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.

A Missed Goal is Still Progress

~ Take care of your body with steadfast fidelity. The soul must see through these eyes alone, and if they are dim, the whole world is clouded. ~ Goethe


I started this journey in April -- officially and completely in June. That's 4 months altogether, and in that 4 months I have lost 30 lbs!!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited about that!!! I've dropped over 3 inches in my waist and over 5 inches in my hips!!! That is pretty significant. It is tremendous progress! And yet, I did NOT meet my goal. My goal was 200 lbs by Aug. 15, and I missed it by 6 lbs. I knew it was a lofty goal, but I wanted to aim high. The problem with aiming high is that you've got to be willing to accept if you miss it. And while I am slightly disappointed not to have met that goal, I have come so far! So I cannot begrudge myself the positivity that should come with this milestone. Neither can I get complacent, because there is so much left to do -- so far still to go. I am trying to decide about my next goal. My class reunion is coming the first weekend in October -- about 6 weeks from now, so that would make a great goal. I've been averaging just over 2 lbs a week since I started in earnest. That would be 194. I wonder if I could make it to 190. . . . It's a high (or rather a low :~) goal, but I think I'm going to try for it! 190 by class reunion . . .16 lbs to go!

Losing weight is awesome! But I need to remember that I'm doing this for lots of reasons -- #1 is simply to be a better me -- healthier, stronger, and, hopefully prettier, too. #2 is to balance my hormones to maximize whatever chance I might still have at this late date to conceive. #3 is to lose weight -- for a million different reasons (and I won't list all those :~) But there are some very good ones, including the new BMI restrictions for insurance.

I love Goethe's quote at the top of the page. . .this is the only body I'm going to have -- the only legs, the only ears, the only eyes. . . I need to take care of them so I can enjoy this journey in its fullness -- until the ride ends! Here's to 30 lbs closer to the final goal!

Today I'm going to share a recipe I made up on the spur of the moment last night. I had some ingredients I needed to use -- namely fresh spinach and cottage cheese. I thought about doing a lasagna, but I didn't have any lasagna noodles -- nor any mozzarella cheese. So I modified. Here is what I came up with. It was pretty good.

Green Cottage Pasta

1 lb. brown rice shell pasta
1 T olive oil
2-3 handfuls of fresh baby spinach, chopped
1 cup cottage cheese
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 onion, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Cook pasta according to package directions. In the meantime, heat oil in a skillet. Toss in chopped onion and garlic. Then add the baby spinach, sauteeing until wilted. Add in half the parmesan cheese. Add the cup of cottage cheese, salt and pepper. When the pasta is done, drain it well and add it to the spinach mixture. Add the rest of the parmesan cheese, stir well and serve. If you wish, garnish with a couple of fresh spinach leaves or a shaving of parmigiana reggiana. Serve alone or if you need a heartier meal, add a small green salad or steamed veggie and/or a piece of Ezekiel garlic toast.