Yummy

Alex Jamieson, Morgan Spurlock's partner, was not pleased when Spurlock decided to do his 30 day McDonald's diet but finally gave her blessing once Spurlock agreed to turn himself over to her for detoxing post-experiment.

This book was not on my radar until Farty Girl mentioned a veggie burger recipe in it.

I've so enjoyed this book. Even the cover moves me.

I tried the veggie burger recipe first. I don't think that I've found the ultimate veggie burger but I liked it -- especially since it had a level of moistness that two other recipes did not.

I had fun making recipes in this book. I tend to have a knack for finding recipes that require a lot of preparation but I was able to get in and out of the kitchen in no time with these concoctions.












Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili



Loved the Cilantro

Mini Pizzas


Yummy

Can't wait to make falafel and walnut burger patties. I'm so in the zone that I might even try my hand at almond milk.

When The Student Is Ready

Having worked my abs yesterday, it made perfect sense that we did ab-related postures during yoga class; that's just the way my life works.

It took me a while to settle down too but I totally enjoyed the lion pose. We did the Mountain pose modification with tongues hanging out like Michael Jordan when we roared.



During corpse pose, the instructor talked about feeling the benefits of yoga and how we were in the perfect position for relaxation. Yeah, I ruminated on that comment and plan to get in the perfect position often.

After yoga, I went with my friend Lori to get baked falafel. As we enjoyed our dinner, we got chatted up by a yoga teacher (Michael) who was reading the Anatomy of Hatha Yoga. I may or may not go to one of his Hatha classes and he may or may not go rock climbing with me.

I swung by Whole Paycheck after dinner looking for spelt flour and I honestly didn't know there were so many flours: coconut, amaranth, soy and arrowroot...

I also needed tahini but left the $8.00 + jar of organic tahini on the shelf. I know an international store where I can get it for much less.



Line of the night by way of Michael from his yoga teacher:

Americans like to work out -- not work in.

To See A Belly Dancer

Several of my coworkers said that I looked spring-like so I took the opportunity to pose for another staged photo.

Do you see a collarbone? Do you, hunh?

That's the March Shape magazine in my hand but if you get a chance to, you should check out the April issue. Diane over at Fit To The Finish is profiled in that issue.

And, back to the workplace, yet another colleague stopped me in the hall.

Colleague: Do you like belly dancing?

Me: I've never tried it.

I'm so into exercise right now that my mind went straight to belly dancing classes. Only, she was talking about going to see a belly dancer. She then handed me a menu. Um, no thanks. I'm not going to see a belly dancer while noshing on fried falafel, baklava and onion rings but I wish the new restaurant well.


I went to Cardio and Muscle class today. Found out that Kate, the instructor, is 20 years old. No wonder she is kicking my butt. I'm almost old enough to be her very nice auntie. By the way, the oldest person in our class is 63. Cool.

I wish that I had had enough sense when I was 20 years old to be serious about exercising. What can I say? There's no experience like bought experience.

I stopped by Big Lots on a whim after exercise class and they had my beloved Wasa crackers in stock. They have not had them in ages and they are way more expensive in the grocery store.


I was like Santa Claus when I emerged and, really, I should have purchased more.

Rolling Out To Rock Climb

Whenever I'm about to embark on a rock climbing adventure, the self-talk begins:

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to make it up the dang wall.

I'm probably also chitchatting with myself because of the waiver which, in part, reads:

I acknowledge the inherent extreme risks in rock climbing activities...

Last night, I was looking on the web for information about the ATC device because, all of a sudden, I couldn't remember which side feeds the climber.


Thanks to Outdoor Action, I didn't have to wonder too long about my little dilemma.

Mission and risk in mind, I rolled out of bed to be at Upper Limits by 10 a.m. because that's when the doors open and the joint is usually jumping.

It's always such a diverse crowd at UL, including a baby who was tethered to a floor anchor. That baby is the calmest one in the universe. There were also several dads exhibiting the patience of Job while belaying for their daughters. I love to see fathers hanging out with their girls.

One father told his apprehensive daughter to, basically, feal the fear and do it anyway. Daddy's got you, he said.

While waiting on a route (because it was crowded), I witnessed a climber who looked as if he was doing yoga and, then, ballet on the wall. It was an exquisite ascent.

I was about to belay and forgot to secure the ATC in the carabiner and I was about to feel bad but, before I could, Patti said that's why we do safety checks.

After we had exhausted ourselves and there is a point when you simply cannot ascend the wall anymore, Patti asked Jeremy and me if we wanted to go out to lunch. Since it was 1 p.m., it was definitely time for lunch but the mention of eating out causes me to fret. Patti suggested Crazy Bowls and Wraps and I didn't think that their fare would do much harm.

I ate half of my Caesar Chicken Wrap without even looking at the nutrition information. I'm glad that I only ate half of the sandwich because a whole one sets you back 720 calories.


It must be the brown rice, right? I was happy to see that Crazy Bowls has baked falafel. Holler! Looking at the calorie count, I should have gotten the falafel but I didn't spot it until I had already ordered.

Surprises On The Falafel Tour

I decided to compare falafel since I had such an enjoyable greek pita i.e. baked falafel at Kaldi's. Plus, I had broken my eight month streak of not dining out and I suddenly remembered how I used to go to Natural Fact Deli for sandwiches and sweet potato chips. Imagine my surprise when I saw that Natural Fact also served baked falafel AND had the nutrition stats on the website. I was so happy that I headed over to Webster Groves but happiness turned into disappointment when I saw a real estate sign in the window. Why, oh, why do they still have their web page up?

I'm trying to be more flexible these days and I knew there was a First Watch nearby. I had breakfast there once after participating in a Race for The Cure and I knew that they had leaner breakfast fare. I went in and asked if there was any nutrition information and the guy told me that I could find it online. I shrugged my shoulders since I was sitting in First Watch and not in front of a computer but he remembered that they had some old not completely up-to-date information.

I had decided that the turkey burger looked good but when I started looking through the notebook with nutrition information, my mouth dropped. The turkey burger had 531 calories. The grilled turkey sandwich was 1,025 calories and had 2637 milligrams of sodium -- over what you should have for the entire day. There were also a lot of entrees with fat grams (54) off the chart. I told First Watch thank you and then left. I think that I'll be eating out even less now.

Rescue Me

I don't think that I've eaten out since Jan. of '09. Frankly, I'm still apprehensive about dining out because I want to know what goes into my meal. However, I don't want to be like Sally in When Harry Met Sally who doesn't eat between meals or is a super picky nuisance when ordering at a restaurant.

I wanted to treat myself today and I thought I might give Stir Crazy, a restaurant that I used to frequent, a try but I couldn't find nutrition information online.

I finally decided to try Kaldi's Coffee's baked falafel which was quite tasty.

Greek Pita $6.99
baked falafel, hummus, and Mediterranean rice in a pita, grilled
and served hot with Kalamata olives, feta, fresh tomato relish
and Tahini dressing

Somebody rescue me because I felt like quite the glutton for eating the whole falafel sandwich and imagined that I had used up all of my calories for the day. I wondered what was Kaldi's idea of Mediterranean rice but, finally, I rationalized that I couldn't possibly gain a pound in a day and that I need to learn how to eat out without biting my proverbial fingernails. I'm incorrigible, though, because I just wondered about the calorie count of fingernails.