The Dangers of Compost

July 19th, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Morning Craziness - (6 Comments)

I wanted to make Green Lemonade yesterday after my long run but I couldn’t find a small piece to the juicer. It’s small but it’s also a very crucial part: the nut that holds the blade in place. I figured it would turn up and had probably just rolled under the toaster oven or was inadvertently put away in the wrong place.

Last night I was feeling frustrated after the kitchen was cleaned up I still hadn’t found it. This morning I went on an all out search for it. I looked everywhere. I moved the toaster oven, the knife block, the cutting boards, the microwave, the dish rack. Nothing. Looking under the stove with a flashlight. Under the refrigerator. In drawers, on the counter, in the cupboards, the window sill. It was no where to be found.

I wondered if maybe one of the kids had run off with it and maybe it was with the toys. Maxine has a propensity to run off with small objects in a purse or box. I looked through the toy bins and still no luck.

I wondered if maybe it had gotten thrown out. And then it occurred to me: the compost.

compost_pile

Ughhhhh noooooooo!

More than once Zak has come in after turning the compost to return random kitchen objects that had been unintentionally scooped up and tossed in to the compost bin. Forks, spoons, small dishes.

I really did not want to dig through that compost pile, but I figured I could at least go out and look to see if I could spot it laying on top, given I last used it on Friday morning. I put on my shoes and headed out.

I scanned the pile and didn’t see it. I began imagining myself scouring the web trying to find the replacement part and what it might cost. Just as I was ready to turn around and head back in, I spotted it! Upside down and way in the back by yesterdays young coconut shell, but it was unmistakable. I leaned over and held my breath so I didn’t inhale any fruit flies and retrieved my precious. I couldn’t believe it wasn’t buried and completely obscured.

Washed and found!

washed_and_found

So happy together.

so_happy_together

Now get back to work! In today’s green lemonade mix was romaine, a cucumber, a gala apple, a lemon and ginger.

sun_green_juice

Green juice and the compost.

green_compost

Today is a rest day. I think I might head out now to look through the compost for a running sock that’s been MIA for about a week now.


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


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Longy Long Run

July 18th, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Fitness - (7 Comments)

15 miles? Done! Phew.

group

Shawn, one of Zak’s college buddies up front in the red there, is my running partner. He’s training for a triathlon and we’re debating on doing the Rochester Marathon together, but his tri is a week after the marathon and he’s trying to convince me to do the Corning Wineglass Marathon with that’s a few weeks later but is about an hour and a half away from home. I can’t decide!

Our first leg was just shy of 9 miles and we came back to refuel and rehydrate.

I hesitated to use a PowerBar Gel for refueling, as this is the very essence of “processed”, but they say to use in training what they’ll be providing on the course, so with going on that logic I went with it.

powergel

These are thick and syrupy but there’s no denying they do the job.

Our second leg was 6.5 miles. We stuck with a 9:00/min pace almost the whole way and finished 15.5 in 2:20:28. The last two miles were pretty dang tough and we had to slow our pace at the end, but we did it.

I came back to eat some Fig Newmans. At that very minute, these were quite possibly the best things on earth I have ever eaten.

post_run_fig_newmans

What a difference a running partner makes on long runs. I can’t get over it. It is so nice to have some company the whole long ass way. My legs were TIRED at the end but I’m happy to realize I feel totally fine now, with the exception of some major SWEET cravings all day.  I’ve been taming it with fresh and dried fruits.

It’s been a very random eats day. I’m just eating what I want as I feel hungry, but still working to stick to unprocessed and raw foods instead of just eating whatever I can get my grubby mits on.  Here’s a random sampling of things I stopped to take a picture of before I shoveled it in.

Nothing new under the sun.

Saturday Salad avocado_salsa

With Zak’s assistance we hacked open this young coconut and I made an iced drink with the coconut meat, coconut water, a few dates , agave nectar and ice.

young_coconut coconut_smoothie

Looks like an iced coffee! Tastes like coconut.

Fruit, fruit. And oh yeah, more fruit.

sat_berries sat_banana_whip

I broke into two of the new packages of Newman’s Own Organics Dried Fruit, dried apples and dried apricots.

dried_apples apricots

The apricots were good but the apples were by far my favorite! I’m not sure I’ve ever had dried apples before but I will definitely be buying more of these! They were so spongy and sweet. LOVED. THEM.

Got me some new kicks today too! I had a couple of coupons and saved a bundle. My old pair have nearly 350 miles on them so it’s time to start rotating them out. Asics have quickly become my new favorite running shoe. I use to be a Saucony gal but now it’s Asics all the way baby! Love new sneaks.

new_kicks

There’s no place like home! There’s no place like home!


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


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15 on 7/18

July 18th, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Short or Sweet - (7 Comments)

15 miles on the docket for this morning. I’m running today with the same group I ran with a few weeks ago.

I carried this tub’o melon around with me as I gathered my gear.

gear

And even managed to read this tid bit about watermelon and its awesome metabolism boosting capabilities in this article in Prevention mag!

prevention

I got a free 1 year subscription to Prevention from Stonyfield Farm thanks to sending in some licked clean yogurt lids. It’s a nice mag with lots of good stuff.

Now I’m finishing up my banana and AB drizzle –

banana

and literally running out the door!


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


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A Real Job

July 17th, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Dinner Time - (7 Comments)

I’ve sat at my desk today all today like the old days when I had a “real job”.

I broke for lunch and ate at my desk. When we’re child free here, not a single second can be wasted.

A giant salad made up of just about every vegetable in my fridge. Red leaf, green leaf, boston bibb, carrots, raw corn cut off the cob (have you tried this yet?? SO sweet and juicy – GET ON IT!), tomato, green pepper tossed in homemade Italian. And some Green and Black dark chocolate that I took a bite out of before I snapped the pic.

lunch_salad lunch_choc

At some point I took a snack break and peered a little something on the front porch. A mystery box behind the veil of a gala apple! Titillating!

apple_snack

I was contacted me a short while ago about trying some of the products by Newman’s Own Organics and oh boy did Sally hook us up!

hooked_up

I didn’t realize their product line is so extensive, I’m really excited to try some of these products out.

About an hour later my apple veil wore off, I was ready to break into some of that organic, sulfite free dried fruit!

I was a little nervous about mixing organic dried fruit and run of the mill walnuts… was there going to be an explosion? What happens if you put organic and conventional foods together!? Biting my nails here.

snack_no_2 gross_hand

Apparently it makes your hand look weirdly giant and wrinkly.

You probably didn’t even notice until I pointed it out. Well, if you didn’t notice, don’t go back and look now.

I said DON’T!!

There were a couple of very happy little girls who came home to check out our new cookie stash.

newmans_cookies

Ava choose to try some Fig Newmans. (A what a clever name!)

fig_newmans

She ate her Fig Newman and played with her new toy.

fig_newman_box

Max opted for some pretzels.

max_pretzels

When it comes to buying snacks and treats for the kids, I definitely prefer organic items and cookies without high fructose corn syrup or artificial colors. Newman’s Own Organics definitely fits the bill and is a company I’m happy to support.

I didn’t even know until recently that Newman’s Own Organics a separate company from Newman’s Own. Nell Newman, Paul’s Newman’s daughter, started Newman’s Own Organics as a division of Newman’s Own in 1993 and eventually became it’s own company in 2001.

Love that Baby Girl Newman was an organic rock star! Way to teach the old man a thing or two! (OK I have no idea if that’s what really happened, that’s just how the story plays out in my mind. I like it.)

Dinner tonight was simple. Two slices of toasted Ezekiel bread with some smashed avocado topped with salsa.

friday_dinner

Yup, that’s it. I think all my mini meals caught up with me by dinner time.

But then about 5 seconds later I remembered I had some new chocolate to try out! Yes, more chocolate. It is my duty to report the facts here people.

newmans_own dark_choc

Uh oh G&B, there’s a new organic chocolate kid on the block!

I MAY have smeared some almond butter on one of that them there squares… you know, just to REALLY test it out. It MAY have been so incredibly awesome that it made me drop to my knees and thank the stars above for the miracle that is organic chocolate.

I’ll never tell.


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


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Old School

July 17th, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Breakfast - (5 Comments)

Last night I thought I might try to do my scheduled long run this morning, but the soreness in my shoulders and arms from yesterdays push ups and plank made me reconsider. I just wasn’t feeling up to it and figured I’d save my long run for Saturday or Sunday as planned and stick with a usual weekday run for today.

Before setting off, I consumed a reasonable sized portion of watermelon (as opposed to my normal watermelon attack) with my good friend Farmer Jed.

watermelon_with_jed

4.76 miles at an easy pace, out and back in 38 minutes.

Home to find my whole gang up and raring to go. Toast and eggs all around, except just some Natalia Style Green Lemonade for me.

green_lemonade

Today’s juice was the best yet. 3/4 head of romaine, an entire cucumber, 1 apple, 1 lemon and about 2 inches of ginger. Threw in a couple of ice cubes and kicked back to relax with my lemonade and my Little Peeps. Even Zak agreed it was “drinkable” compared to yesterday’s beet juice.

I got the girls on their way with Ellen for the day and I was ready for an official breakfast.

I had no overnight oats prepped and decided it was time to do oatmeal old school.

I don’t know where I’d be without my Kath inspired stove top oats!

old_school_oats

Today I combined a half cup of water and a half cup of almond milk on the stove with some thinly sliced bananas. Stirring occasionally to help my bananas “melt”.

Once it began to boil I added a 1/2 cup of rolled oats and reduced heat to low, cooking about 5 minutes. Turn the stove off and cover to let sit for a few more minutes.

oatmeal

Topped with ground flax, the rest of my banana and some almond butter.

oatmeal_3rd

It’s 10 o’clock and I’ve already eaten three times today?  Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, that’s all I can say.


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


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Zoo Day

July 16th, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Dinner Time - (8 Comments)

After my physics review this morning, I ate my chocolate breakfast cookie in my underwear whilst running around the house like a mad woman trying to get kids dressed, lunches packed and get us out the door on time to meet my girlfriend Sharon and her gang.

That’s quite a picture I just painted. And one long sentence too.

choc_cookie

We made it to the zoo dressed and only 5 minutes late!

We checked out our rhino pal friends.

Max Rhino

Watched a bird show.

Watching Bird Show

Yes Maxine, do you have a question?

I Saw it Too!

Splashed in the river and took a lunch break.

Playin'

PB&J for the little gals, tossed salad for the big gal. Red leaf, green leaf, boston bibb, tomatoes, raw corn and avocado with miso dressing.

salad_lunch

And the ever elusive Peanut Butter Cookie Larabar that I FINALLY found. I swear I feel like I’ve been on a scavenger hunt looking for this flavor for the past few months.

pb_cookie_larabar

It did not disappoint.

We waited for sea lions.

Waiting

(Note the change of clothes A LA splashing river.)

SCORE!

There He Is!

Watched a monkey lick the window.

Monkey Lick

Can’t say I haven’t done the same thing to the bakery case.

More Monkies

And last but not least, the elephants.

Elephants

Two Three very tired girls.

Tonight for dinner I made portobello mushroom burgers and used the other half of my kabocha to make fries with. Sprinkled with cinnamon and baked at 425 for about 40 minutes. The heels of an Ezekiel loaf made the perfect burger bun!

portobello kocbacha_fries

After a full day in the sun and lots of walking, tonight would have been a night I would have been tempted to eat a bowl of cereal and yogurt and chocolate chips for dinner. Nothing wrong with that, but for me it would have set me up for wanting MORE cereal and yogurt or some other sugary foods.

Instead of having to deal with resisting a sugar and snack craving for the rest of the night, it was much easier to have some “rules” to stick to. Even if it was just food combining rules and my effort to avoid processed carbs, it was nice to have some guidance that help me stay the course and stick with unprocessed foods. It almost feels like a crutch of sorts, but for now it’s ok.

After nearly two weeks of eating more raw meals, and almost nothing processed, my cravings for sugary, carby foods is quite noticeably diminished and I want it to stay that way.


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


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The Laws of Physics

July 16th, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Short or Sweet - (9 Comments)

Today I am thankful for the Laws of Physics.

Centrifugal Force for making my green juice.

thurs_green_juice

And cleaning my lettuce.

salad_spinner washed_greens

I am also thankful for the Gravitational Pull on the Earth.

It allowed me to do 40 minutes of yoga.

3 sets of push ups: 20, 10, 20.

Plank for 2 minutes. I spent the last 15 seconds cursing the Law of Gravity. And the Law of Shaking Arms too.

Centrifugal Force was applied again to make juice for Zak.

beet_juice

I’m also thankful for the Law of Attraction that will keep him from abandoning me and our two small children when I present him with BEET JUICE.

The Law of Green Juice is a pretty amazing law in and of itself. It’s been nearly 3 HOURS since my glass and I’m just starting to feel hungry. Well slap my ass and call me Einstein.

And now we are feeling the Gravitational Pull of the zoo… can’t. resist. must. see. elephants.


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


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More Experiments

July 15th, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Dinner Time - (7 Comments)

I didn’t really intend for today to be a day full of experiments, but who doesn’t want to want to be a their own lab rat? I mean really.

We met our friends at the park and had a neat activity planned that all the kids loved, including mine.

homeschool

Clear as mud, no?

We had a to walk around the playground and find the shapes drawn in the upper left corner of each box. Then the bottom two boxes were for any other shapes we found.

Cigarette butt? Ummm, I think that’s a tube? Yeah, draw a tube.

Shortly after our shape scavenger hunt I had to dive head first into some sassy Chobani.

chobani

Mama needs protein after a boat load of carbs this morning!

The rest of today’s packed lunch featured homemade guac (avocado, onions, garlic, tomato, salt and lemon) on Ezekiel (x2) and a raw shredded zucchini, corn, tomato salad tossed in miso ginger dressing.

guac lunch_1

Oooo look I found another triangle!

another_triangle

We got home to find the next experiment had been hand delivered. And just when I thought I couldn’t get any more hippie.

juicer

Awww, my first sludge. Someone take a picture. Oh… wait…

my_first_sludge

Ava was “very curious” (her words) and asked if we could make apple juice.

Well OF COURSE we can make apple juice!

ava_apple_juice

Notice my cup back under the spigot? Yeah, I need a little more APPLE in mine.

And check out what my compost bin gets to chew on! Awwwyeah compost bucket YOU. ARE. WELCOME.

pulp

This juice was SHOCKINGLY satisfying for a snack and I barely noticed any hunger as dinner time rolled around. Not only was I not very hungry, I was not in the mood for anything. Enter experiment numero dos. (That’s “number two” in Spanish, right? The only Spanish I know is from my gal pal Dora.)

This would be Kabocha, something I’ve seen around blog world for months now and finally figured out where to find it (hint: Asian market) and I’ve had two of these sitting on my counter for about a week now not knowing what the hell to do with them. Want to know more? Clicky clicky like I did from Holly’s site this morning.

squash

Diced up and steamed.

kabocha

In a bowl, drizzled with Almond Butter, like I’ve seen many times before.

more_kabocha

My thoughts: What am I missing? This was only OK. Maybe it’s because it’s not in season? I was expecting it to be really sweet and it just tasted like butternut squash to me. Someone tell me it’s supposed to be sweet!

I ate my bowl and called it dinner. I was just not that hungry for dinner tonight. I think I threw myself for a loop with all my experimenting.

That’ll be 25 cents for the freak show please. Cash only.


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


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Wednesday Experiments

July 15th, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Breakfast - (7 Comments)

I still haven’t officially decided on running on the Rochester Marathon at the end of the summer, but I’ll admit that right now I feel like I’m leaning in that direction. That means at this point in the training program I need to start doing some longer runs during the week, as this is “Week 10”.

This morning I set out for a 7 mile run at a comfortable pace and was back in 57:07, making my average pace 8:09. I felt good for the whole run and the house was still quiet when I got back.

We got home pretty late last night from Food, Inc. In the scramble to get the kids ready for and into bed I didn’t have a chance together put any sort of overnight oat concoction. I could have made cooked oats this morning but I decided today would be a good day to experiment a bit what Natalia Rose recommends in the Raw Food Detox Diet and eat only fruit this morning until lunch time.

I had a bit of watermelon before I left on my run.  When I got home, I had the perfect post run breakfast treat.

banana_whip

It’s like ice cream for breakfast.

Next up? Blackberries picked by Thing 1 and Thing 2 at Kath’s house last night.

black_berries

Having kids pays off.

Before long I was feeling hungry again and finished up the last of the watermelon and had some cantaloupe too.

melon

If I wasn’t home and putzing around the house, this wouldn’t work… I would need something more substantial to hold me over without having to run to the kitchen every half hour. But for today, it’s ok. I think oats are going to be back on the menu tomorrow though.

It’s just after 10 now and no surprise, I’m already hungry again. We’re heading out to meet up with some homeschooling friends in a bit, gotta pack lunches and get out the door. Not sure yet if I’m going to forage for more fruit or have a heftier snack before we go.


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


Food, Inc.

July 14th, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Life - (5 Comments)

It must be a blue moon, because tonight, Zak I went out to see a movie.

food_inc

I’ve been curious about Food, Inc. since I saw the film advertised on the lids of Stonyfield Farms yogurt containers for the past few months. Watching the trailer convinced me that we’d make an effort to go see this movie while it was still in the theaters.

Tonight the girls went with Zak’s mom while I left to go meet Zak in the city after work and patronize the only theater in our area showing this film; The Little, a small theater popular for showing indie and documentary films.

little

To put it mildly, this movie was very moving. Disturbing, terrifying and enraging are a few other adjectives that come to mind. It certainly reaffirmed my choice to be vegetarian and even has me questioning my choice to allow my children to eat meat. The topics covered in this movie are so important, and they effect us ALL. Rich or poor, young and old, we all eat food and really have no idea where our food comes from. What is it made of? How is it produced? What are the consequences of the choices that are made by people of power, the same people who are least likely to feel the effects of those consequences?

If you are at all curious about the answers to these questions, I highly recommend this movie. The bottom line is that we vote with our dollar. When you buy food, you are casting your vote as to what kind of foods you want to see on the shelves of our stores.

To that end, I will continue to buy organic and buy local. I need to pay more attention to buying foods that are in season. I want to support the companies that treat animals, their workers and the environment with respect. I will continue to move away from processed foods and stick with whole, unprocessed foods, that ideally didn’t have to travel across the country or the world to get to me. I’m so glad this movie is out there to alert consumers to the disaster that is the food industry in this country today.

Two thumbs. Both of them straight up.


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.