Home again

I'm back from Pennsylvania, and thought I would have gained five pounds from all the delicious-but-fatty food. But I didn't. Maybe because I love to travel and travelling stokes my inner digestive fire so I burn up everything I eat. This leads me to believe I should travel more, if for no other reason than my health.

This morning I had organic oats that I bought in Pennsylvania, in bulk, cheap, at the grocery store. Topped with a teaspoon of raw sugar, a handful of raisins, a sprinkle of walnuts, and a dash of soy milk, they tasted delicious, and perfect for this morning's 0-degree temps. Then I went to the gym for yoga class. I am less and less able to do these kind of yoga classes that throw people into these difficult poses without the kind of instruction I get from Iyengar yoga. Fortunately, I was able to cue myself to make the poses work, but what about all those other poor people who looked like they were in pain and hating life? That's not how yoga is supposed to work. It was a tough strength-training workout, though, so I'm glad I had the oatmeal.

On the way home, I went to the grocery store and spent $66 on food for the week, including a huge motherload of citrus, which is in-season and super-cheap right now. We'll be eating lots of grapefruits, tangelos, oranges, and clementines this week. I had a tangelo--a tangerine/orange hybrid--for my mid-morning snack.

I think I've over-spent on this bet...I suspect we will lose to Nick and Amy. But that's o.k., it just means we take them out for dinner and let them make fun of us for awhile. I know, the month isn't over, but I can feel my resolve wavering. I want to go out for dinner! I want to buy a huge bottle of olive oil, and agave syrup, and pure maple syrup, and veggie burgers!!! O.K., O.K., I'll try to be patient. I've got lots of travel coming up, and I have to be financially prudent.

For dinner, I cooked a roasted chicken for all the boys and grilled myself some marinated tofu, which I put on a sub roll (the last one) topped with soy mayo, pickle relish, and leafy greens. I also finished off the polenta with the rest of the black beans, and made some peas. The boys also had biscuits. I had a glass of soy milk and three small vegan cookies I baked last week, out of the freezer, for dessert. Emmett ate after everyone else because he had Cub Scouts, and the meal just happened to be ready right after he had to be there (bad timing).

Tomorrow, the kids go to their dad's for dinner so Ben and I will have to be creative about what to eat at home. Our budget for this week won't allow for any restaurants.