Crock Pot Lentil and Sausage Soup

Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked lentils
1/2 lb turkey kielbasa, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1 cup carrot, finely chopped
1 cup potato, diced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
3 (16 ounce) cans low sodium beef broth
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions:

1. Rinse lentils and drain

2. Place all ingredients in crock pot

3. Cook on low for 6-8 hours (depending on crock pot temperature). Stirring occasionally.


Yum! I found this recipe on RecipeZaar and it is now a staple. I tweaked a few things to make it a little healthier and the flavor doesn't suffer one bit. It makes the house smell amazing too!

The best thing to go with this is some homemade bread and butter and even a dash of sour cream if you'd like. Perfect fall and winter soup. :)

Miller Farms Market

Where to begin? This place is heaven right here on earth. It's how food should be, it's how America should shop and it's how we can keep our local, organic, whole food family farms afloat.

I was so captivated by this little market that I was lucky to get away with only spending $7. It's a shame I forgot my camera when I went there because it is absolutely beautiful. I wont bore you with everything they sell because you can explore for yourself on their website linked above.

But I did snap some shots of what I ran away with:

I did manage to restrain myself especially since I was on a very small budget.


This peach yogurt was absolutely sinful. It so was thick and creamy like a tangy custard. I can't wait to go back and try the other flavors.... of which there were many! :)


It's very rare that I purchase or even drink chocolate milk because, well let's face it, it's usually a big ole let down. Most of the choc. milks I have tried couldn't seem to capture the essence of the beverage I so loved as a child. Mostly because the milk isn't thick and delicious to begin with before the chocolate is even added. However this, my friends, totally lived up to the challenge. IT. WAS. AMAZING. And the bestest part ever.... it comes in a glass bottle! You have to pay a deposit of $2.50 but you get it back when you return the bottle, which I have yet to do. (cue sheepish smile)


And then there were these beauties. Farm Fresh Eggs! They were even cleaning off the chicken yuck from them before I purchased. The yolks were fabulous and deep yellow and tasted of happiness. *sigh*

Next time I am going back for the shitake mushrooms and bison meat. You just watch me!

My Smoothie Standby

I'm a breakfast gal, always have been. I wake up and maybe 15 minutes (sometimes less) goes by before my morning hunger gets the better of me. As a rule I usually enjoy something hearty that will stay with me through my first group of massage appointments. I'm talking country morning breakfasts large enough to feed farm hands.... that's how I like my breakfasts and that's one of the many, many thousands of reasons that I got to be over 300 pounds.

So needless to say those types of breakfasts have become few and far between in my life now. I have managed to start my day with very healthy good sized portion meals for years now but something happens later on in the day to evening and my good healthy meal plans go right out the window. I'm working on that. It's taking a little longer than expected but everyday I learn something more.

So when I know that my mornings are going to be a little bit more relaxed and that I will have chances to grab snacks to refuel between massage appointments I like to eat something a little lighter. So I have a smoothie standby that I usually run to. Sometimes the yogurt flavor or combination of fruits will change but the core ingredients stay the same.

1/2 cup of plain yogurt

1 scoop vanilla whey protein

2 tsp fiber

4-5 frozen strawberries

1/2 frozen banana

1/4 cup of reduced or low fat milk ( sometimes more or less depending on thickness of smoothie)

Blend till the consistency of your choosing and voila!

Slurpie tasty goodness!

I have some kiwis that will be ripe soon so maybe I will add them to my next concoction. :)

Enjoy!

On Wegman's, Work News and Wonderful Cheese

That's right, you read it correctly....Fredericksburg has finally come into it's own. We got a Wegman's!! I never really new what I was missing until I toured the mecca that is Wegman's. The organic section alone made my head swoon and it was love at first sight the moment I laid eyes on the cheese area. I did manage to restrain myself on my first ever shopping trip there. Partly because I had a limited budget and partly because it was the grand opening and you could barely move. I did however have coupons for a free packet of Wegman's butter and Wegman's BBQ sauce... I chose to go with Memphis style as opposed to Asian (it contained high fructose corn syrup as it's first ingredient.)


I purchased a fresh loaf of pain de champagne ( AMAZING!!), rye crackers, Italian salami, reduced fat cream cheese, Drunken Goat cheese (my absolute favorite), a mixture of olives and the brown Wegman's bag contains one everything bagel which I had for breakfast this morning. :)


The bbq sauce, organic 1% milk, salad mix, butter and the white bag contains and assortment of rugelach from the bakery. Sigh.
I cannot wait until the crowds die down to go back and truly explore all the wonders that store has to offer.

On to other news. Most of you know (cause it's on the side bar;)) that I am reading Eckhart Tolle's book A New Earth. Well it took me a while to connect with the book but I have and was it ever amazing. My eyes have been opened to a new way of being. A new way of looking at life, the world and myself. I am not quite finished with the book just yet. It's a lot to go over and contemplate and to be honest... I don't want to rush it. I am enjoying it too much. :D

I don't know if it's the book or the work I have been doing for a while on positive thinking and the Law of Attraction but something very exciting has happened. My business partner and I are doing well enough that we have decided to get a much bigger office. We have also decided to take the leap on an idea we have been sitting on for quite a while. It's still in it's infancy BUT we are opening the Alternative Wellness Center of Fredericksburg!!! I will go into more details in a later post but for now here are some pictures of our new (as of August 1st) office.


It's located right next to the buildings elevator which is awesome since we both have elderly and handicap clients.

A nice big welcoming waiting area. I see it painted a soothing color with warm comfy seating, plants, soft music, soft lighting and candles.

It has a separate storage room for a fridge, microwave and plenty of shelving for sheets, lotions and oils.

Don't worry these desks will be gone before we move in. :) It has two separate offices for private massage, reiki, reflexology and healing rooms.

It was like these rooms were made for massage. The back wall has a built in ledge that can hold any manner of decorative things, candles, lotions and whatnots.

This little alcove could be anything. We have a number of ideas for this space.
It really is coming together beautifully. Wonderful things are unfolding every day and I am excited and curious how it will all turn out. Our marketing has been really aggressive and is starting to pay off. Our main goal is to help people. To offer folks an alternative to healing, wellness and health. A place they feel safe and can trust... after all, isn't that really all anyone wants? :)

Well, it wouldn't be my blog if I didn't include some pics of delicious, whole foods so here goes.

This weekend my favorite wine bar/shop, Kybecca was having a sale on their cheeses.... of which there are many and they are all delicious. I managed to limit myself to just 3 but they were unfortunately the three most expensive. :/

I only have pics of the two I have tried so far which combined with some fruit made a delicious and oh so European lunch.

The yellow one is a semi-soft cow's milk cheese from Virginia. Have to say that I didn't care for it as much as I hoped to. It may be better cooked into a dish but on it's on it was too gamey. The white cheese however I could eat all day. It's a french Camembert that was as smooth as butter. Some rinds on cheeses are meant to be enjoyed like certain Bries but this one you will want to remove. It is very bitter and has a distinct penicillin flavor which made my eyes tear.

Cherries!!!! My favorite fruit!

This with crackers is all you really need in life. :)

Be good to yourselves blogger friends.... it's the truest road to happiness. :)

A Week or Two of Food Pics

Or should I say just a taste of a few meals I managed to capture on film.

Back To The Drawing Board

Howdy. Gosh, where to begin...
Okay, I'll just jump right in, shall I? Monday was my first day at the Dr.'s office. The night before I barely slept because of the fear that I would over sleep and miss my first day (silly). So needless to say I was running on adrenaline that morning. I get to the office and unbeknownst to me I have a half hour massage scheduled right at 9am (when my shift starts). Cool, massage I can do. No biggie. The office manager is apologizing profusely about not calling me to let me know on Friday so that I could come in earlier and get my bearings. Again, no big deal. So the rest of the day I have about 4 massages, sweet huh? I have time to fill out paper work, eat my lunch, get the lay of the office and try to get to know my new coworkers.

Long story short, through a few pointed questions and some random overheard comments I discovered something truly crappy, that I was completely mislead as to what my monetary compensation would be. I was told at the beginning that I would be getting a salary based on a 40 hour work week with a half hour paid lunch and half hour paid administrative time. NOT SO! Come to find out I would only be paid when a massage was booked and only $16 for a one hour deep tissue and $8 for a half hour session. WTF!! Market prices are $85 and $45. Had I known that I would never have taken the job in the first place. That amount of money is almost third world. My work is worth far more than that. I am good at what I do and I can't believe that this Dr. thinks that amount of money is okay.

At the end of my shift on Monday I asked to speak to the office manager. I told her my concerns and how I felt misled and she completely understood. Since there was no room for improvement in compensation I said thanks but no thanks and have since moved on. I am back at the spa and feeling really welcomed and appreciated. I took Tuesday off to process some emotions. I felt really sad and pathetic and a little stupid and the more I explained it to my friends and family the more stupid I felt. Yesterday I just felt angry and wanted to hit something. Today I am feeling a little better.

I managed to keep my eating just so-so and I did make it to the gym on Wednesday and have plans to go to two classes on Sunday. I have to come up with a new schedule now since I am back to a on call work. On a positive note I did join the three free months of Weight Watchers on line that I won courtesy of Token Fat Girl. I am still playing around with it and will let you know how it goes and if I have any questions that you all could help me with.

Here's to another bump in the road. :)

Writing It Down

After many days of sniffle and snotty my cold seems to finally be taking it's leave. I took for granted how much a clear head helps with all of the many to do's in life. For the weekend that I was sick I was so absentminded and unorganized and not to mention a little off balance. I'm serious, I have the stubbed toes and bruises to prove it. :) But now, halelujah, I seem to be back in black.

I am headed to the gym in about 45 minutes for a much needed Strive class. It will feel so good to work out my stiff muscles and stretch my limbs. It will also help me focus, cause folks this week is gonna be a busy one. In fact it already has. It is a week full of cleaning, advertising, massaging, job hunting, Jury dutying, errand running, grocery shopping and book club reading. Plus I have to start the preparation of one roommate leaving and another taking her place. So needless to say, this gal's gotta get organized cause January is, like, crazy!

In keeping with the flow of organization and with Lyn's week twelve challenge, I have decided to keep a virtual food journal right on this here blog. A few of you may remember last time when I received some not so positive comments on my food journaling but I feel confident and strong enough to try again. Sparkpeople have been a great help with understanding calorie counting and portion sizes. So here I go..... again. :) I will attempt to update it every night and eventually, if I ever get a digital camera, I would love to post pictures as well.

Okay, I'm off!

Whew!

Hellllooooooo! Where the heck have I been? Not lounging on the beach in the south of France or sipping sangria in Spain.... I'm here in exciting Fredvegas. It may not be exciting but my life has at least been busy. The Turkey Trot is exactly a week from today and I am super psyched about it. I have been steadily training, except for a few days earlier this week when Auntie Flow was being a major butt munch but that aside I am doing well. I really enjoy having short term goals to strive for. After the Turkey Trot is the cruise and then after that..... I don't know but I must find something! :)

I am applying my previous goals to my daily routine and so far it seems to be working rather well. I am definitely getting more sleep now which has changed my mood dramatically. I am recording my calories and exercise on Sparkpeople. The only problem I had with it at first was when I plugged in my weight and how much I wanted to lose by a certain date it had me on a caloric intake of 1500 to 1700 daily. Well, I had a very difficult time keeping it less than 1800 and that was eating lots of fruits, veggies, lean protein and complex carbs. I spoke with my personal trainer friend and she about had a heart attack at how little they were recommending. With my height and activity level she suggested that I eat between 1800 on normal days and 2000 on active days. So that is what I am striving for. We will have to see how it goes.

The not eating after 7pm has proven to be a little more challenging than I would have liked. Sometimes I just don't get off from work and the gym until after 8pm and I don't want to mess up my metabolism by skipping dinner especially after a workout so when that happens I try to stick to light meals like salads and soups but I still notice a difference in that I don't sleep as well if I eat later. Especially since I am hitting the sack before 12am. I just went to the grocery store two days ago and spent over $100 buying nutritious foods so that I have plenty of wonderful options. Plus I have done some meal planning that will hopefully help curb my bad food choices and also keep some extra money in my pocket. :)

Still searching for an artistic outlet. I am looking on line and in the paper to see if something sticks out. I love photography but don't have a decent camera. I love to bake but that would kind of defeat the purpose of this blog. I would love to hear any suggestions of what I could do that wouldn't cost an arm and a leg. My friends and I have a few plans to visit some of the amazing art galleries DC has to offer and I am sure I will find some inspiration there. I have been feeling a pull towards pottery but seem to be having difficulties locating a class in the winter time. Ahh, well.... no biggie. :)

I hope that everyone is doing well and that you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Yes I Can!

If an African American male can run a history making campaign for presidency and WIN, then I should be able to get a handle on this healthy lifestyle change I am trying to implement. I have had set back after set back, all of which are self induced btw and yet I am still here and I still refuse to give up.

I got on the scale last night at the gym before my Bodyjam class and was rather disheartened to see 321.2. That is a 6 pound gain over the past two months. While I stared down at the number being reflected back to me I made a promise to myself, I will not take this to heart. I have been having stop and start female issues for about 3 weeks now and that may have something to do with it. The day before I weighed I walked 5K as training for the Turkey Trot. Plus, I can see on my body where I have lost some inches. Heck, since I have been doing weight lifting classes it could be a muscle gain but a fat loss. I just don't know.

I do know that my eating patterns are my downfall. I will have three really great days and then a few social engagements later and I am right back where I started. So I think I am just going to have to suck it up and try the calorie tracking and food journaling on Spark People. If there is one thing that President Elect Obama has shown me it's that you can't ever give up and as my friend Adrienne says, "You gotta have a dream to make a dream come true." My dream is to be the best Olivia I can be and right now I am pretty good but I know that a better me is just around the corner. :)

I work best on a schedule but with my line of work I need to work around the clients availability. But I still control the quality of my life. I have been thinking about goals that I can work on to help keep me on a schedule and here are some of them:

• go to bed by 11:30 every night
• get up by 8am every morning ( Sundays are freebies)
• when working, exercise in the evenings
• when off, exercise in the mornings
• pack lunches and dinners (eating out is for social occasions)
• do not eat meals after 7pm (only post workout snacks)
• log calories and food journal before bed
• find and artistic outlet to replace emotional eating

I am sure I will come up with many more things to cover but one day at a time. This weekend is full of clients, laundry and the Green Festival on Sunday which I am super excited about! I look forward to the inspiration that I will find there. :)

Busy, Busy Bee

Howdy! As the blog title says I have been one busy little bee. Which is such a positive thing and has been helping me tremendously with keeping on track. I have been working out about 4 times a week and doing A LOT of walking to and from work and other downtown destinations. I am hoping that it will reflect on the scale tonight. :)

My eating has been pretty good. I am still tweaking the portion fundamentals since I have become more active. I feel a little like Goldilocks trying to find the amount that is "just right." Some days 3 meals is sufficient but others, especially really active ones, I need at least one or two filling snacks. I still get certain cravings like mad but am trying my hardest to work through them and if by the end of one or two days I still want something, I'll have it but in a much smaller portion than before. Like today... I have been craving coffee for about 4 days so I got a tall cafe au lait instead of a grande. That coffee tasted soooo good because it was a long awaited for treat not an everyday expectation. I need to make another trip to the grocery store and stock up... it's been a while.

I absolutely love this time of year. The clothes, food, hot apple cider, leaves changing and my most favoritest of holidays..... Halloween! It also signifies the beginning of "eating season" and I am going to try my best to keep active enough that I don't go overboard. There are so many fun activities this time of year; apple harvest festivals, Highland games, fall hiking, the turkey trot and this weekend a super cool activity is going on. Obama and Biden are coming to the University of Mary Washington on Saturday to speak about change and guess who's gonna be there? ME!!! I seriously live within walking distance to the campus and provided I get off work on time I will be there bright and early for the line up. So exciting!!

Signing off until next time. Ciao!

YUM!!

Today I made this:

Oven Roasted Shrimp and Orzo Salad.

Which I got from this:

Amazing!!!

Kosher salt

Good olive oil

3/4 pound orzo pasta (rice-shaped pasta)

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (3 lemons)

Freshly ground black pepper

2 pounds (16 to 18 count) shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 cup minced scallions, white and green parts

1 cup chopped fresh dill

1 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, seeded, and medium-diced

1/2 cup small-diced red onion (I substituted red pepper)

3/4 pound good feta cheese, large diced

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Fill a large pot with water, add 1 tablespoon of salt and a splash of oil, and bring the water to a boil. Add the orzo and simmer for 9 to 11 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it's cooked al dente. Drain and pour into a large bowl. Whisk together the lemon juice, 1/2 cup olive oil, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Pour over the hot pasta and stir well.
Meanwhile, place the shrimp on a sheet pan, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to combine and spread out in a single layer. Roast for 5 to 6 minutes, until the shrimp are cooked through. Don't overcook!
Add the shrimp to the orzo and then add the scallions, dill, parsley, cucumber, onion, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Toss well. Add the feta and stir carefully. Set aside at room temperature for 1 hour to allow the flavors to blend, or refrigerate overnight. If refrigerated, taste again for seasonings and bring back to room temperature before serving.