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September 16, 2010 · 12:53 pm

Catch Up

The following post was written on Tuesday but I never made it back out to internet…

I went to the gym today for the 3rd time in over 20 months. I have had a gym membership from the time I was 16 until December 2008 and used to go at least five times a week to teach a class or workout. While living in Peru I was on a tight budget and gyms were NOT cheap ($50 a month and up) so I ran regularly, did yoga and exercise dvd’s, and walked everywhere. But I always looked forward to getting back into a gym, I love used to love going to the gym.

I started a week trial at Gold’s and as far as a gym goes I was actually impressed. They have TONS of cardio machines, separate rooms for group exercise classes, spinning, and “mind-body” classes, a room just for women that has all the cardio and weight equipment that you need, a sauna, and a hydro-massage machine. I was hoping to catch a class but nothing was scheduled for a few hours so I opted for a cardio workout instead. 20 minutes of elliptical and 30 minutes of running sprints on the treadmill later and I was dripping with sweat and feeling conflicted. It felt a bit insane to me to be on this electrical machine, watching t.v.. Yeah, I was burning tons of calories but I was also burning tons of fossil fuels! I vowed then and there to only use the gym for classes and other non-electrical workouts (and the sauna and massage, choose your battles!). Monthly membership is $40 and I highly doubt that I will add this to my stack of bills once my free week is up, although I may change my mind when the mercury starts to dip.

I may or may not have mentioned to Mark, who gave me the tour of the club, that I am a currently unemployed personal trainer and group fitness instructor. 😉 Hey, shameless self-promotion is one of the best kinds!

And speaking of shameless self promotion, in my unpacking I found this very sweet letter from one of my old Portland clients

Upon returning home from the gym it was SERIOUSLY time for lunch.

Roasted eggplant hummus (I made it yesterday), Spring Creek Fine Herbs Tofu sprinkled with nutritional yeast and liquid aminos, leftover butternut squash, and a pile of celery and carrot sticks, oh and a leaf of Romaine for green good measure. I covered the plate with red chili flakes and a bit of salt.

I had high hopes for this tofu because I had cooked up a package of their plain stuff a few days ago and it was a delicious but the Fine herbs wasn’t anything special, I will stick to the plain. I love that this tofu is local, Twin Oaks is a Virginia intentional community and I actually visited family friends there once or twice when I was a kid.

Another gorgeous fall day! I have the urge to garden but I am supposed to be on a self-imposed budget this week (moving is $$$!) and I need EVERYTHING from seeds/seedlings/plants to soil so maybe I should just plant the two butterfly bushes I bought on Sunday and call it good.

And here’s yesterday’s post (tried, in vain, to find internet without going to a coffee shop or the library 😦 )

Another morning at the gym. I took a class that I think is called PeakPower. The description on the schedule was really vague but it turns out it’s a combo of step aerobics and “combat” (boxing). I am realizing more and more that I am no longer a gym girl, at least not while it’s nice enough to run outside and I have a good collection of dvd’s at home. This is a hard truth seeing as how my career is rather gym-centered. Maybe I am just not into the cardio classes anymore. Even though I teach Pilates and know the moves inside and out I ALWAYS work harder while in a class. And it’s great to be introduced to new intentions, poses, and transitions in yoga classes.

While I didn’t LOVE the class it did make me want to start teaching again. I need to brave up and ask Gold’s if they are hiring.

Post gym was all about the brewing! I made kombucha and yogurt like a madwomen. This is my first time making yogurt and my second time making kombucha (the first batch wasn’t great but I hope to redeem with this one).

Well, it’s my second time for kombucha on my own, my little sis and I made it together when we were housemates in Portland but I played more of an assistant role. It is a very simple recipe but for some reason I make it more difficult than it is, I am sure I will get the hang of it after a few successful batches.

I am a little nervous about the yogurt though. You are supposed to keep the mixture at about 100 degrees for at least 7 hours. I don’t have my cooler here yet so I have the two containers in a warm water bath in my kitchen sink but I am going to have to stay very attentive and keep changing the water to regulate the temperature. My decision to try my hand at yogurt making is two-fold. First, economics. I prefer to eat plain organic yogurt (Stoneyfield is my favorite) and a quart costs $3.99. I bought Whole Foods brand organic fat-free milk for $3.79 for TWO quarts. I can easily eat two quarts of yogurt a week. Second, environment. Two quarts a week adds up to a lot of plastic containers and if I find an affordable local organic milk source it will cut down on environmental costs all the more. Let’s just hope it turns out!

I am looking forward to biking to the Farmer’s Market this afternoon. My bike was in storage along with everything else and I have missed riding it and I especially love using it as an alternative mode of transportation.

A Place For Mother

Shortly after I woke up I got Hungry. Dinner was at 6:30 last night and nearly 15 hours later I was ready to EAT. When I peered into the fridge I saw Tate had left me the bottom of his bowl of oats to work with. He headed to work before I woke and it appears he overestimated his breakfast needs this morning. Lucky for me, Tate eats his oats super plain so I had a blank canvas with which to work. I added peaches from the freezer, walnuts (and a rogue almond), flax seeds, cinnamon, ground ginger, a sprinkle of salt, and another few spoons of raw oats (there was barely half a serving left). The result was delicious and I promptly scarfed it down. I also ate the last bits from the yogurt container with more cinnamon, I love how cinnamon brings out the natural sweetness in plain yogurt.

Time to go grocery shopping! When we are out of eggs, yogurt, and veg around here a trip to the store is eminent. At the Harvest Fest on Saturday we learned about this grocery company, Relay Foods, where you shop online and have your loot delivered to your house (additional fees) or to a weekly drop-off spot. The company has paired with many grocery stores (Whole Foods, Rebecca’s Natural Foods, etc.), local bakeries, and, this is the best part, farms. For the most part the products are priced the same as if you were to buy them in-store. Their trucks run on bio-diesel and they seem to be making every effort to be a green company. When I learned about this company I really wanted to love it. Time efficient, energy efficient, cost efficient, what’s not to like? Problem is I really like grocery shopping! The other problem is that, as far as I can tell, you can’t read the labels. I think we will give it a try though, you get your first home delivery for free and we also received a $5 off coupon at the fest so we can’t go wrong, I will just order products that I know are free from junky additives.

So we saw Ralph Nader speak at UVA last night. I was all ready to be inspired and I suppose I was but it is a mild sense of inspiration. I felt like he was all over the place a little bit and not the most charismatic speaker ever. I have a lot of respect for him and his determination and outspokenness but overall it was the 14th century Chinese proverb he opened with that resonated with me and not his own words.

“To know and not do is not to know” -Loa Tzu

One area of my life where this rings true is putting my money where my mouth is. I believe in organic and yet I often still cheap out when I am faced with two choices at the store. I wrote out my dirty dozen and clean fifteen crib sheet last month and have gotten better at referring to it and choosing to pay more (not ALWAYS the case but usually) or not purchase.

I want to bring your attention to grapes in particular. Imported grapes are on the dirty dozen but U.S. grown are not, so it stands to reason that imported wine is also really high in pesticides. DRINK LOCAL! This is also an environmental choice, wine bottles are heavy and take a lot of fuel to travel from Argentina, Italy, or France. Just another reason I am excited to live in Charlottesville, wine country! I am thinking this weekend may call for an excursion in that direction…

The house is coming along, it has gotten to the fun decorating point rather than the OVERWHELMING stages of last week.

It has been fun to unpack some of our goodies that were stored away since December ’08, like this wall hanging we bought on our Asian honeymoon in 2007

And wedding pictures, of course

And a salad bowl I bought while living in Peru

Tate and I were on the hunt for a hutch since we decided to buy the house (our kitchen is rather small and we needed more cabinet space), and low and behold, we found one in my papa’s shed! It was a bit rough when we spotted it but after some sanding and painting I think it looks pretty good!

And it fit perfectly!

We are looking for a wine rack to fit in the bottom.

I finally have a home for my mother!

My kombucha mother! This little lady has traveled with my since we left my sister’s in Portland mid-July. I thought I may have killed her by leaving her in the hot moving truck but the women at the Fermentation Station at the Harvest Festival reassured my that it is quite resilient (like all mothers!) and should be fine. Today I will brew!