Sweaty Oats

I enjoyed a pre-run peach waiting for my bud Shawn to show up to run long this morning. I had my mind on 10 miles but was up for going with the flow and running less if necessary.

We set out to do a 6 mile loop and as soon as we started I was feeling pretty tired. We took it easy and maintained 9 minute or so pace and I started settling in and feeling better after we had a couple miles behind us.

We were back 55 minutes later, making our average pace about 9:09/mile. We stopped the house for water and I enjoyed a little snack.

These dried apples look a lot like what my legs were feeling like, but I still went out to finish up 4 more. I really wanted to hit 10 today and felt mentally prepared to go the distance, so off I went.

Shawn opted to stay behind because his knee has been bothering him and hung with Zak and the girls while I slugged out the second loop. Those apples must have been laced with something because I felt fabulous for the last 4.19 – that I did in 37 minutes, making my average pace for the second loop 8:49/mile.

After cooling down and a quick shower, I was observed like a lab rat while enjoying my overnight oats.

1/2 cup of oats soaked in LF vanilla yogurt and unsweetened vanilla hemp milk, topped post-run with ground flax, organic blueberries (frozen, thawed) a small sliced banana and shredded coconut.

Looks like it was my oatmeal’s turn to be all sweaty!

Solid Food Returns

I set out for a hot, humid, sunny, ass sweaty run shortly after 12:00. Someone cuff me in the head and remind me why heading out for a run smack dab in the middle of a hot summer day is not the brightest idea I’ve ever had.

It was HOT! And HUMID! And did I mention I was sweaty?

I couldn’t decide how far I was going to go. I knew I wanted today to be a longer run though. I thought about 8 miles. I thought about stopping at the house after 7 for a drink and a little fuel and going out for 3 more. But once I got back after 7 miles that was it. I was done. I ran a comfortable pace and it took me an hour exactly.

I needed something cold and sweet and juicy – STAT.

Organic grapes (YAY) with seeds (NAY). That’ll teach me to read labels.

After my grape buzz wore off I made lunch and plopped myself down on the floor in the living room to watch more of Twilight. I started it last night but fell asleep on the couch. It was midnight crying out loud. I’m a totally pansy when it comes to staying up late.

For my carpet picnic: fresh made guac (avocado, diced tomato, minced garlic, salt and lemon) on toasted Ezekiel bread and a side of steamed broccoli and cauliflower with some parm on top.

And a couple squares of Newman’s Own Organics Chocolate.

After lunch came house work and more house work. Then snack time.

Dried fruit and more dried fruit. With almond butter.

The girls came home and I had no idea what I wanted for dinner. Since I’m solo and the girls had already eaten with Ellen, I whipped up one of my favorite salad concoctions.

Organic red leaf and green leaf lettuce, a chopped gala apple, raw cashews, Newman’s Own Organic dried cranberries, extra firm tofu chunks tossed in Organicville Ginger Miso dressing.

I wanted a little something sweet to “round out” the night… but has anyone seen my glasses??

Are you picking up on the subliminal message with my left hand there?

Also take note of the little hand on the right. I had to surrender my glasses and go back and fetch myself two more.

I’m surprisingly satisfied on two cookies and am not feeling the need to go back and ransack the package for more. I was a little nervous having cookies in the house but so far so good. It’s much easier to resist them when they are on the shelf in the grocery store so that’s where I prefer to leave them.

I still haven’t finished my movie. Maybe I can get Thing 1 and Thing 2 into bed early here and finish it up before the TV turns into a pumpkin. Or something.

Longy Long Run

15 miles? Done! Phew.

Shawn, one of Zak’s college buddies up front in the red there, is my running partner. He’s training for a triathlon and we’re debating on doing the Rochester Marathon together, but his tri is a week after the marathon and he’s trying to convince me to do the Corning Wineglass Marathon with that’s a few weeks later but is about an hour and a half away from home. I can’t decide!

Our first leg was just shy of 9 miles and we came back to refuel and rehydrate.

I hesitated to use a PowerBar Gel for refueling, as this is the very essence of “processed”, but they say to use in training what they’ll be providing on the course, so with going on that logic I went with it.

These are thick and syrupy but there’s no denying they do the job.

Our second leg was 6.5 miles. We stuck with a 9:00/min pace almost the whole way and finished 15.5 in 2:20:28. The last two miles were pretty dang tough and we had to slow our pace at the end, but we did it.

I came back to eat some Fig Newmans. At that very minute, these were quite possibly the best things on earth I have ever eaten.

What a difference a running partner makes on long runs. I can’t get over it. It is so nice to have some company the whole long ass way. My legs were TIRED at the end but I’m happy to realize I feel totally fine now, with the exception of some major SWEET cravings all day.  I’ve been taming it with fresh and dried fruits.

It’s been a very random eats day. I’m just eating what I want as I feel hungry, but still working to stick to unprocessed and raw foods instead of just eating whatever I can get my grubby mits on.  Here’s a random sampling of things I stopped to take a picture of before I shoveled it in.

Nothing new under the sun.

With Zak’s assistance we hacked open this young coconut and I made an iced drink with the coconut meat, coconut water, a few dates , agave nectar and ice.

Looks like an iced coffee! Tastes like coconut.

Fruit, fruit. And oh yeah, more fruit.

I broke into two of the new packages of Newman’s Own Organics Dried Fruit, dried apples and dried apricots.

The apricots were good but the apples were by far my favorite! I’m not sure I’ve ever had dried apples before but I will definitely be buying more of these! They were so spongy and sweet. LOVED. THEM.

Got me some new kicks today too! I had a couple of coupons and saved a bundle. My old pair have nearly 350 miles on them so it’s time to start rotating them out. Asics have quickly become my new favorite running shoe. I use to be a Saucony gal but now it’s Asics all the way baby! Love new sneaks.

There’s no place like home! There’s no place like home!

A Real Job

I’ve sat at my desk today all today like the old days when I had a “real job”.

I broke for lunch and ate at my desk. When we’re child free here, not a single second can be wasted.

A giant salad made up of just about every vegetable in my fridge. Red leaf, green leaf, boston bibb, carrots, raw corn cut off the cob (have you tried this yet?? SO sweet and juicy – GET ON IT!), tomato, green pepper tossed in homemade Italian. And some Green and Black dark chocolate that I took a bite out of before I snapped the pic.

At some point I took a snack break and peered a little something on the front porch. A mystery box behind the veil of a gala apple! Titillating!

I was contacted me a short while ago about trying some of the products by Newman’s Own Organics and oh boy did Sally hook us up!

I didn’t realize their product line is so extensive, I’m really excited to try some of these products out.

About an hour later my apple veil wore off, I was ready to break into some of that organic, sulfite free dried fruit!

I was a little nervous about mixing organic dried fruit and run of the mill walnuts… was there going to be an explosion? What happens if you put organic and conventional foods together!? Biting my nails here.

Apparently it makes your hand look weirdly giant and wrinkly.

You probably didn’t even notice until I pointed it out. Well, if you didn’t notice, don’t go back and look now.

I said DON’T!!

There were a couple of very happy little girls who came home to check out our new cookie stash.

Ava choose to try some Fig Newmans. (A what a clever name!)

She ate her Fig Newman and played with her new toy.

Max opted for some pretzels.

When it comes to buying snacks and treats for the kids, I definitely prefer organic items and cookies without high fructose corn syrup or artificial colors. Newman’s Own Organics definitely fits the bill and is a company I’m happy to support.

I didn’t even know until recently that Newman’s Own Organics a separate company from Newman’s Own. Nell Newman, Paul’s Newman’s daughter, started Newman’s Own Organics as a division of Newman’s Own in 1993 and eventually became it’s own company in 2001.

Love that Baby Girl Newman was an organic rock star! Way to teach the old man a thing or two! (OK I have no idea if that’s what really happened, that’s just how the story plays out in my mind. I like it.)

Dinner tonight was simple. Two slices of toasted Ezekiel bread with some smashed avocado topped with salsa.

Yup, that’s it. I think all my mini meals caught up with me by dinner time.

But then about 5 seconds later I remembered I had some new chocolate to try out! Yes, more chocolate. It is my duty to report the facts here people.

Uh oh G&B, there’s a new organic chocolate kid on the block!

I MAY have smeared some almond butter on one of that them there squares… you know, just to REALLY test it out. It MAY have been so incredibly awesome that it made me drop to my knees and thank the stars above for the miracle that is organic chocolate.

I’ll never tell.

Meeting Minutes

Meeting called to order: 9:30 AM

All present: Yours truly.

New Business:

After my fruit buzz wore off this morning, I tried something new with oatmeal for Breakfast Part III.

Or I guess it really started last night.

I found oat groats at a local health food store and decided I’d try to make some oatmeal concoction with them.

I soaked oat groats, sliced almonds and a couple of chopped dates overnight in almond milk.

This is what it looked like this morning. Inedible, swollen oat groats (sounds like you need to see a doctor ma’am).

Plan B: Throw the whole chewy whole mess in the blender. I wound up with what I can only call oat groat pudding.

It was…. different, but I liked it. The dates made it really sweet, and the texture was enjoyable. Topped with a few more dates and some shredded unsweetened organic coconut.

Turns out oat groats aren’t any more raw than regular rolled oats, but I didn’t bother to google that until after my experiment. Oh well, I tried. It was worth it because I think this will be a new breakfast for a while. I need to burn out my existing blender before I can talk Zak into a VitaMix.

Activities for today:

I mowed our long-overdue lawn and bribed my best gal pal Sharon with lunch if she would entertain 4 small children while I did so.

Old Business:

Two head sized salads, mine was tossed in my homemade Ginger Miso dressing.

With some 2% plain Chobani (dare I say better than Fage?) for a little creamy goodness, topped with sliced almonds and coconut.

After lunch came an impromtu trip to the Museum of Play with friends for a couple of hours of serious playing.

Check it! Dance par-tay!

Here’s Maxine putting in her request for how many Barbie’s she wants for her birthday.

Noted. But you’ve still got two more months kid.

A post play Larabar snack.

Uninspired, I wasn’t in the mood to whip up anything new for dinner. Easy is avocado spelled backwards. Or something.

Avocado tomato open faced sandwiches on toasted sesame Ezekiel bread.

More New Business:

I was in a green smoothie mood, but I did not care to repeat the thick non-sweet green beast of yesteryear. So I brewed Tazo mint tea:

And threw a couple ice cubes in to make it cold.

I snacked on some carrots waiting for my tea to get iced, and when it was ready I threw about half in the blender with 2 or 3 handfuls of spinach and some agave nectar.

Holy frothy GREEN tea goodness!

This was THE BEST green drink I’ve had. I don’t mind spinach in smoothies at all, but since I’m giving the food combining a whirl and I’m eating fruit alone, I’m not putting fruit in green smoothies for the moment. This was AWESOME. There was NO pulp, it was just sort of thick? I loved it and will absolutely be making this again.

More Old Business:

Called it dinner with some unphotographed Vitamin C(hocolate).

Motion to Adjourn: 9:10 PM

I hope you took notes.

A Totally RAWesome Day

Prepare yourself for a blow by blow my almost unbelievable day.

Remember way back to my Breakfast Part I and Breakfast Part II this morning? Yup, me too. I was good to go until nearly 1:00.

This is CRAZY TALK. Most days, especially days when we stay home and don’t go anywhere, I’m ready to eat NOW and lunch is typically on the early side.

Today for lunch I made a lettuceless salad.

An entire zucchini, shredded
An entire ear of corn, raw and sliced off the cob
An entire avocado, diced
A bunch of grape tomatoes, sliced in half.

Into the bowl and mixed with last night’s Carrot Ginger Dressing.

So. Good.

I’d planned to save half for Zak for dinner. But I couldn’t help myself and ate the whole dang thing. It was easy enough to make I figured I’d just whip up another one for him for dinner.

Considering I ate what I thought was two servings, it seemed like a lot at the time. But then I thought about it: an ear of corn, a zucchini, an avocado, some tomatoes and dressing? It’s really not that much. It was totally filling and satisfying even without any bread or crackers, hummus smeared sandwich or wrap to go along side it, like I would otherwise normally eat and have this salad on the side.

Some dark chocolate and raw almond butter for a finishing touch.

Raw almond butter is definitely different than the roasted almond butter I usually eat. I’ll say now that I like roasted better but I’m willing to let the raw AB grow on me a bit.

Now here we go again… normally I’m watching the clock wondering when I get to have a snack. But today I was too busy playing, vacuuming, scrubbing the kitchen and bathroom floors with a scrub brush and toothbrush on my hands and knees… I felt like I had endless energy. Around 4 we ran out the door to get a couple of groceries (MORE PRODUCE) and I thought about having a little something as my natural inclination is to eat something before we go anywhere, so I’m not out and about as a raging hungry lunatic trying to herd cats.

I questioned my hunger and it was practically non-existent so out we went at 4pm, girls topped off with a snack but nothing for moi.

A week ago this would have been UNHEARD of.

As we were heading home about 45 minutes later I noticed this strange feeling in my stomach. Not a bad feeling, just the realization that my stomach was empty. I even heard it growl. But I didn’t FEEL hungry. It’d been almost 4 hours since my last meal, which was properly combined so it made sense that it moved through my system in about 3 – 4 hours. But no hunger? Really? Who is this girl?

I don’t know if I’ve clearly expressed yet at how truly shocked I am by this. Normally I am hungry and totally grumpy and irritable until I’ve had something to eat, especially if I’m at the “growling stomach” hunger point.

I had put bananas in the freezer this morning for my afternoon snack. It was about 5pm when I decided I’d make whipped bananas as planned, knowing bananas take about 45 minutes to go through your stomach (all other fruits are 30 min) and I’d probably be ready for dinner around 6 or 6:30.

My mom was here just in time to experience the wonder that is whipped bananas.

Around 7:00 I made some new dressing and then got started putting a normal lettuceful dinner together.

I’m not sure what to call this, Miso Ginger I guess!

< 1/2 c canola oil
3 Tbsp NAKANO Rice Vinegar
2 1/2 Tbsp Miso Paste
1/2 a small onion, minced
2 Tbsp grated ginger and juice
Splash of lemon juice

I love rice vinegar, it has such a distinct flavor. Thanks NAKANO for the new bottle and an excuse to make a new raw salad dressing!

This is my cute little flounder that I use to grate ginger on.

I cut off the outer hard skin and then scrape the ginger nub on the flounder bumps and am presented wtih ginger mash and juice.

A typical salad… organic red leaf and green leaf lettuce, tomatoes, a small hunk of avocado, carrots, mushrooms, onions, green pepper, tossed with my fresh dressing.

And my happy ending; some almond milk hot chocolate.

Unsweetened cocoa powder mixed with warm almond milk and a little agave nectar. Pure bliss.

I don’t know if it’s the raw foods or the food combining, but whatever it is, it’s working. Even if I do nothing but maintain my weight and don’t lose the 5 – 10 vanity pounds (as Jillian puts it) I’d like to lose, I can live like this. I am practically giddy over how I felt today. Eating this way has really not been that hard, and the results make it that much easier to stick with it.

I think it’s also worth nothing that I haven’t been having anything to drink with meals lately. This morning I did have a cup of coffee but it was an hour or so after breakfast. Drinking fluids with meals dilutes digestive enzymes and slows down digestion. From the Raw Food Detox Diet, The more work it takes to break down your meal, the less weight you will lose and the more sluggish you will feel. Can you hear me pushing my water glass away at meal time from here?

I’ve also found that with all the fruit and vegetables I’ve been eating, I’m drinking less in general, but “everything else” (if you catch my drift) has stayed the same. Natalia explains in the book that the water that comes from raw fruits and vegetables is organic and contains all the vitamins, minerals and live enzymes from the plant. Organic water? Oh yeah, sign me up.

I hope I’ve conveyed what a difference I’ve felt from this way of eating in just a matter of DAYS. I feel so blessed to have found this way of eating, this way of life! Thank you my raw food blogging friends for giving me the courage to live outside my comfort zone and discover this RAWesome way of life.

Raw Food Musings

Me and my new best friend.

Lunch went unphotographed because we got home starving and waiting the hour and a half for my battery to charge would have been a huge joke.

My eyes tend to glaze over when I read about what people are eating without pics. What can I say, I’m a picture person. Without pics I would otherwise skip this but for food combining purposes I’m going write about it today. I’ll keep it brief.

I made a new kind of green smoothie today; spinach, cucumber, half an avocado and unsweetened vanilla almond milk. Today I left out fruit (that I would usually put in) because I now know fruit is supposed to be eaten alone. This would be considered properly combined because nut milk is “neutral”. It was totally yummy even without the fruit. Not sweet but that was fine. It was like salad in liquid form.

I also had two slices of Ezekiel sesame bread (sprouted grains, not raw but a good transistion food) with the other half of the avocado that I mixed with some salsa to make fast guacamole. (Thanks Pat for that idea!) Totally yum and still properly combined as I understand it.

I was totally held over and didn’t even start thinking about food again until 5 or so. This is pretty remarkable for me. Usually I’m thinking about what I’m going to eat at my next meal or snack within an hour or two of a meal.

Since it had been well over 3 hours since my last meal it was “safe” to have some fruit.

I had as much as I wanted and didn’t worry about portions. I had a bunch too. This bowl plus two more like this I’d say. It was so juicy and sweet!

Then we had some fun with the camera.

Household randomness.

Ponies on parade.

Cat Bird Feeder

Some silly girls.

Look! Ava is back in the womb!

I had a salad planned for dinner. Easy peasy, nothing new under the sun, but wanted to spice it up. Literally.

Carrot Ginger Dressing from The Raw Food Detox Diet.

This would be raw carrots, curry, fresh ginger, garlic, sunflower oil and apple cider vinegar all thrown into the blender. VOILA! Salad dressing.

Organic red leaf, green leaf, spinach, green peppers, cucumbers, mushrooms and raw corn (thanks for raw corn on salad the idea Heather!)

I usually make Good Seasons Italian dressing for salads… I use store bought seasonings mixed with my own water, vinegar and oil. I feel like this is better than store bought bottled dressing, but when I think more about it, it’s still “processed”. I really like the idea of making my own from scratch. And this was great! Carrots? Ginger? Curry? Garlic? What’s not to like?! Zak got up after dinner and said he was looking for more things to put this dressing on, and then asked if it would be wrong to drink it straight from the container. It really was THAT good.

I was a little skeptical on the raw corn, but it was so sweet and juicy, I loved it. I shaved it straight off the cob and split it up between my salad and Zak’s salad.

I spent more time today thinking about eating raw foods and worrying about properly combining foods. WHY am I doing this? What is it that I hope to get out of this?

Of course my first goal is to be healthy. The benefits of a raw food diet and proper food combining really appeal to me. I want abundant energy to play with my children, run, take care of my family and my household, to do all the things I enjoy. I want to maintain my weight, maybe even lose a few more pounds, WITHOUT feeling deprived.

I want to stop craving certain foods to the point where it’s all I think about. It’s a little embarrassing to admit this but thanks to food and healthy living blogs I’ve come to know I’m not alone out here. I’ve come a long way with food cravings… from totally avoiding treats of any kind, to eating moderate amounts of processed foods that eventually that leads cravings impossible to ignore, to overeating when I finally do let myself have whatever it was that I was avoiding. I’ve gone through periods where cravings are not an issue and have times food and sweets are all I think about.

I think the answer for me really lies with processed foods. I was so comforted to read this over the weekend:

Vegans, vegetarians and organic consumers alike: if you are eating any refined foods, you have addictions running through your blood stream.

Yes, yes, YES!

I’ve come to find that if I can avoid eating refined foods, even things that I think are “good”, like Kashi crackers, Heart to Heart, organic cookies and snack foods, it just makes me want MORE of it. If I let myself eat these things without restraint, I would stop thinking about it, but I would also gain weight. No dice.

So what’s the answer? How do I NOT think about food AND maintain my weight?

Today and for the last few days I’ve had almost nothing that was processed. I did have Ezekiel bread at lunch, but since it’s a sprouted grain it’s pretty innocent. It didn’t leave me wanting more and I felt perfectly satisfied after every meal and snack today. And even right now, hours after dinner, I’m not thinking about what I’m not letting myself eat or what I wish I could have. THIS is how I want to live. Do I need to properly combine foods at every meal? Do I need to eat mainly raw foods? I’m not sure, but it’s certainly worth experimenting with if it means that I can live my life without feeling like I’m waiting for my next meal or snack AND maintaining a healthy weight.

And Gena’s post today couldn’t have been more perfectly timed. If you are interested in learning more about food combining, check out the clif notes on food combining for a great recap.

This got a little lengthy, so I guess I’ll wrap it up now with a happy ending.

Will wonders never cease… chocolate is “neutral”. Green and Blacks 70% Dark Chocolate was my post dinner treat.

Chocolate Ever After.

Picnic Bowling

So today’s work picnic was rained out and the contingency plans were to go BOWLING.

We rocked our shoes.

There’s no place like home… there’s no place like home…

Since our party was moved to the bowling alley, Zak said not to bring our dish to pass. Before we left I ate some of the hummus and veggies I’d planned to bring figuring there probably weren’t going to be many healthy options at the bowling alley, and packed a snack too.

Good call.

While I of course have nothing against a party with pizza and beer, I’d just much rather eat GOOD pizza, not bowling alley pizza. I was happy to pass on this and was also happy I ate something before we left. I did however let the girls have their fill of cheese pizza.

And cupcakes too.

I enjoyed my organic pink lady and spicy!! Cocoa Mole Larabar.

We had a blast bowling with Zak’s coworkers and their families. Ava loved it!

Max did a lot of this.

Ready… Set…

Bowl?

Zak got a huge kick out of the fact that the frame that he photographed was a gutter ball.

And then he took his own self portrait as he got ready to bowl.

Damn straight that one’s going up sucka!

On the way to the bowling alley we made a quick stop to pick up my new book that was waiting for me at the library!

The Raw Food Detox Diet by Natalia Rose

After the first three pages I could already say I’m convinced. I could NOT. GET. ENOUGH. of what I was reading. I couldn’t read it fast enough. I am hooked.

I’ve been slowly getting on the raw food band wagon thanks to blogland. I’m totally excited about making some of these changes and moving toward a more raw diet and paying closer attention to food combining. I’ve never been skeptical that this the right way to eat, it just seems so overwhelming and like a lot to learn. I feel like I’m in place now though where I’m ready move forward and give it a whirl. I can’t wait to dive further into the book and learn more on this way of eating.

In the spirit of moving in this direction, I ran home and made some guac to smear on toasted Ezekiel bread that’s been in the freezer for months and some left over split pea soup.

And then these guys for dessert. Two dates and four little squares of 70% Green and Black with cashew butter.

It was totally yummy and satisfying! But it wasn’t until AFTER dinner that I read you aren’t supposed to combine nuts and avocados. DOH!

And now? It’s been almost 4 hours since dinner and I have HEART BURN!! I can’t even remember the last time I had heart burn. I’m not sure what I did wrong here, if anything? It’s not like these are things I wouldn’t ordinarily eat.

Maybe it was the raw onions and garlic in the guacamole? But I normally eat raw onions with no problems.

I didn’t drink any water or seltzer with dinner tonight like I usually do. Maybe that was it?

So many questions. I’ve got a lot to learn and am totally psyched about it!

Duathlon

Out the door first thing this morning for a 4.2 mile run in 34 minutes. I took it easy and just enjoyed a jaunt around the neighborhood. A perfectly cool, sunny morning with my girlfriend Jillian.

Once I got home to find everyone still sleeping, I decided to take a cool down ride and rode the long way to my little grocery store to pick up coffee knowing we were out. After I read Master Your Metabolism a few months ago and along with listening to Jillian talk on and on about the pesticides that conventionally grown coffee beans are covered in, I decided it was worth it to make the switch to organic.

I was shocked to find this store had organic coffee. You know organics are catching on when the little rinky dink smells-like-they-mopped-the-floor-with-fish-guts corner grocery store is carrying Green Mountain and Newman’s Own Organic Coffees.

I was positively STARVING by the time I got home and whipped up a big cereal mess in the kitchen.

Look at the time! No wonder I was hungry!

Is someone gonna do those dishes in the sink or what?

A base of 2% Fage, layers of ground flax, Heart to Heart, homemade granola, bananas and a scoop of almond butter.

And hard earned coffee with a few glugs of organic 1% with my good friend Google Reader.

Off on another kiddie adventure today for an informal art project put together by a homeschooling mom friend. Packing lunch again along with art supplies and fish guts. You know, just in case someone wants me to mop their floor.

Outtakes

I stopped at my favorite local farm stand today while out running errands and picked up some greeeens.

Oh yeah, and some reds and blues too. And I’ll have you know that them there lettuce is both local AND organic yessiree!

I got a head start on my green intake for today while putting away groceries and putting together lunch. All while flipping through my new mag that arrived today.

Multitask much?

Lunch was a green smoothie made with spinach, half a banana, mango, tofu and hemp milk. Topped with homemade granola. I snagged the other rosemary roll (sorry honey!) and after it was toasted smeared half with a laughing cow wedge and added some lettuce and tomato.

“Good” is one way to describe this lunch. “Amazingly delicious and satisfying” is another.

The girls were with Aunt Ellen today so I carried my lunch up to my office and chained myself to my desk for the rest of the afternoon.

A head sized salad planned for dinner, I was motivated to come up with a new way to show that I enjoy eating salads as big as my head.

I don’t know what came over me. Maybe it was because my usual salad bowl was dirty and I was forced to put my giant salad on a dinner plate. The bottom of plate just felt so wide. So flat. So balanced.

God I am such a dork.

No it didn’t fall I just do the strangest things sometimes.

And I don’t know about you, but one of my favorite parts of any movie are the outtakes.

This would be me, trying to take a picture without getting the reflection of the camera in the mirror, all while balancing a salad on my head, praying it didn’t come crashing to the floor and send me running to the phone to order a pizza.

But alas, my picture was captured and my salad survived. And doesn’t it figure that I ended up using the very first picture I took? Oh the risks I take!

Organic red leaf, tofu, cucumbers, dressing + rice vinegar. Conventional apples, tomatoes, mushrooms, feta cheese.

I’ll admit that when I was dumping my salad tossed in Miso Ginger dressing onto the plate I was thinking “Damn, this is one huge salad. I wonder if I’ll really be able to eat this whole thing?”

Mission accomplished.

Not only did I eat the whole dang thing, I even had room for a little black and white too.

Now, not to jinx myself like I did two weeks ago, but I’m HOPING to do a group long run with a friend tomorrow morning, organized by one of the local running stores. We shall see.