Day Sixteen

Now that we're almost done day 16 it's really hitting home that we've just about made it through. In 5 more days we'll be done!! Mostly it feels as though this project has taken on a life of it's own. We seem to be sliding along pretty easily on momentum. Instead of giving you a run down of all three meals that we ate today, I thought I'd do something a little different. Let's talk about....books!!


The book on the left is my daily inspirational reading at the moment "Be the Change you want to See in the World" by Julie Fisher-McGarry. Some days give you information, others have you read an inspirational quote, on others you might find a recipe to try or an anectode from the author's life. I'm really enjoying it. I keep it on my desk, by my laptop in the kitchen. That way it's the first thing I reach for when I come downstairs in the morning. The book on the right is what I call my "purse book". It's the book that I keep in my purse just in case I get stuck waiting somewhere for more than two minutes. The book is good but not so in-depth that it requires steady reading. It's funny though, which is nice just in case I'm getting aggravated waiting in line behind the person with a million coupons who drops them all over the floor...you know?

This is my current read. Well, I'm actually only eleven pages in so I can't really give any kind of review at this point, but I've heard all sorts of great things about this book and have been looking forward to reading it.

This is the vegetarian/vegan cookbook section of my library. Now holding pride of place in the kitchen (not in the hallway with the rest of the cookbooks). A few of these were borrowed...thanks Melanie and I will get them back to you, promise! I had quite a few before this started but I have added a few others. I'll keep you updated on which ones I like best as I use them more.

This is our animal companion. Her name is...ahem, cat or kitty if we're feeling cute :) She's a year and a half old and she kind of landed in our laps. She's also an elegant egyptain princess. I swear she had to have been one in a former life, she's got the attitude and everything. And she is so very, very elegant! Here kitty and I are playing peek-a-boo.

And here's Maddie getting some kitty love.

The one excitement we had today (food wise) was this beautiful, extravagant, bodacious cauliflower! When I saw it at the farmer's market I had to pick it up, since I had never seen a prettier cauliflower in all my life!

So I cut some up and served it with red pepper strips and broccoli. I made an herb dip to go with it using Tofutti sour cream, which I actually quite liked...thank goodness because I was getting kind of worried that I wouldn't find anything that was palatable.

I served it with GF bread spread with earth balance and a lovely leek and potato soup. I did walk (slowly) for 45 minutes today so I'm on track with that. I was supposed to watch a sunset tonight but as I've been awake since 3:17 this morning I watched the sunrise instead. I also got some supplies because I'm going to attempt an agave sweetened blueberry jam. Hopefully tomorrow :)

Wishing everyone well

-Carolyn

Day Fifteen

I want to start today off by thanking everyone who has offered support, encouragement and advice both on this blog and on facebook. You guys all rock!!! I'm so grateful to have such an awesome posse of ladies in my life! (And gentlemen, I certainly am not excluding any of you!)

My day started off pretty good. I did one of my "feel good jobs". I turned on the ipod and sang good and loud, bouncing in my chair. So it wasn't dancing around the kitchen but it was the best I could do :)

Maddie offered to make breakfast....that's the kind of sweet girl that she is. I accepted some of her excellent home fries.


This was Maddie's plate but she ate a bit of her toast with organic/no sugar strawberry jam before she snapped the picure. She also had home fries and a sliced peach.

I did some yoga today. I really need to get a yoga strap. Back when I practiced yoga regularly I never had this problem of lack of flexibility and proper body alignment. But I did the best I could and thoroughly enjoyed the practice today.

This was actually my lunch. I know it looks like it should have been my breakfast but since I didn't really have any this was what I felt like eating. A fruit salad with peach, banana, blueberries and apple. I ate 2 slices of GF toast with almond butter along side it.

I actually accomplished everything set out in my "Rhythm" plan, including the weekly chores. I have to go at it a bit more slowly though because rushing wears me out. So that can be solved by spending less time on the phone. Then I won't have to multi-task which I'm trying to stop doing or rush to get stuff done after being stuck on the phone for an hour with someone. In case you missed it and are interested I posted my daily and weekly rhythms at www.asfarashome.blogspot.com one of my other blogs.

I was hungry this afternoon so I made myself this snack. The hummus I spoke about yesterday with cucumber, carrots and tortilla chips. I had a glass of raspberry herbal iced tea with it.

Something new at dinner. I saw these cute little eggplants at the market last Saturday and just had to get a couple and try them out. Aren't they sweet? I can't remember what they are called though.

This was dinner. It was very, very yummy and filling. I stir fried green beans, carrots, the eggplants and a few mushrooms, along with some garlic. On the side we had quinoa pasta with a basil/sunflower seed pesto. A little sprinkle of vegan parmesan finished it off. Tasty and filling!

Now I've got a question to throw out there. I'd like to make some blueberry jam. Has anyone had success doing this with agave or another gentler sugar substitute? Any help would be appreciated.

-Carolyn

Day Fourteen

Day Fourteen...woohoo!! We've made it a full two weeks. Feeling pretty good about that, let me tell you. Overall I have more energy, clearer skin and have lost a bit of weight. I'm much more focused on doing what I can to be healthy: mentally, physically and spiritually. I've also regained some long lost discipline :)
By this point, 14 days in, it's just easier overall. The cravings are pretty much gone and when one sneaks in, I can just ignore it or think of the reasons why I don't want to eat whatever it is and it goes away. End of story. In the end, it truly can be as easy as that...most of the time.

This was my breakfast today: a slice of the leftover apple-cinnamon toastie loaf (those roasted apples in the loaf are soooo good!) and a handful of blueberries.

This is what inspired my lunch. A big, beautiful heirloom tomato that I got at the market on Saturday.

You guessed it: a mile high tomato and avocado sandwich :) That tomato was perfect and deliciously juicy.

Grocery day. Before Costco and Loblaws we went to Rainbow Foods which is one of my favourite health food stores here in Ottawa. I picked up a few new products to try that I'll post about as I use them. For an afternoon snack I had vegetable juice and a new hummus with roasted artichokes and garlic (tasty) and a few corn tortillas.

Salad for dinner. I started with a bed of romaine and spinach. Then I layered on tomatoes and mushrooms. A layer of quinoa, sauteed baby patty pan squashes and some diced red pepper. More quinoa. Then...

I poured on some three bean salad and vinaigrette. :) Maddie and I loved this. The boys said it was "okay" (except my youngest who wanted nothing to do with it but I forced him to eat some anyway). Then after dinner all the males went and made themselves bagels and tomato sandwiches. Lol

Oh well, at least they ate their veggies first!

Third week begins tomorrow. Stay tuned...

-Carolyn

Day Thirteen: Maddie

Introduction, blah blah blah blah, today was boring, blah blah blah blah, nothing happened, blah blah blah blah.

Banana bread was good!

Anyway, since I a) have nothing to write about and b) I don't really feel like writing; I'm just going to make my list of things I love to do, and then I have to them all this week or whatever.

1. Go to the movies
2. Write a story
3. Cook
4. Scrapbook
5. Go for a walk with Josh, Sam and Nate
6. Go for a bike ride (except I might not be able to because my bike died)
7. Organize stuff.

It seems kind of vague, but once I actually do these things I'll explain.

WELP, nothing else to talk about.

-Maddie

Day Thirteen

Today was fairly interesting. I managed to sleep until 6:20 which was a great accomplishment. I only hope to replicate that again tonight! I made myself my usual smoothie in the morning then did some blogging, cleaning and gluten free, vegan baking. I used the Babycakes cookbook for both of these loaves.


This is the apple-cinnamon toastie loaf. In it's entirety!

Freshly sliced. This was an amazing loaf. It was great, dense yet moist and it had pieces of roasted apples inside!

This was the banana chocolate chip loaf sliced. It had an almost fluffy texture with pieces of melty chocolate chip and chunks of banana :)

By the time I was done cleaning and baking I didn't have much time to eat before I had to run a couple of errands before my cousins arrived for a visit. So I just had some leftover fried rice and called it lunch. I also made two bottles of herbal iced tea -one raspberry and the other lemon.

Rachel and Rejeanne arrived for a really nice visit. I served the fruit loaves and they were loved by all. It seems that most people liked the banana one best but personally I preferred the apple.

Rachel's kids were a blast and just adorable. I hope I don't have to wait another 6 or 7 years (I can't remember how long it's been) before we get another visit!

Sorry for the blurry quality of the picture here. For dinner I steamed carrots and broccoli and mashed potatoes with garlic and kale (that was REALLY good). I served the boys of the house BBQ'd pork chops and did BBQ'd tempeh for Maddie and me. I didn't follow a recipe and had never cooked or eaten it before so I was kind of flying blind. I just plopped the big square in the pan and fried it, then slathered it with BBQ sauce and cooked a bit longer. It was...just close to okay. I will try it again though. This time I'll follow an actual recipe :)

I have a question for those of you trying to fit everything in. Cooking from scratch, exercise, meditation, being creative, blogging, working etc.. How do you fit it all in? I've worked out a schedule or rather a "rhythm" to my day and week and posted it on my other blog. It's at http://www.asfarashome.blogspot.com/. I'm going to try and follow it and see how it goes. But I'd love some idea of how others deal with organizing/scheduling everything.

In her cleanse book Kathy Freston asks us to make a list of seven things that you love to do and make you happy. Here's my list:

1. go to the movies

2. go out for lunch or dinner

3. mess around with art supplies

4. sing and dance around the house with my ipod

5. walk in the forest or by the water

6. see the sunset

7. read outside

Now I have to slot these things into each of the seven days of the week. It's a matter of lightening up and keeping our joi de vivre. Sounds good to me!

Excitement via e-mail

I sent an email to Kathy Freston last Monday. Who knows why...it was just a spur of the moment thing. This what I wrote:

Hi Kathy
I just wanted to drop you a line to let you know that my teenage daughter and I are doing your Quantum Wellness Cleanse together. We are on Day 7 and feeling good! We're also blogging about the process. If you're interested in checking it out we are at www.project21days.blogspot.com We'd love to have you drop by!
Carolyn Bateman
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

After I sent it I didn't really think anything more about it. On Friday though I got an email in return!!

Dear Carolyn,
I love your posts! Your meals look fantastic, and your voice is so authentic and compelling... kudos to you for doing the cleanse, and doing it so creatively!
I have a feeling you will have some breakthroughs that will stick with you... it's an amazing process.
Wishing you all the very best going forward and always!
Kathy

Is that not sooo cool!! I got an email from a New York Times best selling author and she read my blog. I just might swoon :)

More tonight. I'm getting ready to head out on my walk. And yes, I HAVE followed my workout plan this week. Next weeks plan is as follows:

S-walk
M-off
T-yoga
W-walk
Th-yoga
F-walk
S-yoga

Much love, peace and blessings to everyone

-Carolyn

Day Twelve

I was up at 2 am again but was able to get back to sleep around 5:30 this time. I got up at 8:30 feeling so-so. I did some yoga this morning and I think that helped center me and truly wake me up. After my 20 minutes of yoga, I meditated. I'm still holding at 5 minutes but that's okay. It's a start. The wall that my altar is on, is slowly becoming my wall of dreams and inspiration. Maybe I'll take a picure and post it if anyone is interested.

Breakfast was 2 Van waffles (Vegan, GF and sugar free) topped with some earth balance spread, a drizzle of agave nectar and a nice pile of peaches and blueberries. Delicious.

Today we hit the farmer's market on Main St. Everything there is local. Which is great to see. There's plenty of parking and a beautiful atmosphere. Although it's smaller than the market in Carp, I think I really like this one too.

Entering the market from the parking lot.

One of the exuberant and friendly vendors. The prodauce at this stall was beautiful and quite reasonable.

A pile of luscious peppers.

Maddie and me. I don't particularly like myself in this photo but Maddie really likes it (no wonder, she looks great!). She insisted I include it :)

Beautiful display.

I love the name of this: "Harvest Moon Farm"

Sitting guard for the "Blue Crane Yoga Classes"

One of my favourite health food store is "The Wheat Berry". It's wooden interior is beautiful and it's clean and well organized. The staff is very friendly and really knowledgeable.


This is the kind of thing that makes the Wheat Berry special!


My favourite vegetarian restaurant. The Green Door on Main St. Mind you it's the only vegetarian restaurant I've been to...




$60 worth of produce and goods. Including a bucket of raw, unpasteurized honey and fresh canned pesto. Look at the colours of the food!

From the babycakes cookbook, "Banana Chocolate Chip Bread". There is a little left over after you 1/2 - 2/3 fill the loaf pan so they tell you to put some parchment paper on a cookie sheet and put the remainder on it and spread it out thinly. Bake it for 12-15 minutes. We put the loaf aside but ate the extra warm....Wow! Was it ever good. I couldn't believe that it was vegan, GF and sugar free :)

These are the roasted apples I'm going to need for the apple loaf I am making tomorrow. We are having company for tea so I'm getting ready. These were pretty tasty too.

Dinner was something quick and easy because I was so tired, as well as emotional drained from something that had happened earlier in the day. Freston has a recipe called Texas Bowl in her book and I took the idea from that. I put two cans of black beans, a can of tomatoes, a bunch of salsa and some hot sauce in a pot and warmed it up. It was simple and served over brown rice.