Aug 4 food

Today I seemed to return to normal.  The produce in the Co-op looked so good that I didn't want anything else.  I was thinking that even though I have had to admit my failings to be perfectly healthy on this blog, I am really fortunate to be in the situation I'm in.  In fact, I can't believe my good fortune.  I am lucky to have discovered how to be healthy, and it was an accident of becoming vegetarian for environmental reasons (and buried deep down, liking the idea of not killing animals).  Like everyone else, I didn't think what you ate mattered for your health.  But after becoming vegetarian and then vegan and then learning more about it, I discovered the health benefits.   I also finally had the nerve to try out yoga and the Monkey Bar Gym.  That has made me stronger and more fit than I was since I was 20.  And I'm 48 years old!  Now compared to other reasonably active people, I'm average strength, but compared to how I was 3 years ago, I'm noticeably stronger and I'm likin' it.   Then there is my fun job, and I love the place I live in.  I love how the weather changes so much in the summer.  We get the beautiful dry days, but it's nice to get the occasional hot and humid day too, and the thunderstorms.  So no complaints here.  But this is a food blog, so here is what I ate today.

Well, breakfast wasn't until 11:30 am and I got up at 6:30 am, so there was a plum after my exercise class, and a nectarine after yoga, both perfectly ripe and delicious.  Then the breakfast smoothie.   Lately I've been putting in 2 Tbsp of raw sunflower seeds instead of soy milk or other nuts (that's 1 Tbsp per serving).  I figure it's a good thing to eat after exercising, has a lot of protein.  Today I made some soy milk, so I'll put that in for a few days also, or maybe instead of the sunflower seeds, we'll see.

Late Lunch:  collard greens, boiled sweet corn, pinto beans.  snacked on cherries, grapes and mushrooms and a few bites of watermelon.   I decided to buy a coconut at the co-op, since my experiment with the pineapple a few weeks ago was so successful.   I googled "how to open a coconut" and found this website which explained it well.   I decided the coconut is more work than it's worth.  Opening it is easy enough but then trying to cut out the meat is hard work.  And it's not as sweet as I thought it would be.  I added it to the collard greens and it was good, added a good texture and taste.  But I think I'll be lazy in the future and stick with shredded coconut which I can get in the bulk section and is reasonably unprocessed.  I also added a Tbsp of vinegar early on and I think the advice is correct that it removes the bitter taste.  Oh, the collard greens were from the garden and they are great.   For the pinto beans, for spices I used ground cumin, then towards the end added thyme and oregano from the garden.  then at the very end chives and a little basil from the garden.  I am choosing these herbs because they are in my garden.  Everything for the next month will be topped with chives and basil.

late afternoon snack:  raw carrots and kohlrabi.  I really like kohlrabi.  You have to try it a few times before it grows on you.  It's got an apple-like texture, but not sweet,  but just sweet enough to make you want more. 

dinner:  leftover collard greens and watermelon.  and a few strawberries. 

I snack too much.  but at least it was healthy today.