We will update the blog THIS WEEK!

I don't have much to say about healthy things - except that I've been eating a lot of oatmeal lately and hope to participate in a half marathon in February. The oatmeal, while I prefer to soak it overnight (although 24 hours is better) to neutralize phytic acid which impedes nutrient absorption, I sometimes just cook in the morning. It is so fast! I always thought it would take a long time; it doesn't. And I eat it with brown sugar and walnuts - and think of oatmeal mornings at Trinita. OK, I never actually at oatmeal at Trinita before this summer, but whatever. I had so many Trinita firsts this summer: oatmeal, BINGO, Spanish-speaking children, buying cigarettes for the families, I'm sure there were more.

I need to go ahead and register for the half marathon. Now, I do not plan to run the entire thing, or maybe even any of it. You just have to be able to maintain a 16 minute mile pace. I can do that walking. It's at Disney. I have no idea why it sounded like a good idea - but now I'm kind of excited for it.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/greek-gazpacho-recipe/index.html

This is something I'm really looking forward to making when I get back to NOLA next week. It sounds so cool and delicious, not to mention full of veggies. A perfect end of summer treat.

Carolyn and I were talking about coming up with different things that we can write about weekly on the blog regarding food, health, etc.

I frequently read www.kitchenstewardship.com and Katie, the lady who owns the blog, is completely on our same wavelength - plus has an EXTENSIVE blog about it. You may want to check it out. I'm interested in learning more about soaking grains - but I'm also going to try to eat "nothing white" once I head back to school so I'm not sure those who go together.

Speaking of Trinita and health and being crazy.....

I am just wondering what food errors are being made in the middle room???? Are there Little Debbie Nutty bars by the thousands??? Are there endless M and M pretzels being consumed??? On the upswing, there must be fruit around because of the theme.

I, myself, just bought a half gallon of butter pecan. This is a really bad thing. The good thing is that it is all natural......lol Well, that doesn't help when I finish a cone and then go back for a little more and a little more. Oh well. It's summer.

:)

The Soup of Champions (etc.)

I'm pretty excited because, as of last night, I have now successfully made the soup of champions twice!  And I find it delicious!  I actually really like it.  But, who doesn't like chicken broth?

So to make it, I put two cans of Swanson chicken broth in a pot and start to heat it up.  I chop up some carrots and put them in when the broth starts to boil.  Then I set the timer for 30 minutes.  When I start the time, I also put whole wheat pasta into a second pot (of just water) that I've brought to a boil.  That cooks for ten or eleven minutes.  Then I strain the pasta and use that pot to cook up some quinoa.  This is like the heartiest soup I've ever had.  Oh yes!  And the spices.  I put in 3 or 4 teaspoons of the Bob's Red Mill spice mix, which seems to be mostly chili and then some other spices as well.

Even though there is a lot of salt in the broth, I am considering this a healthy meal.  I really like eating it in the morning, because I can just take the pot from the fridge and put it on the stove to heat up.  There's no actual preparation.  I am thinking of trying to put more vegetables in it.  Does anybody have any suggestions?  I absolutely will not put in any kind of bean or pea.  But maybe lentils.  

On a different note, I started using a new bar of Tom's bar soap.  It's from their new line (which I was reluctant to try but had to since I couldn't obtain any bars from their old line) and it's the exfoliating bar.  I really like it.  I tried some other bars from their new line that I felt indifferent about, but I really like this one.  I don't know if it will work out in the winter, but for now it's excellent.

Chia seed!

My mom is on medication for high blood pressure and of course, I want her to get into the chia seed thing.  She absolutely will not eat a food that she doesn't like the texture of, even if it was mixed in something else.  FORTUNATELY, a store less than an hour from my house (runningfood.com) has made some gel tabs from chia oil.  Of course, this won't have the fiber of the seed, but it still has all the omega 3, 6, 9's.  We have commandeered a jar and she's promised to start taking them tomorrow.  So we'll see!  They also make a chocolate smoothie mix from micro-milled chia seed, which I might try.  Except...I don't know how to make a smoothie.  How do you do it?  Do you need a blender?  Or fruit?  What do you think would happen if I just mixed the stuff with ice cream?

Carolyn

I may be blogging alone these days.....but..

Hooray!
I finally made a good muffin! I made it with my Bob's Red Mill gluten free all purpose baking flour. I added 2 eggs, flaxseed meal (to substitute for xantham gum), baking powder, bananas, apricot jam, and local honey. Really tasty.....for a change!

Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour

Well, I cracked open the bag and started baking! I found a recipe for gluten free muffins. I am on my second round of them now. The first round was not flavorful enough, so I am experimenting with ingredients. These came out pretty good. I added bananas, cranberries, raisins, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Oh, and I added some local honey that I recently bought. That is another subject!! But, since I mentioned it. It was the first local honey that I think I have ever bought. I read or heard somewhere that local honey is better for you because it helps with your allergies. I don't have them bad, but I thought it couldn't hurt. I was working for a week in "farm country" and stopped by a roadside stand and picked some up. I have to say it was the most delicious honey that I have ever tasted! I will probably contact them to tell them how much I liked it.

As for the muffins, well, they will pass. Gotta keep working on them.

All natural product.....oh, you want it to work?

A few years ago, I had bought my Dad an all natural soap. My Dad likes to save things over long periods of time. He finally used it and said that the nice scent that it once had was now gone. (No preservatives?...yup) He then proceeded to use the soap prior to shaving his face. When he was ready start shaving, the soap had already dried. When he told me about it, I said, "Oh, did you expect it to work, too?" LOL

The lesson that must be taken from this situation is that you cannot expect your all natural products to make you smell good and to work. ....ah, such as life. :)