Wow! ...or, Should I Say, "OWWW!"

Alright, "Owww" might be a little too intense to describe the current muscle soreness; I'm just somewhat surprised by how I'm feeling right now. "Why?" you say?

Well, I'll Tell You...

[music begins playing, the townspeople begin dancing and singing, "He's going to tell, he's going to tell!"]

...sorry for the reference to "Monty Python and the Holy Grail."

On Sunday, a delivery was made to my front door... The source was Amazon - the person who ordered it is still unknown. In the box was a 7" Amazon Kindle Fire! Well, that was great! For no other reason, using the tablet meant that I could use my MacBook Pro a lot less! The only downside to the tablet - it doesn't use the Google or Apple app stores. Some of the apps that I would like to use on it just aren't available.

The Good Thing...

My 51st birthday - the first year of the second half-century of my life - was Wednesday, March 20. I decided to look into one of the things that I have wanted to do for a long time - yoga! For one reason or another in the past, I just never had the opportunity to really give it an attempt. Well, while browsing the Amazon app store, I discovered several yoga-learning opportunities. One of them - unrelated to the physical yoga - was 'Brain Yoga.'

"Well! That could be cool!" was my thought. So, I downloaded it. Today - Friday - makes the third day that I have used this app. I'm pleased with the app - even though I really haven't dug too far into it. We'll see how it goes...

Not meant to be my main focus, Brain Yoga didn't end my search... I also found 'Simply Yoga'. This had 2 versions - Free and Pro. While the Pro is only $4.99 and given my lack of experience with yoga, I didn't feel right - or, ready - to be going with the Pro version just yet.

Yesterday, I discovered that the app could be viewed on my Fire TV! This made it a lot easier to view the video while learning how to do the different positions.

The Results...

Well ...hence the title of this post... I AM SORE!

I started my day, yesterday, with free range eggs and grass-fed cheese to make my omelet. After doing some chores, I did some calisthenics like I normally do. I am always trying to improve myself physically.
After lunch of plain yogurt, Garden of Life Protein powder, chia seeds, and hemp seeds along with some KeVita water kefir, I decided the weather was not good enough for me to go for a walk that I wanted to do. As a result, I decided to give 'Simply Yoga' a try. I mean, why would I download an app if I was never going to use it?

I didn't very far into the 'work out'! Due to my current lack of physical abilities, I was unable to do the 'Sun Salutation' movement. I am just not that mobile to work my way from the standing 'Mountain Pose' through the 'Sun Salutation' and back to the standing 'Mountain Pose'.
The third pose - and, my main target! - was the 'Warrior II Pose'. As it begins from the Mountain Pose, I was all ready to go. This went really well - except for the shakiness in my hands by the end of the pose!
The next two poses were the 'Chair Pose' and the 'Deep Forward Fold'. Considering this was the first time for me, I handled them fairly well. I definitely need some work on them, though...
Sixth in line was the 'Tree Pose'. There were two reasons that I couldn't go through it, though. 1) This pose required me to stand, balanced on one leg, and 2) I was already too tired to even give it a shot!

We'll See...

As it goes, we'll see how much more I might be able to handle some of these yoga poses. I'll try to learn more and try to master the ones that I can do. Hopefully, my overall movement and abilities will improve.

A-Z Challenge - 'O'

I considered a couple of topics beginning with O for today's post. I decided on 'omega-3.' Prior to my need to walk on my journey to wellness - when I thought I was healthy - I had been researching omega-3s. A co-worker who suffered from bipolar disorder had been taking an omega-3 supplement to help with his depression. While depression was never an issue for me, I was interested in learning more about the benefits of omega-3s so I read The Omega-3 Connection by Andrew Stoll as recommended by my co-worker.
Omega-3 fatty acids are essential in our diets because the human body is incapable of making them. People consuming proper ratios of omega-3s to omega-6 fatty acids have shown improvements in overall health.
Unfortunately, while omega-6 fatty acids re also essential, the ratio of 3s to 6s is far out of whack in the standard American diet. As well, due to the popularity of the low-fat craze, overall consumption of essential fatty acids have also taken a hit.

Good sources of omega-3 fatty acids are flax seeds, grass fed beef and raw milk from pastured cows, and wild caught fish including salmon, anchovies, and tuna.

Today Was Just What I Needed.

Sorry, yesterday's mention of The Cars just made me want to do it again, but the title really does fit.  Today really was just what I needed.  Nutritionally, physically, and even spiritually, today was amazing!

Greenspring, the new name for the homeschool co-op that we are a part of started today.  Well, it actually started yesterday, but the girls didn't end up taking any classes on Tuesday.  So, with them gone all day, I had the house to myself.

My morning pretty much ended up the same as it normally is.  Breakfast - after my regular, daily VidaCell - consisted of two free range eggs fried in my cast iron skillet, 1 slice of Ezekiel bread (the sesame variety), and a banana.  After breakfast, I did some surfing on the internet.

I recently joined a social network similar to facebook but with a twist.  SideTick is really new, so it isn't quite as deep in what it offers when compared to facebook.  It does have chat, blogs, picture albums, video links, and other common features.  One thing that it does have that facebook doesn't offer is your own, personal, video channel.  It will interact with your webcam allowing you to run a personal TV station.
Further, SideTick also rewards you with 'tickbucks' for all of your unique actions each day (up to 1,000 per day).  There are other ways to earn more tickbucks, as well, over and above the 1,000 earned for actions.  One way is through referring new members.  For each new member that joins SideTick through your invitation, you earn 2,000 tickbucks.  Here's the kicker... each 2,000 tickbucks earned converts into $1.00.  Yup, you can earn money to be social.

If you are interested in checking out SideTick, I invite you to click the banner on the right.

After surfing, I cleaned up from breakfast and took the pepitas out of the dehydrator and replaced them with the almonds.  Almonds take longer to dry, so they won't be done until some time tomorrow.

On the last trip to Deerfield Farm, I picked up a package of two veal chops.  Deerfield Farm, in addition to offering their own raw milk, cheese, and other products also provides space in their store to two other farms that I am aware of.  One of the farms sells free range eggs through the store and the other sells grass fed veal.  The veal is neatly packaged, frozen, and marked with the type of cut (cutlet, chop, kidney, etc.) and price.
Well, I decided that I wanted to cook the veal today so I took it out of the freezer to thaw.

Next, it was time to take Ginger for a walk.  We headed out the door and began to walk on the glorified sidewalk that runs along West Lake Blvd.  Instead of heading toward the bike trail that leads through the woods, I went the other way.  She was really anxious about the cars, so after a short walk we turned around.  I wasn't ready to go home so I kept on walking past our street and went on to the bike trail after all.  Rather than taking the trail all the way to the bridge, however, I decided to veer off into the woods.  Years ago, before they paved the trail, we had discovered a foot path that wended its way through the woods, past a swamp, and eventually back to the road.  I decided that this would be the route that Ginger and I would take today.  After getting out of sight of the paved trail, I let Ginger off-leash.  She doesn't get much of a chance to roam free and I wasn't sure how long she was going to be able to handle it.  I was a bit concerned that she might decide to chase a squirrel or rabbit and not come back to me.
She handled it so well that we made it off-leash until we started to approach the road again.  We got home after about an hour of walking and she immediately claimed a spot on the floor and promptly fell asleep!

At this point the veal was thawed out enough for me to put it into a marinade.  Last week, Tatyana and I made another batch of mojo de ajo so I decided to use that as the base of the marinade - a little mojo de ajo, a little balsamic vinegar, some sea salt, and some papaya pepper.

After the walk, my feet were really sore and I was a bit sweaty, so I decided to soak my feet in the tub before taking a shower.  Some warm water, epsom salt, and Dr. Bronner's Peppermint soap made for an amazing foot soak.

Next came some reading time.  Currently, I am reading Deepak Chopra's Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul.  I'd give you a review, but I really haven't gotten all that far into it yet.  Reading pretty much filled the time until everyone else came home.

Time to cook dinner.  I lit up the grill and got out the food processor.  I needed to do something with the eggplant that came home from the library garden before it rotted on me.  First, I prepared a baking dish by spreading a little mojo de ajo into the bottom of the dish.  I used the food processor to slice the eggplant thinly.  I put down a layer of the eggplant in the dish.  On top of that I spread some sliced zucchini and some tomato sauce.  I then repeated the pattern of eggplant, zucchini, and tomato sauce.  Next came some Parmesan cheese followed by a final layer of eggplant and tomato sauce.  Into the preheated oven (400 degrees) it went for 15 minutes.  The veal went onto the grill shortly after that so that it was ready to turn when the timer went off.  At this point, I added some shredded cheese to the top of the eggplant dish and let it finish off for another 5 minutes - just in time to pull the veal chops off the grill.
OH MY GOSH!!!  Everything tasted absolutely amazing!  ..and I am not even a particularly big fan of eggplant!

A great day that was indeed just what I needed.

My New Favorite Candy, Oh!

The Cars were a great band that came out of Boston.  Their second album Candy-O - and the title song - is one that carries a lot of great memories for me.  It is definitely part of the soundtrack of my life.

A while back, I posted an entry about Papaya Pepper.  I had taken the seeds from a fresh papaya, soaked them, dried them, and ground them into a substance that looks just like pepper.  If you haven't already, I invite you to read that original post.

Not too long ago, I discovered my new favorite 'candy.'  While it isn't truly candy at all, I really like chewing on some dehydrated papaya.  Today, I took a trip to I.O.N..  As we are planning to spend Friday night and Saturday away from home, I wanted to get some things that were easily packed as snacks but also healthy.  I bought some raw pumpkin seeds (currently soaking in filtered water, sea salt, and dried, ground pepper from our garden) to make pepitas, some raw almonds (will be soaking while the pepitas are drying tomorrow), some newly discovered Organic Stadium-Style Hot Dogs (more on these later!), and some dried papaya.

Raw, hulled pumpkin seeds soaking.

Bagged, dried papaya.

I.O.N. also operates a restaurant, so I am not sure if they prepare this papaya themselves - I keep forgetting to ask - but it is packaged like something you would buy at a deli - no frills, no fancy label.  Unlike most dried fruit, it is not coated with sugar and has not been treated with sulfur.  It is just dried papaya cut into nice serving size pieces.  Because it still has a significant quantity of endogenous sugar, I really do treat this as a candy-type treat by limiting my consumption of it.  Sulfur - specifically the ion, sulfite - is used as a preservative in dried fruits.
According to WebMD:

Sulfites are a group of sulfur-based compounds that may occur naturally or may be added to food as an enhancer and preservative. The FDA estimates that one out of 100 people is sensitive to the compounds. A person can develop sensitivity to sulfites at any time in life, and the cause of sensitivity is unknown. For a person who is sensitive to sulfites, a reaction can be mild or life threatening.

...definitely something best avoided.

What I wasn't expecting to buy was the package of hot dogs.  I happened to be looking through the freezer section to see if there was anything that might be suitable for The Maker's Diet when I saw these.  The term 'Organic' jumped out at me causing me to take a closer look.  What sold me, however, was the fact that these hot dogs are made from 100% grass fed and finished beef!  The only concern that I have is with the casing.  Neither the package nor the website indicate that there even is a casing.  I just want to be sure that these are not made in a pork casing.  The hot dogs are sold by Applegate Farms.  There are two similar hot dogs listed on their website - the Organic Stadium-Style Hot Dogs (that I bought) and the Great Organic Hot Dog.  Both of these are made from grass fed/finished beef.  Neither product description mentions the casing.  On the product page for the latter, there is a link to a New York Times article.  The article talks about a cellulose casing that is removed prior to packaging.  My only question is if this applies to both products.  The article also has a sidebar that talks about cooking hot dogs that don't have a casing.  The only reason that I am confused is that one of the reviews on the former product's page mentions the casing.  I have sent an email to Applegate Farms with my question, so hopefully I will know soon.  If they turn out to have a pork casing, well, I will probably eat them anyway but I won't buy them again.

Window shopping...in a grocery store?!?

Today, we decided to visit our closest Trader Joe's grocery store.  It is 12 miles away in West Hartford, CT and only minutes away from where we attend church in New Britain.  We had already done our grocery shopping for the week, but I wanted to at least see what they had to offer and at what prices they offered it.  We had been to Trader Joe's on occasion, but never with The Maker's Diet in mind.  This time around, I was looking specifically for grass-fed beef, free range chicken, and anything that featured sprouted grains.

My mission was quite a success!  Trader Joe's has a selection of beef that is labeled as free range but not specifically grass-fed.  They also have one offering that is grass-fed though it is only offered as ground beef.  I didn't look too closely at the free range beef prices as I am mostly interested in the grass-fed option.  They sell this in 1 pound packages at $5.99 each.  Sure, this is more expensive than other options, but as long as I keep it to an occasional 'indulgence' and reasonable portion sizes, I should be fine with the expense.

I was also pleased to find that that have a decent selection of free range chicken, though I was a little less than pleased by the prices.  I am not used to chicken being more expensive than beef!  Sadly, the free range chicken will be more of an indulgence than beef due to the expense.  I will probably buy some once in a while.

One of the more pleasing discoveries was that Trader Joe's carries Ezekiel 4:9 bread and they sell it for $3.99 per loaf - that's $1.70 less than what It's Only Natural sells it for.  They have both the regular and the cinnamon raisin varieties, but they did not have any of the Genesis 1:29 bread.  I am not sure if this is simply an issue of it being out of stock or if they just don't carry it, but I am happy with the Ezekiel 4:9 bread.

Trader Joe's - at least our 'local' one - is not quite as complete as other grocery stores.  For instance, they do not have a full service deli.  As such, we will not be able to rely solely on Trader Joe's for all of our food needs.  Overall, though, we were quite happy with what we found.  It was interesting to discover that quite a few of the options were actually less expensive than what we normally buy.  I found frozen, organic raspberries like I buy at Stop & Shop to add to yogurt.  Trader Joe's had them for about $2.30 less for the same quantity.  I just wish that they were a lot closer - though 12 miles doesn't seem like a great distance, it is not terribly convenient.  We can easily go shopping after church on Sunday given that we are already nearby, but one thing that turned me off was that the store was really crowded.  I felt like I was in the way of other customers.  I have to admit, though, that even in the chaos the employees were very cheerful and helpful.