The Suess Sonnet of Such a Bad Day

I cannot believe it has been soooo long since I sat down to another blog attempt. Sometimes activity just starts swirling around me until I am in a near storm of the things of life.  That quiet, eye of the storm, only seems to arrive when I lay my head on the pillow.  And though thoughts & ideas emerge for blogs, they become the theme of my dreams & I give in to the rest that I need.

But today…today is blog-worthy!  Why?  Because today was one of those days where, in simple prose, you would say you should have stayed in bed.  Or…Dr. Suess might have said it something like this:

The girl we'll call "She" put her feet on the floor
Little did She know what life had in store

As She washed up her body, her face & her hair
Her phone began binging with friends in despair

She prayed up their concerns & onward She went
Off to Weight Watchers and to pay the boat rent

This is really where the day fell apart
The gal at the scales was a grumpy ol' fart

She got on the scale, oh no, not a gain
She wasn't happy, but She didn't complain

That is, not until, a mistake She did find
She wanted it fixed, that's all if you mind

But the gal at the scale was stressed, at the least
And she reacted a bit like a horrible beast

The gal said it out loud for all those to hear
"She's" starting weight came out nice & clear

She didn't look back, She left in a hurry
A look from the line that said, "Please don't worry"

She picked up a stamp, an egg sandwich and then
Went off to the office of the boat moorage men

The men were not there just the lady you pay
And she must have been having a horrible day

The lady you pay looked at "She" and then said
Where's your insurance, its how the contract is read

She didn't know that She needed that form
But just a reminder seemed more the norm

She got out her card to pay anyway
And the Mastercard said…no way, not today

So then She tried Visa and they let it through
And the gal at the desk glared & said, "Nothing new!!"

She could have pleasantly died on the spot
But She picked up her chin & pulled out of the lot

She needed fresh air so She picked up the pup
And headed out for a walk - things could only look up

The walk was grand, just look at the view
She couldn't resort to being mad too

But when She got home, She had to phone
The wedding bells planner all on her own

We need that guess list, the template to invite
I guess you know what She's doing tonight

I talked on the phone to my husband away
And he, of course asked, Babe, how was your day?

I grumbled on through the course of events
Until I remembered, life never relents

Why is She surprised when a day goes so wrong
Everyone out there is plugging along

Fighting a battle you never will see
Just on the outside, grumpy are we

So tomorrow She decided when her feet hit the floor
She'll pray for the people who need so much more

That will be better than feeling all hurt
She's decided to pull up her Big Girly shirt (fooled ya'!)

She'll have a day when she's grumpy too
A kind word from someone may pull her through

The moral is easy, just try to step back
Breath, take a moment before you attack

The weak appear strong but often are shattered
And you gave some grace in a moment that mattered...

It may all sound a bit confusing in Suess, but this is pretty much the truth of my day. While I worked on the final address list & the wording for the wedding invitation, I also baked a loaf of Wheat Belly bread.  I made it exactly per the recipe book & am a little afraid of being in copyright violation with all my recipe sharing, so I will only include pics of my baking stress relief.

It's not so clear to see, but that's the whipped egg whites going into the food processor to pulse just like the good Dr. suggests.  And below, the bread after coming out of the oven.  It looks more like a banana bread or the like, but the flavour is actually pretty good.  My husband & I are actually kind of getting onto it.  We don't eat much bread, day in day out, but like a couple thin little slices of this toasted for our egg sammy in the mornings...

I put a tray of these babies in to bake while I worked on the beautiful prose :)  Sweet potatoes & quinoa are becoming real staples in our diet of late.  Annnnd, we love 'em both!!

So now I will  eat my delicious salad of lettuce, quinoa, chick peas, beets, sweet potatoes, tomato, cucumber, red onion, peppers & greek-seasoned chicken (mostly to share w/Shaq.)  *I know, I'm bad…* I will "sparingly" add a morsel or two of goat cheese because of the .3 lb gain at the scale today.  (I think I liked the days of having to balance the scale compared to these electronic ones that can be so precise!)  Tossed gently in my Tahini/Nutritional yeast dressing that I included in an earlier blog for the Glory Bowl.

Oh, & gently seasoned with the Smoked Black Peppercorns, that I found on my recent stay near the amazing Granville Public Market, finding its new home in this lovely little mill from the favorited Lakehouse, Kelowna, BC…:

Wah Lah - supper fit for a princess…at least one that's had a day with a lot a' bad step-sisters in it...

Late-Night Ramblings of the Cold-Meds Induced Blogger

What will follow are the thoughts of my insomniac brain this late night.  My insomnia, whether brought on by the cold meds (which state on box are of the night-time variety causing drowsiness??) or just brain over-activity, are nonetheless real…and a real problem!

This head cold (or what will shape itself into a head cold, if I do not quickly defeat it with Oregano tablets & an onslaught of Vit C) I'm sure originated on the tarmac of Calgary airport just last night.  We had, what turned into a 2 hour delay, from the gates of Kelowna airport to the gates of our arrival home at Saskatoon airport.  While sitting there in the stuffy, tight-quartered, confines of the West Jet cabin, I made the regrettable decision to open my air vent, thinking I would find some relief in the recycled air that would spill down onto my brow.  Rather, I think I released the germs of countless un-named viruses down upon myself.  At least, that is my raw assumption of where this nasty cold, I am now fighting, found its origin.

Anyway, I awoke this morning feeling pretty flu-ish.  Only to be reminded by my husband, that today was cleaning day.  That meant that Trudy would be walking through the door, in all her house-cleaning splendour by 8:30 a.m.  To call Trudy our housekeeper would be a large misnomer.  Trudy is a dear friend, who by her appearance every second Tuesday, keeps our Saskatoon home in some sort of function until my arrival there appx once per month.  She has been a main stay, for our family, in this role for nearly 20 years.  I think it would be a mutual affection that she & I afford each other to tarry a while, each visit, & discuss our families, spiritual matters & many weighty concourses of the day.  Her bi-weekly visits are among the many things/people I miss dearly about this Saskatoon "home sweet home."

The anticipation of my visit with Trudy was the fuel that fired my engine today.  Then, I plodded along & got to some of the errands of the day.  Here goes:  I went to a fave coffee shop, Mystic Java & picked up my Almond Milk Latte, headed to Indigo to pick up my new cookbook, Quinoa Revolution (which I had ordered & had held, for me, earlier in the a.m.,) picked up lunch for my daughter at Opa & delivered it across the city to Modular on Gyles, took the new freeway (which I love, I might add) around to Stonebridge to Stonebridge Chiropractic to pick up my supplements (which included the Oregosept to ward off this bug,) over to Battery Boys in Brierwood to get the very unusual batteries for my digital bathroom scale (& while there picked up a pair of the most awesome texting gloves to adjust the music on my ipod, while dog-walking, w/o freezing my fingers,) & over to Safeway at the Centre for the restocking of general supplies & supper groceries & across 8th St. over to Griffin Take Away to get myself a bowl of the daily soup to sooth my searing throat…not bad for a sicko, right??!

And then, back home to unpack the groceries & get a start on the home-cooked meal that I know the kids are always looking forward to, when we are home.  The people that I miss, here in Saskatoon, are too many to mention, but of the "things" I miss, my newly renovated kitchen would be at the top.  I am always eager to get at the home-cooking, while here, too.  Tonight, I had decided on Greek Salad with Quinoa & Yam.  And I got a pot of Chicken Soup rolling to feed this cold of mine, as well.

The salad is pretty straight forward:

Romaine lettuce
Tomato (I like to use a combination of Grape tomatoes, halved & roma tomatoes, roughly chopped)
Cucumber (I like the minis but 1/2 a long english is fine too)
Red Onion (finely chopped)
Red Pepper, chopped
Feta, crumbled
*note:  no real amount listed, use in variations that make you happy - for example, tonight, we used very little lettuce & lotsa all other veg*

Dressing:

1/2 C Evoo
1/4 C red wine vinegar
1 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp garlic powder
sprinkle of parsley flake
1 tsp sea salt
good grind of black pepper

Whiz all til creamy in blender.  Use enough to just lightly dress salad & store remainder in airtight container or jar that you can shake the daylights out of before the next salad you want to dress.

Quinoa:

1 C quinoa, well rinsed in a fine sieve
2 C chicken stock (made with better than bouillon)

Bring to a boil in a medium pot & cook on med heat for appx 10 mins or until most of liquid is cooked away, stirring occasionally.

Yams:  I peel, cube, toss in a tbsp or two of Evoo & steak spice & bake on parchment-lined cookie sheet @ 400 for appx 30 mins.

We like to serve the quinoa & yams on the side with some cajun spiced chicken.  Everyone can eat their salad as desired.  Tossed all together or deconstructed with "no foods touching" for some!!

On a warmer (much warmer) night, we would probably BBQ some chicken breasts lightly brushed with Evoo & sprinkled with cajun seasoning.  Tonight was definitely NOT one of those nights, with the mercury dropping well below -20 on the ol' thermometer.  In a pinch, I remove the chicken from the bones of a rotisserie chicken, chop & toss in a fry pan heated with a turn of Evoo & season liberally with Cajun seasoning.  It is nearly as great & we often use this short cut on cold SK nights…

My chicken soup was very basic too:  I started with the veg trinity:  onion, celery & carrot + garlic.  I cheated again & used the bag of already grated carrot.  Once this mixture was tender, I added in some cauliflower & broccoli from the freezer & let it soften.  In went appx 7 C of chicken stock (better than bouillon) 1 bay leaf, 1 tsp rosemary powder & 1 tsp sage.  After all was bubbling away nicely, I added a whole rotisserie chicken, chopped, bones & skin removed & 2 small pkgs of the Shirataki noodles (found in the refrigerator section of store) well-drained & rinsed.
I didn't have much of an appetite tonight but did try a bite or two of this soup, as I was interested in the noodles I had seen on Dr. Oz last week, as suggested by Dr. William Davis of Wheat Belly.  And they really aren't too bad.  A consistency similar to an al dente pasta noodle…I will be interested to see how the kids weigh in…I am not an excellent judge, as my opinions are slightly skewed by the fact that I am making an honest effort at reducing the wheat-intake in my diet.  I think we have to give our taste preferences a chance to accept a new intruder…

It's not often, you'll get a look in my fridge, but since I had no forethought about this blog, all that is remenisent of supper is sitting on these shelves.  My one & only piece of Le Crueset cookware houses the "Chicken Soup for my Sick-little-Soul" for tomorrow.  *If you squint a little, you won't notice the bottle of Baileys tucked in behind…wink*

And with that, I bid you farewell & pleasant dreams...

(On The Rack) Muffins + Cookies = 0 Sugar

I guess this guy isn't too excited about me doing a little blogging, in between plays, during the Super Bowl. today.  He has settled firmly in, between me & my laptop.  I have to admit I'm not an avid NFL fan, but really do love watching all of the commercials on the US networks.  My fave by far:  Budweiser horse & dog love…nearly forgot they were selling beer…with Ellen & the Beats Playlist a close second.

Before I came down to the man cave (for today) more commonly known as the games room, I had a little supper-prep/baking spree going on.  Games room > man cave overnight, when caveman of the house purchased the little projector TV, at Christmas, for said games room.  And you know what, I'm in favour of this for my caveman, who has very few bad "man" habits.  I actually quite like the projector idea vs. the thought of a 100" TV hanging on the wall.  The wall is just a wall when not projecting an image of life-like men running down the field or skating up & down the ice…& even sometimes projects an evening's enjoyment of a flick we both love.

The baking spree actually began yesterday when I took in my head that I could try a recipe out of my Grain Power cookbook for muffins.  And in trying this recipe, I could make it edible for myself, still in my Simple Start phase of Weight Watchers, if I but removed the sugar for its ingredient list.  The muffins are golden brown & delicious looking.  And...they taste as if they have no sugar in them.  Although, they have several ingredients with natural sugar included, I fear my tastebuds are tuned to baked items that contain the powder of death.  Maybe by giving it such a conspiratory name, I will strive for excellence in its reduction>elimination from my diet.  Once I am back to a regular Weight Watchers regimen, where I can count points & not eliminate certain foods, I can add in components that naturally add more sweetness. i.e.) dates, raisins…  However, I think I will make an honest effort of trying to train my tastebuds into submission, to the fact, that they do not need the silky-smooth taste of "the powder of death"crossing my tongue in all baking.  It should be noted, too, that this baking will be consumed by myself as breakfast items (when I crave muffiny, carby things so terribly!) & not as desserts!!  Thanx (really!) to those of you who are striving to keep me accountable…

Sugar-Free Pineapple & Carrot Good-Grain Muffins

(& by Sugar-Free, I don't mean sub some sugar substitutey thing - give a less-sweet option a try!! I'm gonna!!)

1 can crushed pineapple (14 oz)

1 C oat flour

2/3 C sorghum flour

2/3 C millet flour

1/2 C grape seed oil

2 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla

2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp Xanthan gum (stabilizer for gluten-free grains)

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 1/2 C grated carrot

1 over ripe banana, mashed (I freeze my over ripe bananas whole, in peel, as is.  When needed, I defrost a little first.  They don't give off any odour & are always there, at the ready. for a baking moment) - or - 1/2 C raisins (steeped for a few mins in boiling water - you won't regret the added plumpness!!)

2/3 C organic cane sugar or coconut sugar (if you must!) - or if you are baking for your most favourite little gluten-free friends :) 

Preheat oven to 375 with rack placed in centre.  Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with Pam.

Drain the juice well from the pineapple & measure out 2/3 C of juice.  Place pineapple juice, oat flour, sorghum flour, millet flour, sugar (if you are using,) oil, eggs & vanilla in mix-master til well blended.

Add the cinnamon, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, salt & nutmeg & mix again till well incorporated.

Stir in the pineapple, carrot & banana or raisins until just mixed.

Divide evenly into the muffin tin & bake for 18-20 mins or until turning golden & spring back to touch.  Cool completely.  Freeze or store in ziploc in fridge.  Enjoy with a hot latte by themselves or spread with a smear of Chia Jam (from earlier blog post)

Annnnnd today, I had to try the sugarless cookies I have been seeing circulating around on Facebook…

Less is More Cookie - (egg-less, dairy-less, flour-less, refined sugar-less)

Preheat oven to 350

3 bananas, mashed

1 snack-size applesauce, unsweetened

1 C quick oats

1 C large flake oats

1/4 C almond milk

1/2 C carob chips, unsweetened (could sub raisins when not on Simple Start)

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

Mix all together in mix master or mix well by hand.  Form into drop cookies, by the large tbsp full, onto parchment-lined cookie sheets.  

Bake for 15-20 mins or until dough springs back to touch & are turning a golden brown. 

*The carob chips do not really take the place of chocolate chips.  They would more resemble a little bite of high-quality dark chocolate, here & there, throughout your cookie*  Again, a taste I think is worth getting used to.  I would have one of these little morsels alongside my Almond/Coconut latte in the morning.  In fact, I can't wait for tomorrow!!!

And that's what was "on the rack" for today...