Food

Running Season, More Coffeehouses and Sunshine

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On Friday someone mentioned it was supposed to be sunny all weekend. I checked my weather app, and they were right. It’s hardly spring with temps in the 20s-40s and snow in the forecast, but the sun shining in the sky is a reason to celebrate.

I got up Saturday morning early to get a cup of coffee before my hair appointment. None of the local coffeehouses were open, so I decided to stop by Plank’s at the local inn. I was really pleased at their brunch offering and got an amazing breakfast of avocado, eggs and sweet potato hash. My table was right in front of the fireplace with a lovely view of the river. It was a great, cozy, tasty way to start the weekend.

 

My internet has been out so I had to go home to wait for AT&T while I cleaned house, worked out on my TRX and cooked dinner. The guy was really nice, and I was very pleasantly surprised that he fixed it with no issues, and it didn’t cost me a dime. I went to bed early with my book club book, The Great Alone. A family in the 70s moved to rural Alaska on a whim, and I can’t wait to see if they will get eaten by a bear. There’s a lot of foreboding about danger and trouble going on. If the bears don’t get them, I expect the Daddy might go off his rocker and anger the locals. I’ll keep you posted.

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I had to do a long run this morning, so I packed up Ashok, and we headed to Kalamazoo to a nature preserve on the Kalamazoo River Valley Trail. It was a beautiful day although it was a tad colder than I expected. I’m lucky my technical shirt had some cuffs I could roll up over my hands. I planned on running 5 miles, but I felt so good at 2.5, I decided to go to 3 and double back for a total of 6. It felt amazing to be out and about and running on a day like today. And I noticed the Kalamazoo Nature Center is hosting a Maple Sugar Festival next weekend. That might be worth a trip!

I’ve started thinking about a running “season” this year now that the snow is melted and we seem to be on the back side of winter. I texted Jessica and hired her to coach me to run two specific races this fall. I want to run my favorite trail/road race of all time, the Mount Baldhead Challenge in September. And I signed up to run the Detroit Free Press International Half Marathon in October. I even had to use my passport to sign up since the race course goes into Canada. Woohoo!!! Now, I just need to train and get in shape. I haven’t run a half marathon since February 2013 in Austin. We’ll see if I can get this body in shape again!

I visited two coffeehouses this weekend. My friend Donna had told me about The Full Circle coffee house (#9) in Stevensville so I stopped there on Saturday. It was a cute little cafe that serves a full breakfast as well as bakery goods and coffee. I opted for a chocolate scone which melted in my mouth. It had the texture of a flaky southern biscuit with a light drizzle of chocolate on top and a spattering of chocolate chips. They serve Infusco coffee, and I grabbed a latte to go. The manager told me it was called Full Circle because it is owned by three friends who grew up together, went on with their lives and then came “full circle” and opened a restaurant  together. The story is almost as cute as the furnishings and the setting in the cafe.

 

On Sunday, I stopped at Water Street Coffee (#10) in Kalamazoo. It is one of my favorite coffeehouses in that area. I had just run, so I got a Denver omelette strata and a latte made from their own roasted beans. The small place was packed, so I didn’t hang around too long. I noticed they have their own line of teas as well as coffee, local artisan-designed t-shirts and some really amazing coffee mugs. When I have time to browse, I’ll go back for another cup.

I’ve cooked up some beans for meals this week and am going to head to bed to read some more tonight. Now I’ve got races to motivate my running, a blog project that encourages me to explore my area, and a book club to motivate me to read. What’s motivating you to do what you know you want to do? Maybe it’s time you put something in place!

Have a great week, y’all!

 

Yumming on Yummly

/ yogini.sharon / 2 Comments

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Whirlpool bought a tech company named Yummly. Why would we need a tech company? Well, Yummly happens to be a virtual recipe collection app. And, think about it. We make kitchen appliances. What do you do on kitchen appliances? You cook food. And how do you know how to cook food? You look for recipes. Thus, we now own a virtual recipe collection app called Yummly. And I was curious. After all, I like to cook. I’m up for change when it’s for the better. So I started exploring the world of Yummly.

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I downloaded it for free from the iTunes app store, and signed in with my email address. It asked me for my food preferences. I liked that approach. I chose vegetarian, pescatarian, and vegan. I also prefer to avoid recipes with beef, pork, and sugar. It asked me about my favorite cuisines. Apparently, this thing works sort of like Tinder. The more recipes I “yum” (like), the better the app gets to know what I like. Theoretically, I’ll see more of what I like as I teach it my preferences.

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So I Yum’d several recipes and I created some labels that made sense for me. I found a vegetable soup that looked really yummy – not to be confused with yummly. The recipes list the nutritional information, the ingredients, directions and even reviews.

And, best of all, there’s an “add to list” button. I clicked it, and it immediately added all of the ingredients to a shopping list. I’ve had apps with shopping lists before, but they were pretty static. With this one, I could go through the list and check what I already have on hand. If I check the box, it drops down to the “I got it” section. Each ingredient links to the recipe so I can click through if I have questions while I’m in the store. Sweet!

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And they are listed along with the name of the recipe

I didn’t have time to do much else, so I left for my morning errands. When I got to the grocery, I decided I would make that soup tonight, and there was a hot chocolate recipe I wanted to try. I went to the Yummly app, added the ingredients to the list and started shopping. I was able to shop and stuck to my list which helps with my budget. I felt very good about my trip, and I had all of the ingredients for a nice dinner and a healthy cup of cocoa.

 

 

While I was eating that lovely soup, I got online and started learning more about my newfound helpmate. I added a “bookmarklet” to my browser on my computer and one on my iphone. I can search the entire web (not just Yummly) for recipes, and when I find them, I can bookmark them to Yummly. This is going to revolutionize the way I keep recipes. Right now, I bookmark them but sometimes they are on Safari, and other times they are on chrome. Sometimes they are on my phone bookmarked, and other times they are on my computer. Most of the time I just forget that I saved them and never use recipes. I end up wasting food or not having enough stuff on hand to cook a healthy dinner in a hurry.

On my iPhone….

 

On my computer….

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And I found out that I can manually add items to the list as well. So, even if I have to buy things like toilet paper or milk or eggs not tied to a recipe, I can keep it all on one handy list.

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This app has the potential to revolutionize the way I keep recipes and grocery shop. If I’m in the grocery, and they have some great-looking winter squash, I can get right on the app and search for a recipe. And with one click, I can add all of the ingredients to my list. Or if I plan a meal, and the grocery doesn’t have a key ingredient, I can just quickly delete all of the stuff for that recipe and find another. And I love a checklist for groceries. It’s much nicer than creating notes and having to delete them or edit them one item at a time.

My favorite benefit, though, is the database of great recipes pulled from many, many different sources with a focus on my personal preferences. Google was easy, but this will help refine my search much more quickly. Maybe I’ll even try some new cuisines! So it looks like I would describe Yummly as Yum! Oh yeah… tell them Whirlpool sent ya!

Here are the top features I like:

  • Easily created and editable grocery list
  • Customizable labels for recipe collections
  • Preferences to weed out things I don’t like or things I don’t eat
  • Seasonal recipe collection – Cook things “in season”
  • Easily shareable recipes
  • Bookmark from any blog or site on the web (You can also add your own, but I haven’t tried that.)
  • Pictures, reviews, my preparation notes and nutritional information are all in one place and accessible on any of my devices

So, here’s the link to Yummly.com. There are some helpful resources on the site, of course.

And here are some tips on how to use it:

That First Bite is the Sweetest

/ yogini.sharon / 6 Comments

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Today’s Daily Prompt is “bite”. 

Why is it that the first bite of food is always the best? Maybe I’m hungrier. It could be a supply/demand sort of thing. Scientists also say that the pleasure centers in our brain register the pleasure of food or any addictive substance even before we consume it. For an addict, just being in a place where they usually score drugs can ignite the pleasure center of the brain as much taking the drug. Maybe it’s anticipation that creates the sweetest of sensations on our taste buds. It’s a good argument for me to stay out of bakeries.

The first time I really had to work at losing weight was in my 20s. I had never read any diet books or anything, but I realized that thinking about eating food brought me as much pleasure as actually eating it. In fact, it might be even more pleasurable because there is no remorse afterwards. If I saw a piece of cheesecake that I wanted, I took a minute and imagined what that cheesecake would taste like. In my mind, I took my fork, swiped a bite, let my eyes savor it for a few seconds and then let it linger on my tongue. So, it was not a problem to imagine the sweet creaminess of a cheesecake melting on my tongue. I just had to tap into that memory and let her rip.

I remember being so frustrated with the short amount of time that food was actually satisfying. If I’d really eaten the cheesecake, it might last 10 minutes at the most. So, I’d have 10 minutes of pleasure followed by 6 hours of kicking myself for eating it. Why not skip the 6 hours of kicking myself by not eating it? By fantasizing about it, the only thing I lost was the 10 minutes of pleasure in the interaction with the food. And if I really did a good job of imagining it, I only missed a small fraction of the pleasure. I guess you might call this food porn!

 

 

 

 

My Best Cup in Marquette: Dead River Coffee Roasters

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While some people go on winery tours in Michigan and others explore the various breweries that populate every little small town in the state, I look for the best and the yummiest coffeehouses. Coffee is my drug of choice – mainly because the rest of my drugs of choice no longer serve me. Gratefully, there are people who are passionate about roasting dark and mysterious coffee beans and turning them into a deep, luxurious vehicle for transporting caffeine. It makes me thirsty just thinking about it. Luckily, I’m in a coffee shop now. The elixir beckons….

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Today’s coffeehouse of choice is Dead River Coffee Roasters on Baraga Street in Marquette. I asked the barista, “What’s your specialty?”, and he suggested a cup of their Brazilian brew. I laced it with half-and-half and commenced to enjoy. It is smooth and dark and deep-flavored. It is not too acidic. I wish I could tell you all of the flavors that are in it, but I don’t possess a sophisticated palate. I just know what I like, and I like this.

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I also like the shop. It’s a bit unruly in design with the coffee roaster sitting right up front. I hear the mechanical whish whish of the beans as they are stirred for roasting. It is a masculine-looking place in comparison to most coffeehouses with their bakery goods and feminine decor. Their website design is simple, too. Its one and only page says basically what it needs to say – We take good coffee seriously. There’s nothing fancy to see here. It’s just a place to sit with some really good coffee. I have to respect that.

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So, I’m almost done with my cup, and, with my sensitivity to caffeine, I can only have one cup this late in the day. I have an event to attend tonight at the University for the North Country Trail Association. Tonight’s presentation is on the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness Area. They are trying to make it into a National Park. I’ve hiked there in the past. I’d like to go again. I guess I’ll need to make yet another trip to the Upper Peninsula in the future. And now I have a superb place to grab my coffee as I’m driving through. I might even sit awhile… but there are NO DOGS allowed. Sigh…..

 

The Mark of the Culinarily Curious

/ yogini.sharon / 11 Comments

There was a time in my life I called myself an appliance genius. I was a customer service representative and later a sales trainer for the largest maker of appliances in the United States (today Whirlpool is the largest appliance manufacturer in the world, but I digress). For all of the questions that consumers had – including do-it-yourself repairs – I had to know the answer or at the very least know where to find it.  It was in that time that I learned the difference between the average appliance buyer and the culinarily curious.

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Virtue Cider near Fennville MI

I have become culinarily curious over the years experimenting with my beloved coffee and coffemakers, making my own homemade kefir and sourdough and baking homemade bread. There’s something fascinating about the interaction of simple ingredients like flour, water and yeast or the fermentation of milk. You can have your complicated recipes, my palate and my mind prefers the simple and the mysterious.

I’m noodling a coffeemaker that KitchenAid makes. I’d love to get their cold brew coffeemaker, but I already have one, so what’s the point of getting another? But I discovered their line of craft coffeemakers, and I’ve been eyeing them for months like a sailor salivates over sailboats at the annual boat show. Imagining the beautiful cup of coffee and the aroma filling my home is a favorite past-time. I already purchased the espresso maker, so it seems a bit extravagant to buy another appliance for a one-person household, but still …. I want it.

When I worked for Whirlpool previously, we didn’t have craft coffee brewers. We also didn’t have our employee purchase program back then, so on my calltaker’s salary buying one of their expensive coffeemakers was out of the question. Besides, I had not worked at Starbucks – or even visited one – and been trained on the art of making a great cup of coffee. When I discovered Starbucks as a resident of Seattle, my coffee adventure – and curiosity – truly began.

So this morning I’m dreaming of the Craft Siphon Coffee Brewer that KitchenAid makes. One of the reviewers bought one for his Dad who had always talked nostalgically of the great cups of coffee made in an old Silex siphon coffee brewer. I wondered why we don’t use siphon brewers anymore if the coffee is so good, and Google provided a very interesting article on the history of coffee brewing. Apparently, the culinarily curious have for centuries been experimenting with how best to combine coffee beans and water for the most entertaining and tasteful brew.

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Michigan seems to be a hotbed of crafty culinarily curious scientists. We are number 4 in the nation for craft breweries, and our bountiful orchards are the fodder for many wineries and hard cider makers.  Organic farms, artisan creameries and local cheesemakers are not uncommon. Maybe the long winters provide time to think about how things are made and to experiment in dark Michigan basements. Perhaps it’s the summer with its burst of energy that ignites energetic curiosity. Or maybe it’s just the history and nature of the great Midwest farmers to be culinarily curious. Whatever the cause, it is fun to talk to the culinarily curious in these parts and to taste their experiments.

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I’m guessing I’ll end up with this little coffee machine at some point. I already have too many coffeemakers for one person, but I guess that’s the hallmark of the culinarily curious. As bad habits go, this one is relatively inexpensive and coffee is something that can be enjoyed every day (with liberal splashes of decaf). As for today, I’ll make myself another cup of magical coffee from my espresso machine and say goodbye for now. It will be rainy today, so perhaps I’ll go visit a local culinary artist for a sample. Have a great weekend!

Note: If this has tickled your curiosity, I can get you a great deal on a KitchenAid coffeemaker if you are interested (more than 50% off). Just send me your email address. I’ll hook you up.

 

 

 

Natural High

/ yogini.sharon / 8 Comments

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After I posted last night, my friend Ann from NOLA said she was in the process of quitting sugar, too. My former boss commented that he and his wife are doing Whole 30 right now. In that one, you only eat whole foods which means ALL the good stuff – booze, sugar, grains, dairy and legumes – is out the door. I salute them on that challenge. That’s a whole new level of discipline. One of my coworkers at Whirlpool did it in January. The other day I asked him if he kept any of the habits. “I still eat,” he said.

I’m so lucky that my friend Ann here and my sister are both trying to make positive changes in their eating habits and lifestyles, so we are all supporting each other in the journey. Last night, Ann and I chose a restaurant that would make it easy to make good choices and then took a long walk. Today was a gorgeous sunny day, so I texted her again and asked her if she wanted to join me for the sunset and another walk.

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We chatted enthusiastically about our new eating plans and how much better we felt and even laughed about our day’s temptations. But I’m happy to say we both got another 24 hours under our belt and even exercised to boot. I feel so good when I’m eating right and exercising, but it’s so hard to keep on keeping on. It really is a “one day at a time” gig, and the challenge is always to keep dusting yourself off and starting over. It’s like ice skating. The first thing they taught me in my lessons was how to get back up. “If you are going to learn to ice skate, you are going to fall,” Mindy said. Falling is not a matter of if …. it’s a matter of when.

The sunset on Lake Michigan was amazing but fleeting tonight. And the cool breeze, lovely river and great company put me on a natural high. Who needs sugar when there is such sweetness in life? At least for today, not me.

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Here are the sugar stats for today:

Energy: The slump after lunch disappeared today. My energy stayed pretty steady from the time I got up until now. I’m actually not even beginning to feel sleepy yet, and that’s unusual. When I’m eating sugar, I’m usually exhausted by the end of my workday. But tonight I was totally energized. I did yoga and went for a walk without any resistance.

Sleep: I slept all night last night. When I woke up, it was 10 minutes prior to my alarm set time. I felt rested and didn’t even really need a caffeine boost right away. (I had one anyway, but I could have done without it.)

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Cravings: I had some bad cravings this afternoon around 2:30. I am tracking on Weight Watchers, so I decided that I was going to learn something and make a better choice this time. I took my phone so I could use the barcode scanner and went to the little convenience store downstairs. I checked items for sugar first and realized I’d have to go savory. Even somewhat healthy-looking snacks had sugar. I found a bag of jalapeno tortilla chips that didn’t have sugar. They were baked, so they were low points when I scanned them. I ate them, and they were actually delicious. I felt like a rock star. I navigated that with ease.

Mood: I was grumpy when I got to work this morning. I was irritated by every little thing, and I finally realized it. I’m sure it was the lack of sugar. It always makes me more irritable. I had some green tea and that seemed to help my mood.

Brain Fogginess: No difference from yesterday. I was pretty clear-headed.

Joint Pain: I did yoga tonight, and while my muscles were tight, I did not have any pain in my joints.

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Body, Heal Thyself

/ yogini.sharon / 4 Comments

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Okay, I’ve decided I’m committing to 30 days without sugar. I was telling my friend Ann tonight that I really need to develop this attitude about sugar that has a more positive slant. It’s not that I want to give up sugar. No one wants to give up sugar. It’s delicious, and when I eat a bunch I feel like I’ve taken a wonderful drug. Who wants to give that up?

What I really want to do is to take care of my body. I spent so many years eating loads of sugar in response to negative emotions and being bored that I have done a number on my system. It was not unusual after my second divorce to go an entire day eating nothing but chocolate. One of those big bags of Dove chocolates was a single serving on too many occasions. Somehow my body coped with it, but eventually I developed hypoglycemia. Now even a little sugar sets me off on a blood sugar roller coaster. My eating habits have damaged me.

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So, I want to approach this as an amends to my body. It got me a long way despite my abuse. I would love to commit to a 6 month hiatus to give my body a chance to heal and rest, but I don’t know that I can commit to that. I’ll do it for 30 days. If I’m feeling good enough and want to continue, I’ll do it. Who knows, I might develop some new habits that I enjoy more than eating sugar and certainly more than dealing with the aftermath.

I am now on Day 3 without sugar, and I’m feeling pretty good. I didn’t have any cravings today after two days of really strong ones. I’m eating a lot of fruit to keep my sweet tooth at bay. I know that fruit has natural sugar, but it also has lots of healthy nutrients, too. If I feel like I later need to cut that out, I will. But for now, it seems to have no negative effect. I slept really hard the last two nights, and I’m sure I’ll sleep good tonight too. And, without sugar ramping up my adrenalin, I don’t have an issue with coffee. So, that’s a perk! (Pun intended.)

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April 4 will be my Day 30. I’ll use this as a journal, so if you don’t want to read about my quitting sugar you may as well take a Midlife Moments vacation. If you’d like to join me, please do so. I know … I know. But it might be good for you! As for today, I’m feeling good. I’m going to measure my progress by detailing the following:

  • Sleep – I’m sleeping harder and waking up less. I’m still a little groggy when I wake up, but I wake up early. And I have great, crazy dreams!
  • Energy – Not very energetic today. I got up at 4:30 to workout. I did workout, but it was pretty painful. I was so sleepy after lunch that I had to stand up in a meeting. But I had plenty of energy after work to meet a friend and go for a walk. It’s 9:18, and I’m getting sleepy but am not super tired.
  • Joint Pain – I’m achy today. I worked out my legs this morning, and they ache.
  • Mood – I laughed a lot today. I mean I really laughed a lot.
  • Brain Fogginess – I was foggy this morning, but I was engaged at work and able to think through things until I got sleepy after lunch. It was hard to rebound even though I drank some matcha.
  • Cravings – I was hungry but was not necessarily craving sweets. I ate a good deal of fruit for snacks.

Goodnight y’all. I’m so happy to go to bed so I can sleep and then drink coffee in the morning!

Channeling My Inner Icelander: Longings

/ yogini.sharon / 2 Comments

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I spent another day yesterday riding the sugar roller coaster. “Just stop eating it,” you say. “It’s bad for me,” I say. “It’s poison,” say the books that proclaim sugar as the downfall of our health as a country. “It’s an addiction,” say the psychologists and substance abuse counselors. “It keeps you company when you are lonely,” says the addict on my shoulder. “It hugs you when you are scared,” says the devil. “And it’s just so, so sweet,” says my addicted, pleasure-seeking brain. Sugar’s energy sucks the life out of me. Its initial calming effect leads to an unrelenting anxiety. No matter what, I always end up laying awake at night in the middle of a blood sugar crash cursing myself for my dependence.

Today, I vow, will be different. For some people, I assume sugar is not what it is to me. But, for many, I can see that they struggle with the need to eat it for stress relief and comfort. I can see it because it literally shows up on us in anxiety, inflammation and weight gain. As stress levels rise during this time, you can literally see people “puffing up”. I feel helpless in my own spiral. But I know that it is not hopeless. I have been here before.

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Yesterday I read an article in the Atlantic about the stunning success Iceland has had in breaking the cycle of drug and alcohol abuse in its teenage population. When the country became alarmed at the addictive spiral of its youth, the country decided to get to the root of the problem instead of trying to manage symptoms. You can read the article here, but the goal was to teach teenagers to handle stress in proactive ways by working with their bodies’ natural body chemistry. As humans, our body chemistry helps us relieve stress if we “lean in” instead of “numbing out”. Some of get stress relief by increasing our energy and soaking in our endorphins. Others need to slow down to quell anxiety. There is no “one-size-fits-all” approach. Meditation works as well as dancing all night long. It just depends on who you are.

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I actually know what works for me. It’s a combination of meditation, exercise, eating right, real connection with others and reading spiritual material. So, when I got up this morning I made my tea without sweeteners and cracked open Ronald Rolheiser’s book Holy Longing. In the introduction, he talks about this longing that we have inside us as humans that is never really satisfied. This desire drives us. It drives us to seek God. It drives us into an anxious state when we are unoccupied. It drives us into all kinds of addictions and modes of escape. We are always in a state of unrequited desire. We have moments of peace. We never have a lifetime of it.

Twelve step groups say addictions of all kinds are an attempt to fill a God-sized hole with something else. We just keep trying and trying to find comfort but it never works. We need more and more to keep that elusive peaceful feeling. We all have different “solutions” to our anxiety. While I pound sugar to get that “high” I like so much, another engages in angry arguments to help them feel smarter than others. A credit card buys all of the things that comfort others. A momentary comfort is experienced in the numbness of substance-abuse. The credit card bills come due, our relationships unravel from the arguing and substance abuse, and my blood sugar crashes from the sugar. We are always left with the remorse and the emotional fallout. Peace – from those things – is elusive.

Writing helps me reframe my thoughts, and I think I’ll approach today differently. With the awareness that I’m feeling a God-sized hole right now for a variety of reasons, I’ll fill it with time with Him and engage in my spiritual practices. I’ll abstain from sugar and let the withdrawal take me. I’ll find a way to connect with others tonight and express my true feelings. I’ll eat something healthy for breakfast and do a yoga nidra… BEFORE reading the news. For today, I’ll pretend I’m an Icelander and deal with the root of the problem.

 

Food, Sugar and Bouncing Back

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It has been a crazy 4 months for me. In fact, it goes back even further than that. Almost all of this year has been one stressful event after another. I’m ready for some normalcy. (And I know I shouldn’t ask for that… knock on wood.) I had settled into a very healthy routine in Louisiana with fairly regular exercise and healthy eating with an occasional splurge at Magpie. The fact that I had year-long access to local produce was a huge benefit. But the stress of the last few months has tested my fortitude, and I’m making my way to get back on track.

If you’ve been reading my blog, you know that in the last few years I’ve struggled with the weird effects that coffee, flour and sugar now seem to have on my body. Any of the three seem to ramp up my anxiety to a level where I can’t sleep at night. I get caught in this vicious cycle of craving and crashing and basically feeling like crap. And, of course, all I craved during this time has been the trifecta of ill health for me. And I indulged. To top it off, my exercise became much more intermittent although I did continue to walk and run/walk on occasion. Ashok makes sure of that. But even my yoga practice has suffered. I haven’t struck a pose in quite awhile.

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My sister started inspiring me about the time I got here to Michigan. She’s started exercising regularly for its health benefits and has really taken to a regular routine of getting up at 4:30 in the morning to “get ‘er done”. Keep in mind that my sister is not a morning person like me. This was something that she decided was in her best interest, and she has willed herself to get up and get going. And she’s having such great results and is so excited about her journey that she inspired me. That’s what’s funny about life. She says I inspired her to get healthier and then she starts inspiring me. It’s why we have each other!

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I am a lifetime member of Weight Watchers, and, in fact, at one time I was a Weight Watchers leader. I joined the online program and have been tracking my food and exercise since August. I say that as a broad overview because I have not been consistent, and it has been a struggle. I gained about 8 pounds during my move and the preceding layoff in the spring. While that’s not a bunch, it’s not easy to get off. My clothes were starting to feel too tight, and I’m not willing to invest in a new wardrobe. So I kept with it. I’d fall off the wagon a few days and get back on for an hour or a day or even a few days. My sister was doing it… I had to keep trying!!

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I’m happy to report that I’m within my normal range of weight although I’m looking to take off a few more pounds to allow room for layers this winter. But mostly I’m happy to report that I’ve been reenergized around my battle with sugar. Everytime – without fail – that I fell off the wagon it was because of sugar. And the more sugar I ate, the harder it was to get back on track. And the more days I ate sugar, the more anxiety I had and the worse I felt, slept and thought. It was a great reminder of where I need to be with that white stuff.

A coworker yesterday looked at my beets, sweet potato and tofu lunch and said, “You always eat so healthy.” Well, not really. It may seem that way, but it is a lifelong pursuit that has leveled out to be a fairly healthy diet with a lot of side trips into junk food land. I told my young coworker that I was at the age where there is no more putting it off until later. Food really affects me now, and I want to be healthy and feel good most of the time. I just have to keep remembering that when I fall off the wagon in the future. I know I will. It’s a journey not an event.

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Meanwhile my commitment is to track all of my food for the month of November – regardless of whether or not I’m happy with what I eat. Maybe I’ll learn a few other things by doing so. The other thing I want to focus on is minimizing my daily sugar intake. I’m allowing myself a little honey. And I may have sugar from time-to-time, but I think my new rule will be that I can only have a sugary dessert with a meal and only once a week at most. I have to break the habit. I’m liking the way I feel, and I’d like to keep it that way. There are plenty of yummy foods out there that are not sweet.

Y’all have a great weekend. 

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Sunday Night Check-In: #RisingStrong

/ yogini.sharon / 5 Comments

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I took to reading Brene Brown’s Book Rising Strong again this weekend. I just absolutely love that book. Her techniques for getting up from a “fall” and actually learning something from it are profound. I found myself in a “face down” moment last week, and I was able to read her insights with new eyes with some fodder that was personally meaningful. I literally couldn’t put the book down Friday night and woke up Saturday morning with a totally different outlook on transforming my mistake into an asset. If you can’t take a mistake and turn it into a learning opportunity, it’s a wasted jewel.

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My sourdough starter was ready this week. Wednesday it was bubbly and active, and I couldn’t wait to try it out. I didn’t have time to read up on baking bread, so I chose to make some sourdough waffles from the King Arthur Flour online recipe book. I combined the starter with the flour and some of my kefir to replace the buttermilk and let it percolate overnight. When I got up Thursday morning, I replaced my morning routine with a waffle-making experiment.

Round 1 didn’t go so well…..

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Neither did Round 2…..

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I realized that my waffle iron was ticked off at me because I had ignored it for over 10 years, so I cut it some slack and let it win a couple of rounds. I tried something different each time, but I decided I should spray it again with some Pam, and, voila…. Round 3 was sour, fluffy and downright amazing. I doused it in homemade cane syrup, and it was divine. Then I remembered that I had real maple syrup, so I tried that, too. Honestly, I think the cane syrup was a better complement to the tangy flavor of the sourdough, and I think I’ll use that in the future. The maple was just a bit overpowered by the flavor of the waffles.

This weekend I took some time to make sourdough bread. I had to pull the starter out of the refrigerator and feed it 3 times (at 12 hour intervals) in order to get it “rising strong”. (Pun intended) I watched the below video to get the instructions on how to make it.

In a past life – or at least it seems like a different lifetime – I baked bread all the time. I had all of the tools, regular deliveries from King Arthur Flour in Vermont, and a knack for making awesome bread … all the time. But most of my tools have been donated, I haven’t used the dough hook on my KitchenAid mixer in over a decade, and I don’t remember the tricks I used to make my bread perfectly delicious. And I don’t think I was ever really successful with sourdough. Because it’s made from wild yeast, it’s unpredictable and … well … wild.

This morning I got up to knead the dough and then set it aside to “rise strong”. I had leftover starter so I made some more waffles. The recipe I used this morning used the sourdough and the regular salt and baking powder to make it rise. Ehhhh …. this one wasn’t nearly as good as the wild yeast leavened batch during the week. I ate it with some homemade blueberry sauce, but I won’t be making that recipe again. It was nothing special.

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The bread however is excellent! One loaf is still rising. I wanted to experiment with rising times and flavor. So, I let one rise for about 8 hours, and I may let the other rise until the morning. They say it makes a difference in the flavor. I cut off a chunk of the one already cooked, slathered it in butter and honey and enjoyed the first homemade bread I’ve had in ages. My house smells like fresh-baked bread again. Ashok was so entranced that I caught her just as she pulled half the loaf off the counter. She was ready to go at it.

Everything I’ve read about sourdough tells me that making it is an art AND a science. When I made my starter, I literally “caught” wild yeast out of the air. It grows and bubbles and makes my bread rise. So, the yeasts in my air are probably different than the yeasts in your air. They will always be unique. And humidity, the temperature of my home, the amount of time I let the bread proof, the quality of my water and flour and many other variables will affect the final product. It really does remind me of the journey with my curls. It’s a relationship that will develop over time, and I can’t control the outcome. I can only learn to work with it and be surprised at how it all turns out… hopefully pleasantly!

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In Brene’s book, she talks about that “face down” moment in the arena. We are in the midst of an emotional shit-storm. We want to get up and make it go away fast … blame somebody else, minimize it, numb ourselves, stuff it down… anything that will make it go away so we can get the hell out of there. But when we do that, we learn nothing. But when we fall and let ourselves look around down there – explore the uncomfortable feelings, understand what caused them and define the core triggers – we can enable a breakthrough that can literally change our lives. This process of looking inside and feeling our feelings – like the “rising strong” of sourdough – is not a simple process. It is time-consuming and can be quite painful. Most of us would rather just go for the shortcut – buy the bread somewhere else – rather than have to go through all of that work. But when we do that, we miss learning about what motivates us, what makes us “wild” and ultimately helps us to “rise strong”. In other words, that’s the good stuff. 🙂

Have a great week, y’all. Don’t take the easy road… the road less traveled makes all the difference. 

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