Monthly Archives: June 2011

June 2, 2011 · 6:39 pm

Hopa Spome

SPAhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I had an unexpectedly awesome morning spa-ing it up, basically for free!

Mid-morning I headed out on my planned run feeling drowsy and unmotivated, perhaps it was the lack of morning coffee-we were out at the house!  I convinced myself to make a pit stop for an iced americano before started my run.  As I walked down our lovely Downtown Mall, caffeine in hand, I was beckoned by a man speaking broken English and standing next to a massage chair.  He quickly talked me into a “5 minute free sample” chair massage right there on the mall.

Close to 20 minutes later I floated away.  Seriously, one of the best massages I’ve ever gotten!  I will definitely be returning to Bliss SOON!

At this point my back and shoulders felt so amazing that I contemplated skipping my run and savoring it but the caffeine had me rearing to go.  4.5 miles felt great and was followed by yoga and Pilates back at the spa home.

After a hydro-therapy treatment (a cold shower and salt scrub) it was time for a spa lunch.

A fresh-picked salad of chard, beet greens, spinach, basil, tarragon, chives, and oregano topped with home-grown mung and alfalfa sprouts, grilled tofu, hummus, and sunflower seeds.

To drink a refreshing elixir of peppermint tea, lemon juice, and cranberry juice ice cubes.

Dessert was, naturally, the sweetest part!  Banana soft serve (pureed frozen bananas) drizzled with chocolate-coconut magic shell.

Holy delicious morning!  Treat yourself to one of these low-budget luxury days.  Like soon.  Like this http://www.greatharvestcville.com/.

Decide what would feel indulgent yet totally feasible (time and money) and DO IT!  For me, going out for coffee was a little luxury and, of course, the massage was a HUGE bonus.  I could have also spent a little extra time on the foam roller for some self-massage, had the massage not dropped in my lap.

Time to tackle a long to-do list.  We’ve got an exciting evening planned, we’re heading over to the bakery to celebrate Great Harvest‘s GRAND OPENING tomorrow!!! Matt and Kath have been working their asses off to make their dreams into reality.  I am so proud of them and totally impressed!

P.S What’s the at-home-spa equivalent to “stay-cation”?  “Hopa”? “Spome”?

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June 1, 2011 · 2:36 pm

Eat in the Heat

WARNING: If your name is Jeff Lewis or Kath Younger you probably just want to skip the following post altogether.  You’ve been warned.

Summer may be 3 weeks away but apparently the heat arrived early to the party.  Drippy, intense, wilting heat.  I actually have a serious pet peeve with complaining about the weather but it is such a strong influence in our lives it’s hard not to talk about it!

And plan my meals around it.  Our kitchen is very small and not well insulated so the idea of standing over a hot burner to make dinner has been totally unappealing.  Time to get creative with the grill!

We do a lot of the usual grilled veggies, fish, shrimp, and tofu but lately I’ve been interested in exploring some more creative options for outdoor cooking.

Grilled Onion Rings!

I used red, obviously, but a sweet onion like Vidalia would be great for this recipe too.

The crust was a mix of course ground local cornmeal, rosemary salt, and smoked paprika.

Each ring was dipped in an egg wash (1 beaten egg) then dredged with spiced cornmeal.

And laid to grill over medium heat.

I served the crunchy rings with some homemade ketchup, garden picked salad, sauerkraut, and quinoa.

The onion rings were good but there is definitely room for improvement.  Tate’s suggestion was to “cook them quickly in really hot oil”.  Umm, not exactly what I am going for here.  Next time I will use a finer cornmeal and spray them with a little olive oil before cooking.

Dessert, however, hit it out of the park.

Organic frozen strawberries purred with a splash of soy-milk and topped with chocolate-coconut magic shell.  My magic shell consisted of liquid coconut oil, a spoon of peanut butter, cocoa, stevia, and a splash of vanilla.  I made a big batch (4 ounces?) and stored the leftover in a jar.  Cannot wait to try it over purred frozen banana!

I am still figuring out what my workout will be today, I don’t mind sweating but I find that a hard workout in this heat can be challenging to recover from.  Time to slow down and enjoy a slow flow vinyasa!

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