Being Healthier

Our neighbors puppy, Jimmy looking at (our puppy) Jack…
Their 4 year old girl named their female puppy, Jimmy.

Breakfast was oatmeal with blueberries and peanut butter
I took pictures of it.
I hated the pictures of it.
At least I’m not stuck behind a fence.

I then tried to work on my project.
I didn’t find anything I was hoping that I would for it.
Still better than being stuck in a fence.

I was going to run.
I didn’t have time to run before class.
I decided to run after class.
Maybe that fence idea would be nice?

So I had lunch, a smoothie with an apple and peanut butter
I took pictures of it.
I didn’t like the pictures of it.
I’m with ya Jimmy. At least I have a girl’s name.

Snack: Sensory Eval for Cakes
I thought I liked cake, I thought I really loved caked.
I didn’t like any of this cake
After class, I felt too full from the cake to run.
Jimmy isn’t that bad, it’s like Jimmy-Jean.

I called Jeff. I told him how I feel like a moop. I said to him, I normally love taking pictures of my food, running, yoga-ing, nice sunny days, believe it or not School and Cake…but today, when CAKE is not making me happy- there is something seriously arye.  Normally, everyday of the week even, these things give me the ultimate satisfaction of “productivity”. Nothing but moop-ness.

He gave me fantastic advice- blog outside at a new place, workout in a different way, everything will be fine, you just need to change things up.

I went in our backyard and took pictures of the flowers I have been meaning to photograph.
 
I went to the store and got a magazine. I looked at the Picture Puzzle

There were 10 differences and I found 3 in 10 minutes. I gave up.

I moved onto the Suduko puzzle.

Ah, success.

I guess it is easy to get frustrated and to “be bored”. If you ask a friend their problems, ask a stranger or turn on the news- you will see that life is filled with things that aren’t what we think “should” be. It can always be seen as frustrating or disappointing. Everyone has problems but everyone also has chances for joy. Life is filled with magic and poetry. It is filled with beauty and inspiration. If you focus on that instead of the problems, maybe you can see a solution. 

Like I said, I looked at a bunch of recipes ( really over 10) and just noted all the ingredients possible/typical. Here are those ideas:

Ingredients:
Tofu
Thin sliced beef
Chopped chicken

Udon Noodles
Bean Sprouts
Shredded Cabbage
Carrots
Zuchinni
Asparagus
Mushrooms
Broccoli
Peanuts
Cashews

Liquids/ Spices to make the Sauce:
Peanut oil
Black Sesame Oil
Tamarind
Chiles
Lime
Cilantro
Rice Vinegar /Cider Vinegar
Tahini ( Sesame paste?)
Soy sauce

I already had some Thai Broth ( coconut curry) and I had balsamic vinegar ( I know there is a difference but whatever). So here are my ingredients:

Ingredients:
Udon Noodles
6 oz whole wheat linguini
1 zuchinni squash, shaved into thin strips
1 container bella mushrooms sliced
3 leaves of Bok Choy, chopped
Shredded carrot
Frozen, Thawed Pepper and Onion ( about 1 cup)
Green Onion

Natural Peanut Butter ( with the oil )
Coconut Thai Broth
Toasted Sesame Oil
Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
Salt, Pepper

All Natural Beef ( London Broil, very inexpensive)
Beef Broth

Directions:
I sliced the london broil into 1/4 inch thick slices and seared those in the skillet on high heat with sesame oil. After it seared, I guess you could say it caramelized but that is not really correct. The Maillard Reaction is responsible for the meat browning but meat does not contain sugar/carbohydrates for caramelization.

Anyhow, I had put a can of beef broth, green onions and a little more sesame oil into a crockpot and turned that on low. I dropped in the browned meat and let it cook on low for 5 hours. The fat melted from the meat and the broth gave it moisture which all made it so delicious! It doesn’t look delicious, but it was!

For the noodles:
( While I was cooking this, I boiled the linguini to directions on another burner)
I put the Udon package into my skillet and according to the directions, they needed to boil for 3 minutes in a 1/3 cup of liquid.  Instead of water, I put in 1/3 cup of the Thai Broth and covered them , letting them cook. At that point, I added the sliced zuchinni, green onion, a little balsamic vinegar and a little sesame oil.

Then I added in more veggies:
 
( mushrooms, bok choy) And then yes, more veggies and the linguini:

(Brussel Sprouts, Pepper and Onion Mix). I added 1 tablespoon+ of peanut butter, another 1/3 cup ish of the braising broth and another 1 teaspoon of sesame oil. Mixed it in, then added the beef ( I saved the remainder of the braising broth for some other time)

 

I added extra veggies to my bowl because well for me, there is never enough veggies

Lunch:
Tilapia with Salad and a mess of veggies underneath. An organic fugi apple with blueberry greek yogurt, cinnamon Awesome Almonds.

When I was trying to get that apple, I dropped one and guess who thought it was a toy ?!

Maybe he realized it was food because he ran into his crate with it and I was worried he was going to chew threw the core… so I had him come back and drop it. I sliced it up for him and here is Jack eating his apple…
 

And here is my apple, almonds, and yogurt… I wanted more of something so I thought peanut butter goes well with the apple, and then I saw the banana bread when I grabbed the peanut butter.. so this :

became this:
 
and it was delicious! oh and there is a better view of the veggies underneath…

After lunch, I prepped for dinner:
Pad Thai! I had gotten these udon noodles and we had a zuchinni to use up and some all natural beef….

So I grabbed some mushrooms, green onion, beef broth and toasted sesame oil. I think the sesame oil was a good investment because it is cheaper than Tahini paste but basically the same ingredient ?

I will do a separate recipe post for my Pad Thai but unfortunately, I used absolutely no recipe at all! What I honestly did was look at about 10 recipes and noted ingredients, more so what the sauce used because the rest was just veggies and noodles and meat.

I sliced then seared the london broil on high heat to give it a great brown color, then popped it into my crockpot and let it simmaaaaaaaah all afternoon & evening . It came out awesome!

Here is my bowl:
 

Body:

Tempo Run 4.5 miles on the treadmill. I varied speeds between 8.0 and 10.0 mph and I getting ready to do some yoga.

Mind:
Our presentation went really well! Omega-3 PUFA’s are such a crucial nutrient for reducing cancer cell growth, protecting tissues and membranes from cancer formation, and helping brain cells communicate properly ( i.e omega-3 DHA is part of phospholipids, which make up the membranes of brain cells. When there is sufficient DHA, there will be sufficient messages, neurotransmitters, etc. sent between cells).
So we analyzed salmon, barilla pasta , and fish oil supplements as sources of Omega-3’s.

Soul:
I love running… and yoga… and cooking.

I really had a great time inventing a pad thai recipe… I am excited to do my next post , the un-recipe!

I would love to know, What did you do to fill your “soul” today ?