When in Doubt - Roll it Out (Your Yoga Mat, That Is!)

Went to yoga again last night. Work is not my favorite thing these days - I keep feeling like I should be doing something other than what I am doing, and the twitch that was in one eye is now in both eyes so I figured some Lunar Flow/Yin yoga would be good. And it was. There were only 3 of us in the class, so we got lots of hands-on assists with the postures which I really like, even she had me drop down a little further in chair pose, or utkatasana. Your mind gets a little clearer when your quads are saying "hey, remember me?"

The Yin part of it was poses held for a minute or more. And you are relaxed into the pose so that your muscles can fully relax and stretch. It wasn't a strenuous, painful stretch, but finding your edge and holding it there and breathing. Then after a while of that, we moved to the Lunar Flow which was slowly flowing between poses, holding the poses for a breath or two or three. She helped us work on our alignment which is something I miss when I practice at home.

As we were lying in Savasana, the thought ran through my head "let's see, class is over at 6:45, then I'll go to the dining hall for dinner which ends at 7:30." My mind thought I was back at Kripalu for a moment, and when I realized that I was not there and would actually not be going down the hall for dinner, I got a little sad.

I bought a ten class card, so I will be going back again. The studio is warm and peaceful, and so far the instructors I've had have been quite good. And class ended with Om and Namaste, which I always like.

Kale, Egg and Tofu Dinner

Last night's dinner was a mix of things from the freezer and the fridge.  It started with a chopped up bunch of frozen kale.  I stocked up on this stuff over the summer at the farm stand, and will hopefully be able to get a few more bunches before they close for the season. I like the flat leaf kind the best, then the dinosaur kale, then the curly kind. I take it home and peel it off the stalks, and then put it in a zip lock bag and freeze it. I don't blanch it or anything, and it seems to work out fine. 

Then some tofu was pressed and fried with some rice (I cook a big batch of rice over the weekend and then eat it all week).   

The kale was added after the tofu was a little brown, then I sprinkled on some hot sesame oil (which I couldn't really taste) and a little teriyaki sauce and then added an egg at the end and dotted it with some sriracha sauce.  

The tofu did not have much flavor, since I didn't marinate it in anything and the bit of bacon fat I added to the pan didn't flavor it either.  But, it tasted fine and the texture was good. 

Late Lunch

Lunch was a odd meal today. I was rushing in the morning, and had eaten a lot of rice over the weekend so I wanted something else. I settled for a Trader Joe's chicken chili buger, and some blue and red potatoes that I had roasted over the weekend. The potatoes are from the organic farm nearby. I have been stocking up on them ($2.00 per pound) for the winter and have them hanging in bags in an unheated hallway so they will be happy for months to come.

Restorative Yoga

I went to Restorative Yoga class last night.  That is the kind of yoga in which you are supported by bolsters, pillows, blankets and other props so that you can fully relax into the poses.  What I found was that as my body become completely relaxed and my mind did not have to think about holding a pose - my heart opened more.  I kept finding that my eyes were tearing up, and occasionally a tear would roll down my face.  It was not disconcerting, I've been in yoga classes before where someone has started openly weeping, but it was interesting.  I think it was so quiet and still that whatever had been wandering around in there finally had a chance to come out.  

After Yoga it was Taco Night at the Boy's house. Ground beef and venison in a spicy sauce, wrapped up in a tortilla with crisp lettuce, tomatoes and cheese. Yum!  

This morning's breakfast was another muffin with butter.  I think I should have had an egg or two with it, since I'm a little hungry now.  

Lunch report later. 

Breakfast

These muffins are the Lynne's Muffins from Laurel's Kitchen.  They are oatmeal, buttermilk, honey and sunflower seed muffins. Topped with butter that I made yesterday, honey from the organic farm, and a few grains of pink Hawaiian Sea Salt. 

I've been researching chickens on BackYardChickens.com . I've already figured out that I can have up to 15 without having to get a permit, but I will probably have 4 -6.  I'm figuring out how to make a strong, safe coop and run for them and was checking out the coop at the organic farm.  Theirs was much bigger and had about 25 chickens which all came out cooing when we went to check them out.  

I figure I have until February to build the coop, since that is generally when chickens are ordered. 

Same Blog, Different (slightly) Subject

If you subscribed to this blog back when it was a "weight loss" blog, you should know that I won't be posting about weight anymore. This blog's focus has changed to more of local eating and cooking blog, but I left most of the old posts since they were about food and cooking.  

Posts will be more along the lines of local eating, cooking from scratch and when spring rolls around, the chickens that I will be getting.  

Hope you enjoy it!