kombucha

Happy Fall

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Humm, it’s fall and predicted to be 94 degrees today.  Lucky for me I love the heat.

Yesterday morning, right as I was deciding whether it was a running or a Jillian day, Tate asked me to go for a run with him before work.

I must have been inspired by Tuesdays run with Kath and Suzanne because I didn’t let up on the gas once!  Even the hills (and there were plenty) were taken with a good amount of speed.

Map My Run informed me that we had done 3.69 miles in 33 minutes.  O.K, so I ain’t winning any races with those numbers but I could set a PR for next months

Fall Classic 10K. I am really looking forward to this run because C’ville is such a running town!  I am continually impressed that there are runners on the streets no matter the time or temperature!  It’s very motivating.

After our speedy run and a speedy shower it was seriously time for breakfast.

A cup of yogurt topped with Tuesday nights baked apples and chopped walnuts and sprinkled with cinnamon and ginger.  That’s not just any yogurt though, that’s my yogurt!

My second batch of homemade yogurt turned out pretty well.

Next time I am going to use 1 or 2 percent milk instead of fat-free and see if it turns out a little thicker.

The afternoon was spent printing and framing pictures for our house.  It was so much fun to go through all of our travel pictures and relive that AMAZING experience.  Our house looks brighter and more personal!  Here are a few of the highlights I put up

*sigh* that was an UNBELIEVABLE trip…memories for life.

Last night was interesting.

Tate and I attended a free class at Sunrise Herb Shoppe on “natural healing with diet, nutrition, and herbs”.  The class was presented by Herbalist, Nutritional Consultant, Certified Natural Health Professional, and shoppe owner, Terri Saunders.

It was a very nice group of people (Tate and I were the youngest by at least 10 years :)) and a lot of information was given but it went on for too long.  We were there from 7-10:30pm!  Terri was organized but strayed from topic every few minutes so we didn’t get into the food aspect until 10pm, which is what I am most interested in.

She did touch on fermented foods, something that I have been aware of, thanks to my awesome whole foodie parents, for some time but haven’t given a lot of thought too.  That is, until recently.  I have been hearing/reading so many praises of fermented foods lately that I think it’s time to move beyond kombucha, yogurt, and the occasional miso or tempeh, and start experimenting with making sauerkraut and kimchee.

The basic concept behind the health benefits of fermented food is that the process of fermentation breaks down food so that the nutrition is more readily available when eaten.  I am no expert on fermented food so if you are interested in learning more, here is a good start

Top 8 Reasons to Eat Fermented Foods

And of course, I will keep you up to date on my adventures with creating some fermented foods of my own!

I have an exciting afternoon planned but first I must Shred, yoga, garden, and shower!

Catch Up

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The following post was written on Tuesday but I never made it back out to internet…

I went to the gym today for the 3rd time in over 20 months.  I have had a gym membership from the time I was 16 until December 2008 and used to go at least five times a week to teach a class or workout.  While living in Peru I was on a tight budget and gyms were NOT cheap ($50 a month and up) so I ran regularly, did yoga and exercise dvd’s, and walked everywhere.  But I always looked forward to getting back into a gym, I love used to love going to the gym.

I started a week trial at Gold’s and as far as a gym goes I was actually impressed.  They have TONS of cardio machines, separate rooms for group exercise classes, spinning, and “mind-body” classes, a room just for women that has all the cardio and weight equipment that you need, a sauna, and a hydro-massage machine.  I was hoping to catch a class but nothing was scheduled for a few hours so I opted for a cardio workout instead.  20 minutes of elliptical and 30 minutes of running sprints on the treadmill later and I was dripping with sweat and feeling conflicted.  It felt a bit insane to me to be on this electrical machine, watching t.v..   Yeah,  I was burning tons of calories but I was also burning tons of fossil fuels!  I vowed then and there to only use the gym for classes and other non-electrical workouts (and the sauna and massage, choose your battles!).  Monthly membership is $40 and I highly doubt that I will add this to my stack of bills once my free week is up, although I may change my mind when the mercury starts to dip.

I may or may not have mentioned to Mark, who gave me the tour of the club, that I am a currently unemployed personal trainer and group fitness instructor.  😉  Hey, shameless self-promotion is one of the best kinds!

And speaking of shameless self promotion, in my unpacking I found this very sweet letter from one of my old Portland clients

Upon returning home from the gym it was SERIOUSLY time for lunch.

Roasted eggplant hummus (I made it yesterday), Spring Creek Fine Herbs Tofu sprinkled with nutritional yeast and liquid aminos, leftover butternut squash, and a pile of celery and carrot sticks, oh and a leaf of Romaine for green good measure.  I covered the plate with red chili flakes and a bit of salt.

I had high hopes for this tofu because I had cooked up a package of their plain stuff a few days ago and it was a delicious but the Fine herbs wasn’t anything special, I will stick to the plain.  I love that this tofu is local, Twin Oaks is a Virginia intentional community and I actually visited family friends there once or twice when I was a kid.

Another gorgeous fall day!  I have the urge to garden but I am supposed to be on a self-imposed budget this week (moving is $$$!) and I need EVERYTHING from seeds/seedlings/plants to soil so maybe I should just plant the two butterfly bushes I bought on Sunday and call it good.

And here’s yesterday’s post (tried, in vain, to find internet without going to a coffee shop or the library 🙁 )

Another morning at the gym.  I took a class that I think is called PeakPower.   The description on the schedule was really vague but it turns out it’s a combo of step aerobics and “combat” (boxing).  I am realizing more and more that I am no longer a gym girl, at least not while it’s nice enough to run outside and I have a good collection of dvd’s at home.  This is a hard truth seeing as how my career is rather gym-centered.  Maybe I am just not into the cardio classes anymore.  Even though I teach Pilates and know the moves inside and out I ALWAYS work harder while in a class.  And it’s great to be introduced to new intentions, poses, and transitions in yoga classes.

While I didn’t LOVE the class it did make me want to start teaching again.  I need to brave up and ask Gold’s if they are hiring.

Post gym was all about the brewing!  I made kombucha and yogurt like a madwomen.  This is my first time making yogurt and my second time making kombucha (the first batch wasn’t great but I hope to redeem with this one).

Well, it’s my second time for kombucha on my own, my little sis and I made it together when we were housemates in Portland but I played more of an assistant role.  It is a very simple recipe but for some reason I make it more difficult than it is, I am sure I will get the hang of it after a few successful batches.

I am a little nervous about the yogurt though.  You are supposed to keep the mixture at about 100 degrees for at least 7 hours.  I don’t have my cooler here yet so I have the two containers in a warm water bath in my kitchen sink but I am going to have to stay very attentive and keep changing the water to regulate the temperature.   My decision to try my hand at yogurt making is two-fold.   First, economics. I prefer to eat plain organic yogurt (Stoneyfield is my favorite) and a quart costs $3.99.  I bought Whole Foods brand organic fat-free milk for $3.79 for TWO quarts.  I can easily eat two quarts of yogurt a week.  Second, environment.  Two quarts a week adds up to a lot of plastic containers and if I find an affordable local organic milk source it will cut down on environmental costs all the more.  Let’s just hope it turns out!

I am looking forward to biking to the Farmer’s Market this afternoon.  My bike was in storage along with everything else and I have missed riding it and I especially love using it as an alternative mode of transportation.