Festival Express

The summer is completely zipping by! It’s been a full 4 weeks since my “retirement” and I wonder how I ever found time to work. It feels like I’ve been gone even longer than 4 weeks and my life is as full as ever. The list of household projects sits barely touched, with only one room (my son’s) having been ripped apart thus far. At this point, I think most of it will have to wait until school starts at the end of August.

Yesterday was one of those very full days… a fun day of festivals (“fests”).

The day started with “Elite Fest”. This was a health-focused event at the fitness center (Elite Fitness, hence the name) where my step-daughter is a personal trainer. This event started at 10:00 a.m. with an hour-long metabolic workout. Ethan and I participated and  both thought we would die about half-way through — but we were proud of ourselves for having completed the challenge and doing ALL the exercises!  We did exercises on equipment that I didn’t even know existed!  (TRX machine… air assault…?) There were also contests and a relay race, but I was pretty much done by that point. The event ended with a super healthy lunch with lots of veggies and whole grains! I am a little sore today, but in all, I really enjoyed the work out.

After running home to shower — and drink another large coffee (I was exhausted!)… we were off to “Jazz Fest”.  This was the 13th annual Jazz Festival in Scranton and my son was participating. Ethan had a prior gig Friday night where he was allowed to play with the professionals at a coffee shop. I was so proud of him stepping out of his comfort zone, sight reading and improv’ing on his trombone.  Yesterday was the official event where the students of Marywood University’s Camp Crescendo were the opening act of the evening’s performances. Ethan had two improv solos during two of the pieces and I was one proud momma (complete with tears in my eyes). He did fantastic and I’m so glad we opted for this camp this year.

Following the concert we were off to “Corn Fest”!  (Seriously… these are the legit names!)  Friends of ours have an annual party, complete with lots of corn cooked on the fire and free-flowing adult beverages!  It’s always a great time and this year was especially nice, because I got to see so many of my (former) co-worker friends. It’s nice to be missed and all the hugs made me feel loved!

The night had one last stop… to drop Ethan off at a camp-out at a friend’s house. I’m not sure how he still had the energy to stay up late, but I guess that’s the benefit of youth.

So here’s to a great day of celebrating fitness, music and friends! May we have many more festivals to celebrate in our future!

IMDb: Festival Express (2003)

The Recovery

After a week of less-than-healthy eating on vacation, it was time to get back on track this past week. We were all feeling the effects of being off plan — bloated, fatigued, and fat! We all gained a few pounds while on vacation (truth be told, I think I’m still carrying 5 pounds from LAST year’s vacation). Off plan included “meat” (lots of lobster), butter, fried, eggs, alcohol, caffeine, sugar…  I know… you are all thinking “sounds great”!  🙂

But when you eat only plant based 99% of the time, these things definitely take their toll and we needed a week of recovery.

In order to go hard core on the recovery, I went immediately to the Forks Over Knives website.  It so happened that they were featuring an article with a week of recipes and I actually used that for my menu plan for the week.  So here are the recipes along with my adjustments/commentary (note, all recipes can be prepared in 30 minutes or less):

Easy Thai Noodles – I doubled this recipe because, let’s face it, 8 ounces of noodles is not enough with 2 big eaters in the house.  What I liked about this recipes was the ease — it says “ready in 30 minutes” but it took much less than that. I couldn’t find “mung bean sprouts” so I just used a mix of sprouts that I found at the grocery store. Everyone enjoyed this, but I think if I made it again, I would use more veggies and I would triple the sauce. Leftovers were a bit dry, so I think a little more sauce would be good.

Mediterranean Vegetable Spaghetti – We also enjoyed this dish (who doesn’t love pasta).  I used whole wheat pasta instead of the brown rice spaghetti, but any pasta will do. I didn’t have “herbes de Provence” so I just used thyme, a favorite seasoning, and a bit of oregano. You could really use any herbs you prefer. The recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of tomato puree but the smallest can I could find was 28 ounces! I did add more than the 2T to the recipe, partly because the recipe calls for 10 ounces of pasta (can we just make all recipes = 1 pound of pasta???) and I used 16 ounces.  So it definitely needed more of the puree; I froze the rest.

Orange Black Bean Taquitos – This was another tasty recipe. My only gripe was needing the food processor to do two separate tasks (making the filling and making the spiked sour cream). It required making one, cleaning the food processor and then making the other. While the sour cream recipe says to use the blender, my blender didn’t work for this and I ended up with lots of extra dishes to wash. But we loved the citrus combination with the kick from the adobo chiles. I served this with brown rice flavored with fresh lime juice.

Burrito Bowl — I didn’t use bowls, but plates. I served everything separately and let everyone make their own combinations. This dish definitely needed salsa to give it more flavor and interest, and I used the leftover spiked sour cream from the taquitos. I made bulgur, for something different than just rice, but any grain will do.  I used a mix of pinto and cannellini beans, but would flavor them next time (tamari, perhaps?). I did use steamed kale (from the garden), but didn’t love it. I would definitely use fresh lettuce next time, or fresh/chopped kale. And yes, I made my own tortillas — much preferred over store-bought.  This was the only picture I apparently remembered to take this week… 

No Tuna Salad Sandwich – I’ll be honest, this wasn’t my favorite recipe of the week.  I have other similar recipes that I liked much better. This one was a little bland and I’m not a big fan of tahini. Plus, the bread I bought (a whole grain) was a little too doughy.

We did have one night where we ate out because our lovely Mikayla was in town from NYC, and another night we had grilled portobellos and my favorite kale salad. I did make this “oil free” by eliminating all oil, and increasing the lime juice.

As a result of this week’s eating, I am back to my pre-vacation weight. Yay! And I think everyone has otherwise recovered!

Hope you enjoy the recipes!

IMDb: The Recovery (2011)

The Bucket List

I was never one to have keep a bucket list and I always thought the concept was silly.  Why would you need such a thing? Just enjoy your life!

And then I had cancer. Twice. And I really started thinking differently about the whole bucket list concept. If I was living on borrowed time, what were the things I really wanted to do and see?

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m feeling pretty healthy these days but the idea of a bucket list seemed more appealing. I don’t have anything formal or written down; it’s all just in my head.

One of the things on my list is whale watching. We just returned from vacation in Maine where whale watching was part of the plan. Alas, Mother Nature was not cooperative and unrelenting dense fog resulted in excursion cancellations multiple days in a row. This was the closest I got to an actual whale (we were on the lookout everywhere!):

 

Better luck next time. While disappointed, we did find other great things to do in Maine and we had a fabulous trip. Maine is truly gorgeous and, if you’ve never gone, you might want to add it to your bucket list!

Most of my list is made up of experiences and trips — and are family-focused. None of it involves acquisition of stuff (quite the contrary, if you know me!). And maybe the idea of writing a book!

How about you? Do you have a bucket list? What’s on it?

IMDb: The Bucket List (2007)

The Retiree

Today is my birthday.

My 55^th birthday.

My age now officially matches my status: retired.

After a whole 4 days of official quasi-retirement, I’m still struggling with this label. Since I didn’t really “retire”, (rather, I was “retired” – as in out to pasture), it feels disingenuous to describe myself as a retiree. It implies choice, of which I had none.

When you actually choose to retire, people throw you a party. There’s cake and balloons. You get to reflect on accomplishments and people say nice things about you. You may even get your own fun Powerpoint presentation (true at the last retirement party I went to!).

When retirement is thrust upon you, you just fade into the sunset. (Well, after a few drinks at happy hour with friends!) One day you just aren’t there anymore.

When you choose to retire, the typical plan is not to work anymore. And that’s not the case for me. Since I was 16, I’ve never not worked, and my 55 seems much too young to not go back to work. Quite honestly, since I’ve been home, I feel like I’m working harder than I did at work! But the pay sucks.

The retiree label makes me feel like I should be older than 55, and who wants that? In my brain, I’m stuck at 26 and I’m just not sure how I got to 55 already.

I don’t like the label very much at all. I’m a retirement fraud and so I declare that we should no longer use the term! I think I’ll use entrepreneur. Dreamer or princess. Maybe superhero (as suggested by one friend)… something a little more fun and interesting. Something that speaks of action and possibilities. I’m open to suggestions!

I certainly don’t want to imply that I’m bitter or resentful about the whole thing. I’m not. Disappointed by how and why it was done? Yes. Disappointed by people I thought would reach out and didn’t? Yes. But disappointment is about the only negative emotion I can muster about the whole thing. I just feel to young, too healthy and too ambitious to be here.

But it’s only temporary.

IMDb: The Retiree (2015)

The Catalyst

“Everything happens for a reason.”

“When one door closes, another one opens.”

“Nothing happens by chance.”

* * * * *

We’ve all heard these platitudes. Heck, we’ve all said them hundreds of times. I know I certainly have. But do we really believe them to be true?

Does everything really happen for a reason? I mean, “everything”? I can think of many examples of things that appear to have to no reason whatsoever. And yet, I can see how some things might spur one in a new direction. I might feel better if this statement said: “Some things happen for a reason, but not everything. And it might take you a while to figure out.” Rolls right off the tongue!

Does the other door open because it’s supposed to? Or does it open because you selected a door, turned the handle and pulled it open? Don’t we make our own reasons? Open our own doors? (No, I’m not covering the debate of free will versus destiny.)

I have been thinking a lot about this since the middle of May when I received notification that my job had been eliminated and I had only 60 days left in Corporate America. This was not a surprise to me given some other events that had transpired, so I was emotionally and mentally prepared for it. But since then I have had so many people declare the quotes listed above. I’m not saying I completely disagree, but I view this change in my employment status as a catalyst (“an agent that provokes or speeds significant change or action”) rather simply fated.

New things aren’t just going to happen to me. I need to do something with this change. I need to come up with a plan, take action, educate myself, and work hard if I want to look back on this and say, “there was a reason this happened”. It’s not going to just happen to me – the door will not just open all by itself. (Although it would be fabulous if it did!) J

So what doors will I be pulling open? What direction is my catalyst sending me?

I plan to pursue a career that focuses on my passions – plant based nutrition, coaching, and writing. Stay tune for more information over the next several months because I need to do my homework first. What are my options? What’s the financial investment? What’s the market? I don’t know what I don’t know about starting my own business, so education must come first.

I already started with my certification in plant-based nutrition from the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies and eCornell that I completed last week. I have also already started working with the Small Business Development Center at the University of Scranton, as well as taken several courses with a career-coaching program offered by my (soon-to-be-former) employer.

I’m super excited about the opportunities ahead and I guess none of this would be happening if not for this reason, this catalyst.

I do prefer the following platitudes, however:

“When Life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” ~Dale Carnegie

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.” ~ Dr. Seuss

“Life is what you make it” ~ Anurag Prakash Ray

IMDb: The Catalyst (2010)

A Mongolian Tale

One of my favorite dishes as a meat-eater was chicken piccata. I ordered it pretty much every time we went to our favorite Italian restaurant. It’s one of the few dishes I miss a bit, but probably more from the lemony sauce and capers than the chicken. So imagine my delight to find Tempeh Piccata in “Chloe’s Kitchen”! As soon as I came across that recipe, I knew it had to be part of this week’s menu plan.

This recipe called for steaming the tempeh first. I had not done that in any of my prior tempeh recipes. It’s supposed to make the tempeh less bitter, but I actually don’t find it bitter at all, so I may leave that step out next time.  Since I was using my cast iron skillet, I did rub a tiny bit of oil in the pan, but I eliminated the vegan margarine. It was definitely not missed. I also added extra capers since we love them!   I served this dish over rice and with sautéed spinach.

I did double the recipe, since I knew I was going to love it and I wanted leftovers. Plus, I do have two big eaters in the house and I like to make sure I have enough. I am finding that I need to double most of Chloe’s recipes. Her serving size is clearly not the same as in my house.

(Doesn’t it even LOOK like chicken piccata???)

Next up:

Mongolian BBQ Seitan – This was also a fabulous dish! I loved the homemade barbecue sauce with a kick from the chili-garlic sauce and the fragrance of the ground ginger, cinnamon and cloves. This really was a pretty easy dinner to put together — Chloe describes it as “effortless”. I did double the recipe (of course), but I tripled the sauce so we had a little extra to put over our rice.

Note: In the video, she starts with making her seitan from scratch… I did not do this; I purchased the seitan and it was just as delicious. Just skip ahead on the video; you can also find the recipe online in print format.

IMDb: A Mongolian Tale (1995)

 

 

Chloe

Winter Storm Stella has us all home bound (25-28″ at last measure) so I thought I’d crank out a blog post as I recover from extreme shoveling.  (Yes, I will be sore tomorrow!)

*****

A few weeks ago I attended a class “Demystifying Tofu” (a topic for another day) at which I met a woman who recommend a new cookbook: “Chloe’s Kitchen” by Chloe Coscarelli. My new friend, Lisa, raved about the recipes so, on the spot, I ordered the book from Amazon.  I have since been trying out a slew of recipes from it ever since and we have all absolutely loved them! Isa is still my favorite by a teensy bit, but this book is a very close second.

Tonight I tried Green Curry Crepes – my first attempt at crepes of any kind. I did some homework on the internet before braving this task to ensure I was aware of any and all handy-dandy cooking tips. One article said the first 1-2 are “experimental” and will give you the hang of it and, truly, I felt like a pro by the time I was done. There was not a crepe left in the dish!  Ethan loves crepes so I’ll have to look for some new recipes now that I’m comfortable making them.

Here’s a photo of one of the crepes.  I intended to take a photo of a plated crepe (the delicious filling has potato, onion, carrot, chickpeas, coconut milk, and seasonings), but I couldn’t wait to try them and then I forgot. 

The next fabulous recipe was her Falafel Sliders with Avocado Hummus. Her secret ingredient is sun-dried tomatoes in the falafel, and the avocado hummus was to die for! I doubled the recipe so we had a few leftover. I eliminated the oil in the sliders and added a tablespoon instead of 1/4 cup to the hummus.  I’m thinking I could eliminate it there, too.  These truly were fantastic, and not as difficult to make as I expected, given that there are 3 separate pieces.   Definitely toast the buns!

Drunken Noodles in Cashew-Shiitake Broth: I have loved trying so many different types of noodles on this way of eating. Soba, Rice, Lo Mein, Ramen, Somen… and this recipe called for Udon noodles. They cook quickly – typically 4 minutes – and hold up in stir fries and soups. I doubled this recipe, as well, and good thing!  Ethan had 4 bowls!  It’s such a great soup for strengthening the immune system: garlic, freshly grated ginger, cayenne… Great stuff!  And I actually remembered to take a photo!

I have tried several more and will try to get those shared with you soon!

IMDb: Chloe (2009)