An Explanation-sih

So basically here is why I have been MIA: Blogger hates its users and wants us to have difficulty posting. Its new format is so weird that I can't post on breaks at work from my computer there which is where I can get the most done. Grrr. I have a recap post that I started a while ago, but alas, Blogger's new format has hidden it somewhere and I can't find it. Oy vey. 

So, I will have to fight the good fight and make time to post from home. After work. After working on a play I've been writing. After working out. After my longer commute since I moved to a new neighborhood. After a new actory class I am taking. After I struggle with wanting chocolate covered anything all the time lately. After attempting to unpack the last of our moving boxes. After I make dinner. After I pet my dog. 

However, I can't let that get me down, because I value this little space so much. I'm going to make it work.

Positive thought for the day. Tonight is strength boxing class-my fave. AND tomorrow is Friday (and we've gotten summer hours at work and get out early!) 

Also, Labriola English Muffins (local to Chicago) are in fact the best English muffins ever to pass my lips.

http://www.labriolabaking.com/home.htm

Easter Eats

Mr. BB30 and I enjoyed a quiet Easter at home. We made brunch....

Berry and Oatmeal Bliss

 Mr. BB30 made a festive vegan dinner including a corn "ceviche"....

Corn, roasted red bell pepper, roasted jalapeno, salt, lime juice.

I decided I wanted to make dessert. I turned to my girls at The Post Punk Kitchen, and the choice was easy: Key Lime Pie. Perfect for a spring feast. Also, Mr. BB30 had never had it before. It turned out really well. The fresh lime was so vibrant! I used a pre-made graham cracker crust. I am absolutely making this pie again. Click here for the recipe. My picture does it no justice. Make this!!

YUM!

Simple, Fresh, Divine

A couple of weekends ago I was on the run and stopped home briefly. I knew I'd be making a substantial dinner later that night, but I needed a good snack to tide me over. I put together a little salad that was surprisingly refreshing and simple...too simple to even call it a recipe...but share-worthy nonetheless.

I threw together chick peas, defrosted frozen peas, cucumbers, black beans, and roasted peppers. I tossed it in some olive oil, salt, pepper, oregano, a little garlic powder, and a dash of lemon juice. Such a refreshing, colorful rejuvenating snack! I would totally bring this to a picnic. On top of some whole wheat pasta, couscous, or quinoa? Heck yes!

Have you thrown together any surprise simple treats lately?

Farewell to Bloat

The Kaeng Reang Cleanse of January gave me a lot of insight into my relationship with sodium and caffeine and general food cleanliness. I’ve nixed a significant amount of sodium (mostly in the form using weaker veggie broth and more herbs, etc for sodium-free flavor and watching my heavy handedness with the salt shaker), but there was one surprising casualty that I touched on briefly: My beloved Kashi cereal. I loved it for its high protein content, but after cleansing and going back to my morning cereal, I realized that I was super bloated all day. I thought on it, and I realized that I had been feeling bloated at some point every day for a while. Oh yeah, smarty pants BB30, in addition to its high protein content, your cereal is also very high in fiber. Most every day I snack on apples and air-popped popcorn, and as we know I eat lots of veggies. I was even putting fiber filled blueberries in my cereal. Sometimes I would toss a little cereal into soy yogurt as a snack. My belly was simply on fiber overload. Too much of a good thing indeed!

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So, I started eating oatmeal in the mornings. I add in cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice (so good) and stevia (and sometimes a banana or apple), and it’s delicious, comforting, and hearty. Sometimes I don’t even need my mid morning snack. I also save at least $20/month. Unless you find a good sale, my cereal was costing between $4-$5/box. Some weeks I would go through a box and half! Now I can buy a giant canister of plain, pure, natural oats for $3 and enjoy for weeks. It’s great! I make it with almond milk to keep my calcium content up (pssst…the only thing that cow’s milk has more of nutritionally than almond milk is protein). Read about it here.

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When warm weather hits in the summer, steamy oatmeal may not be my first choice, but I’m thinking some nice fruit with toast and hummus or a little peanut butter may be a great fast warm weather weekday breakfast.

*I think Kashi cereal (the regular sticks, not the sugary clusters) is great if you need a fiber kick and a healthy cereal choice.

GET IN MY MOUTH: Red Pepper Vinagrette

The Urban Vegan just posted this link on Facebook. With the warm, beautiful spring Chicago is experiencing, I am desperate to put this on a salad!

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/RCP00208/Red-Pepper-Vinaigrette.html

Also, hi, I know it's been a while.....

She Moves

I had a nice solid return to the gym this week.

Tuesday: Strength Boxing
Wednesday: Cardio Barre and Yogalates
Thursday: Strength Boxing

I am so glad that my gym has added another strength boxing class. Cardio Kickboxing is like dancing. Sometimes you can fight through killer combinations if you lose yourself in the steps and repetition. Sometimes I'll distract myself from my burning muscles by repeating in my head kick-hook-upper cut-tap. It works for me.

Cardio Barre was a new class for me. They've installed heavy ballet type barres in one room and the class is a series of exercises utilizing the barre. Not quite the same as the Bar Method which is ballet based, but there are a few ballet type strengthening moves involved. Instead, we did resistance/strengthening moves like sitting on the floor and using the barre for pull ups and squatting in front of the barre and pulling ourselves up into a pike jump. It was tough, y'all! I've been doing strength boxing for a while now, but these moves used totally different arm muscles.

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I've realized recently how badly I need to be doing more stretches on my own. I used to be pretty darn flexible when I was younger and now my leg muscles are totally tight. Flexibility training is equally important to your workouts as strength training, and I felt my lack of limberness during yogalates. There is no reason I can't start doing a few stretches as home while I am watching TV.

Are you a stretcher? What are your favorites?

Busy Bee

Here is what my days have been like lately:
6:45-7am Snooze Button
7-8am Dog, Breakfast, Get Dressed, Pack Up
8-8:45am Commute to Work
8:45am-4:45pm Dayjobland (non stop task list, no breathing room)
4:45-5:30pm Commute Home (and if I haven't left in time, then it takes even longer)
5:30-6:30pm Take a shower, shave legs (I am barefoot and bare legged in a dress in the show), groom, dry hair, eat a mini meal, get dressed, pack up
6:30-7pm Travel to the theater
7-11pm Work trouble spots, make-up, hair, warm ups, preview performance, notes
11-11:15pm Travel home
11:15-am-12am Have a snack, say hello to Mr. BB30, watch a DVRd show
12am Go to bed too late

Thus, my shameful lack of posts.

The past two weeks have been really tough with final rehearsals and previews for my new show. It’s going well, and I’m enjoying the experience of course. It just simply needs to be my full time job. It’s what I am born to do. The only way to get it? Keep on tryin’!

With lack of time for exercise, I have been keeping an eye on overeating and making sure to get plenty of water and tea. About two weeks ago, in the middle of a tech weekend, I woke up really nauseous. Two days of redecorating the porcelain in my bathroom followed. It was ugly. I ruined my wedding anniversary. Bummed. We'll make up for it. Mr. BB30 was such a champion nurse and caregiver.

We open on Sunday night, and Tuesday I will be back in the gym and boxing away! I am really looking forward to getting back on track. Two weeks is the longest I’ve gone in a couple of years without getting in a solid workout. I can’t wait to throw some upper cuts and reclaim my arm muscles!

Some nice positives have come out this busy time. Today I got a little reminder of how my hard work on habits is paying off. After so many days of little sleep and a packed schedule, I am really feeling it. There was a meeting I helped with in Dayjobland that included a Mexican spread for lunch. I thought, "I'll totally indulge in a vat of guacamole and an obscene amount of chips. I'm tired. I need it." I filled half my plate with salad, scooped out some rice and grilled veggies, and a big spoonful of guac with some tortilla chips. I couldn't finish. It was really salty, I felt satiated, my body told me that we were done, and I listened. Portion control? Listening to my belly? Look at me! Consider this horn tooted!