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?
I try to do as many of those things as I can. Keeping the house clean, making the bed, and cleaning up after cooking are simple ways that really keep me sane. Otherwise, those little things tend to stress me after days and days.
That jam looks fantastic!
Making your bed is soooo important. It makes your bedroom feel like a luxury suite rather than a teenager’s room.
It makes you feel relaxed and indulgent to climb into a cool, crisp, tightly made bed!
This is an awesome recipe (from a science blogger – but the woman knows her food) for freezable pesto.
http://isisthescientist.blogspot.com/2008/08/isiss-super-family-fun-day.html
Scroll down a bit for the recipe (and hilarious comments). The gist is that you can (1) add water to the recipe in place of some oil to help it freeze, and (2) freeze it in an ice cube tray (dedicated to garlicky etc. things) for easy thawing (3) don’t add cheese/nutritional yeast before freezing . I love that pesto!
i LOVE the brilliant red color in those oats from the jam! holy heaven in my mouth :) i love having a clean house to relax in…i don’t clean enough, but when i do and wake up the next day it’s so amazing to just sit back and enjoy it!
Your VOO look amazing this morning!!
I do most of those simple stress reducing things…but the one I NEED to work on is the gas in the empty zone…I’m guilty of letting the gas light come on before I stop at the fuel station and it makes my Husband furious!!
No one’s perfect… ;)
hahaha Eric gets so mad at me too!!! And then I make him fill it up. lmaooooo
Martha Stewart always suggests making your bed first thing when you get up in the morning – because if the bed is made it tends to make you want to make the rest of the room neat to match. Strange but true.
Hi Angela – love your blog! Quick tip with the green onions… if you just use the green part, you can put the white, root part of the onion in a cup of water and they will regrow! No kidding. Try it!
No way! This would pretty much make my life if it works. Will try it. Any size glass will do?
Doesn’t really matter what type of glass. The first time I did it I litterally took one of my small drinking glasses, put an inch or so of water in it, plopped in the onion, and voila – green onions in just a day or two!
If you’re more adventurous, you could plant them outside in the garden.
Here’s a link to show I’m not crazy! http://www.cookthink.com/reference/1472/How_to_re-grow_green_onions
This excites me to NO END!!! haha thanks!
Does your CSA share come all washed and grouped and pretty like that? I’m so jealous — I spend a ton of time cleaning mine up each week. Still, the fresh veggies are worth it. :)
I totally agree with the stress-relieving tip of making your bed each morning. I started it a few years ago out of necessity when I got an apartment where you can see my bedroom from the front door, and I love it! It only takes 3 minutes and it just puts you in a whole different mind state to have a clean, tidy-looking room before you tackle the day.
You can’t tell from the pictures, but the veggies have lots of dirt on them. It is a lot more cleaning indeed, but worth it because I dont feel like I have to clean off any pesticides. Peace of mind I guess.
I love seeing what you get in your CSA each week. So far I’m getting a lot of the same items as you – I had gigantic spring onions last week too! Crazy how big and how good they were. I’ve been making these green stir-frys for a couple of weeks now and even my meat loving other half declares them delicious. :)
The things I do to help relieve stress include working up a sweat at the gym, Bikram yoga, and just being around my friends!
Angela – your CSA produce looks amazing. You’ve inspired me to look for farms in the area that I can get my own!
Maria
kaleandcupcakes.wordpress.com
Enjoy! :) I only wish I started it sooner.
I am totally guilty of the gas thing too… and the not tidying thing. I’m also guilty of not doing laundry until the absolute last minute and I’m running around trying to get ready for work unable to find underwear…lol. But it’s totally true, taking a bit of time to do these little things can really make a difference! I hate coming home from work to a messy kitchen because I didn’t clean it the night before. The one thing I started doing that has helped is washing my lunch containers in the kitchen at work instead of bringing them home dirty… one less thing to worry about!
I’m totally the worst with the gas thing. I only drive 3 miles to work so I can let it get reeeeally low.
I love the idea of tidying up for 10 minutes each day. Sometimes I tell myself to put away 25 things. It can be anything lying around in any room. Usually it takes 2 minutes and I end up counting 50 things to put away!
I would have to say that making sure the check book is balanced regularly helps me with stress. My husband and I share an account so its good to know where we both stand.
LOVE the jam! Thanks for the easy and wonderful recipe!!!
I’ve started implementing a lot of those tricks lately due to the fact that I get so busy with both work and school. I ALWAYS make the bed, it just makes me feel like I’m in control, even if it’s not the best bed-making job. My keys have their spot on the magnetic key holder right beside the door and my most recent addition to conquering stress is the dishes! For almost two weeks now I’ve managed to make sure the dishwasher is empty as SOON as it’s cooled down and to constantly make sure that the dirty dishes go in right away and whatever needs to be washed, gets washed immediately. The longer we leave it, the more stressed I get! It’s been working like a charm and feels GREAT to come home after a 14 hour day and not have to worry about dishes!
I want to make some jam now! That looks great Angela!
Some of those tips are things that I didn’t do before I was dating my current boyfriend…like just turning out the light as soon as we are sleepy and not letting my gas too low. I always try to clean up a little before bed and put my keys in the same place but the making my bed doesn’t happen on days when I have to be on set at say 5-9am. I always do on the weekend though or if I have a late call time.
I love all those tips :) I suffer from stress a lot, so I think they’ll be helpful! Walking definetly helps though. That, and a good run!
LOVE those oats btw – one of the most beautiful yet!
P.S. the jam looks fantastic!
That jam is so pretty!!!! So vibrant!
Sigh…asparagus season is so short but sweet.
I do all of those things besides tidy up and make my bed :) I am just not a ‘tidy’ person, haha! I should probably try that though.. because for as messy as I am.. I can’t stand a mess!!