting ready with hair and makeup. My syle has simplified SO much. I wear my hair curly now becuase it is faster and I’ve got my make up routine down to sunblock and mascara – that’s it. I think the healthy food has made a huge difference in my own “glow” too – I really don’t need any extra face makeup.
I spend more time on dinner and watch less TV too. I think it is time well spent in the kitchen.
Love your “I believe” for today and its so true. We don’t appreciate people enough!
Mmm green monsters with cinnamon are the best! Love the purslane in there too:) Mine is growing…slowly:)
I LOVE being in the kitchen. I get so giddy because there are LIMITLESS things to make and try. Sometimes its overwhelming, but so inspiring too! I have made the prep a habit so I just do it without complaining or dragging my feet. I want the good food, I need to put in the effort. It’s a simple as that. I know a lot of people have crazy busy lives but I think there is time for 10 minutes to clean, wash, and cut veggies for the week. Yet, some people are not having a love affair with their kitchen, for whatever reason, so then “prep” makes them shiver. I think a little encouragement and education goes a long way in this regard.
I eat a lot of raw food now so I’m mainly chopping veggies and sprouting and such! I used to do a lot of (unhealthy) baking and now I do a lot of un-baking which is super fast, so definitely less time there. Yet, I am way more into cooking now than I was before being married, so I spend more time because I love it:)
Ps I appreciate YOU and your great work!
I spend a lot of time in the kitchen…but I love it. It’s theraputic…towards good health…and hell, I just love good food. Also – those tomato curry chickpeas look awesome.
My favorite thing when spending a lot of time in the kitchen, is my hubby seeing the work I am doing and starts cleaning up for me! I have THE best husband ever, and he definitely knows the appreciation I have for him.
Last night I went into a baking frenzy (including your ah-mazing bread), and he washed the dishes, put away all the ingredients I used, as I was baking. Thank goodness for that because I was exhausted by the time I was done… I don’t know how you do it with the bakery!
I am definitely going to try those chickpeas!
I can ABSOLUTELY relate to this! I love eating a healthier diet, but there are plenty of times when I resort to less-than-healthy meals because I just don’t have the time/energy/planning required to do it. I find that if/when I don’t plan for my meals, I end up just eating whatever (= usually NOT healthy!) and then am reminded of how much I enjoy my generally healthy diet. The key for me is definitely planning. And making large meals that we can use for leftovers. Luckily, it’s just me and my husband so it’s pretty easy to get a lot out of one meal. One of my tricks is to make big batches of things and then freeze them so I can have them in a week or two (also this way I don’t have to eat the same thing for days in a row). This is key for my workday lunches so that I don’t give in to fast food grossness (and $$$). Another thing we do is cut up veggies for a few days all at once. That way, we already have chopped up veggies for our salads and what-not and we can just grab them whenever we want to. I do sometimes get tired of how much time/work goes into my healthy eating habit, but it is absolutely worth it and I can definitely feel the differemce when I don’t eat as well. It is amazing to me how quickly I lose taste for the things I used to love. When I eat them again, they are never as good as I remember them being. Guess we all need reminders once in a while, huh?
Hey Angela!
Hope to see you at the Organic Farmers’ Market this Saturday – I need to get some Glo Bars!
Neat how you used the Madras Masala in your chick peas on toast :)
See you then,
Preena
I spend a lot more time in the kitchen then I did 3 years ago. In fact, I regret some of the things I didn’t register for when we got married – I am way more into cooking and baking now! Since our dishwasher has been broken for oh, about a year now I spend even more time washing. Cooking a big meal is satisfying and fun because my husband and I enjoy doing it together, but sometimes seeing the pile of dishes afterward is overwhelming!
One bonus about cooking, prepping, baking etc: you are burning calories doing it :)
Do you have the nutritional value of the bread it looks so devine~ you are such a good baker!!
My boyfriend says that he is having an affair with law school and I’m having one with our kitchen! Ever since I started cooking I love spending time there. It means so much more to sit down to a plate of natural, homemade food, instead of something from the freeze (or the drive through window)!
That is sooo true! I spend so much more time in the kitchen now that I try to eat mostly whole foods. Eating processed foods are so much easier and less time consuming. But for me, it’s totally worth it! One thing I just recently did was to cut up almost all of my veggies so they could easily be made into a salad on the fly without any slicing and dicing. As soon as I got home from the farmer’s market, I chopped everything up and put into baggies to be used all week.
LOVE your yummy bread…made this yesterday…my outcome is on my blog. Thanks for sharing your Sweet Bread Wisdom :)