The Joys of Mid-Summer

This time of year, I just love my job :~). Since my husband and I both teach, we get several weeks off in the summer. It is so awesome to have some kick-back time. We try to make good use of our time, but it's nice to just be more relaxed! Our young friend, Andrew spent the night last night, so we stayed up late watching "Kindergarten Cop". It was great, and I hadn't seen it in a while. Unfortunately, it did make me realize how quickly our time back at work is coming. . . .so I really want to enjoy the rest of my time off.

It's mid-summer, so it is wickedly hot here in southeastern NC! We slept in a bit this morning, had awesome TexMex omelettes, then we went outside for a while. I picked peas from the garden while the guys vacuumed the pool. The we swam and exercised for a while. The guys left, and I spent another 30 minutes or so scrubbing and treating the pool. Then I grabbed a Jude Deveraux book and actually started reading!!!!! Right out in the sun by the pool. My mother-in-law does this often, and I understand why! After a while, though (about 30 pages later), it got pretty hot out, so I came in and showered. By then, it was getting close to lunch-time, so I jumped on my bike, rode about 1/4 mile up to the mini-orchard and picked some pears and a few figs. I had in mind to do roasted pears and figs with goat cheese.

I decided to do it in the form of a salad, and it was SOOOOO good -- absolutely beautiful! One of the days when I realized maybe I really should photograph my food -- at least sometimes. It was gorgeous! So today, I'm sharing that recipe with you. I hope you make it and I hope it's a s beautiful as mine, and that you enjoy yours as much as I enjoyed mine. Here's to mid-summer and days off!

A Mid-Summer Pear-Fig Salad (for 1)


2 cups lettuce (I used an organic mix of spinach and arugula)
1 pear
3-4 small figs
olive oil
balsamic vinegar (mine was fig-orange infused)
goat cheese
honey
thyme
salt
pepper
walnuts

Line your plate with a couple of cups of lettuce. In the meantime, slice your pear into 8 slices and cut figs in half. Drizzle with olive oil. Put pears on a pan and roast off at 350 degrees. About halfway through cooking, turn pears over, and add figs to the pan. Roast for another 10 minutes or so. When the fruit is browned slightly, arrange it beautifully on the bed of lettuce. Drizzle any leftover oil from pan onto salad. Cut about 3 nice slices of goat cheese and arrange on the salad. Drizzle olive oil over the salad. Then give the salad a little drizzle of balsamic vinegar. Drizzle a little bit of honey over the top. Sprinkle with salt and fresh ground pepper. Give a little sprinkle of thyme. Tope it off with some chopped walnuts. AMAZING!!!!!! Wonderful blend of crunchy and soft, earthy and flavorful, savory and sweet.

The Twelve Days of Christmas

One of the best presents I got this Christmas was the number on my scales! A bit before Christmas, the scales said, "186"! That is 50 lbs less than April when I began this journey, and it was the goal I had set for myself. I am thrilled to have gotten there, although the loss has slowed to pretty much 4 or 5 lbs a month. Still, I am progressing, and that is the all-important fact. There was tons of temptation throughout the season -- At school, there were the pot-lucks with staff and the pizza parties and the gifts from children (including an amazing box of Russell Stover chocolates, which I appreciated, then promptly re-gifted). At Rachel's there was hot chocolate and M&Ms. . . at the in-laws there was candy of every flavor (mostly chocolate), including homemade fudge, pralines, cakes. . . . and chicken pot pie. At my parents' house there was candy, cookies, white rice, peanut butter and syrup sandwiches. And then there was the visit with the acupuncturist when he said, You do know you need to be gluten free, right?" and I said, "Well, I pretty much figured that". . .only later realizing that meant giving up Ezekiel bread, which had been our 1 bready salvation. . . so back to the drawing board. . . breakfasts are a little more challenging now -- still figuring that out. Steel cut oats this morning, which were wonderful! With God's help and the support of family and friends, I was able to mostly resist the temptations placed in front of me. I did not eat Snickers, M&Ms, white bread, cake. . . Still at the very end of the season, I picked up another pound or two, but yesterday, the scales again read 186! 50 lbs -- Almost halfway there! Wow!!!!!!! I am humbled. . . I am blessed, and I am encouraged. . . to continue the journey and resist the temptations.

Tonight, I'm sharing the dessert that got me through the holidays. They're modified from a traditional Powerball recipe. Feel free to play with them to suit your situation.

Joyful Almond Powerballs

1 cup sweetener (we mix honey and agave, but you could also use molasses and/or maple syrup)
3 cups oats
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes (or shredded fresh coconut)
1/2 cup chopped almonds
1/2 - 1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips, chopped (I put almonds and choc. chips together and chopped
1 cup peanut butter (you can sub almond butter or cashew butter or sunflower seed butter)


Roll into balls. (you may need to wet or oil hands to get balls to roll and stay together). Refrigerate balls for best quality. These are a great treat -- they are still really full of calories, but they are also relatively healthy; they simply need to be enjoyed in moderation. They are marvelous.

You can change out (or leave out any of the mix-ins) butters, dried fruit, nuts/seeds/etc. We've tried a few different versions, including dark chocolate with dried cranberries, semi-sweet choc. chips with raisins, etc. I think the Joyful Almond ones are my favorite yet. And they're not just for the holidays, so it's not too late -- enjoy!

25 Years Later. . . .

It's not who you are that holds you back, it’s who you think you’re not. -Anonymous

Boy, can I relate to that, and, as I'm heading into a weekend full of activities with high school classmates, it's a good reminder, perhaps. It's always been a bit of a struggle for me -- wanting to be different, yet wanting to fit in. It is sometimes hard to strike a balance between the two. Yet, I know myself better than ever -- this, 25 years after high school. . . still, I feel the butterflies. But God, in his great wisdom, has given us all we need to succeed! Only WE can truly mess up His plan.

I want to "Be all I can be" without joining the army. I want to push myself harder and challenge myself more. I want to be the best me I can be. I know that doesn't mean I'm going to look like my classmates, but it means I can be the best-looking me I can be!!!!!!!!

I'm going to say a couple of prayers tonight before the ballgame that I can accept myself and value being the best me I am today. Not just in looks, but in every way.

The "I Am nots" would be a long list. However, the I AMs will win every time!!!!!!!!

A recipe:

Yogurt and Corn Muffins (modified from a recipe from BEMC)

1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup gluten free flour blend
1-2 T honey
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cup plain yogurt
1 1/2 t vanilla extract
1/4 cup olive oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and lightly grease or line 12 2inch muffin tins. In a medium bowl, whisk together corn meal, flour blend, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl whisk together eggs, yogurt, oil, vanilla and honey. Add yogurt mixture to flour mixture and stir the batter until combined. Divide the batter among the muffin tins and bake for 20 min. or until cooked in the middle. Let muffins cool completely.

These are really good -- nice vanilla flavor -- a little more honey and they're almost dessert-y. Nice also with chili or toasted for breakfast with a little fruit spread

Perseverance

Shane and I stopped off today after running errands at a local state park for a walk. As we were there, we were talking about a lot of things. One of those was perseverance. I never would have thought I could have done this whole new life plan. I didn't give myself credit enough -- with God's help and the support and encouragement from my husband and other friends and family -- I am persevering. It's really about making a decision and sticking to it.

Check out this quote from N.G.
" Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did."

I love that! That is the place you get to. Especially when you are not seeing the results you want to see. These pounds are still playing tricks on me, but I will persevere. I refuse to give up. I feel better; I look better; I have more energy. . . I would be silly to give up now!!!!!!!!!!

I don't know if I'll achieve all my goals, lose all the pounds I want to lose, be the size I want to be. . . but I know I'm not going to give up until I feel like I'm victorious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today's recipe is super-simple! But it is one of my favorite breakfast staples.

Blueberry Parfait

Measure 1/2 cup fresh (or frozen) blueberries
1/2 cup organic plain yogurt
1 1/2 teaspoons of honey

Find a pretty glass (preferably clear). Drop a few blueberries in the bottom. Layer a spoonful of yogurt. Add more blueberries, a drizzle of honey, more yogurt, more blueberries, drizzle honey.

Super-simple; super-delicious; super healthy!!!!!!!!