Pumpkin & Pomegranate

AKA Rain. It’s raining in Seattle again folks. Not that that will surprise anyone, though I do know it makes one Venezuelan beauty a bit teary. Personally I love this weather. I love the rain and what it brings. I am a big fan of moss, and green, and grey skies, cozy coffee shops, mushrooms, thigh high socks, sweaters, and Winter squash. Ok so the rain doesn’t bring the Winter squash, but it signals the seasons where we showcase said squash.

Right now I have about 8 delicata, 3 carnival, 1 spaghetti (technically a Summer squash I know), 1 kabocha, 1 golden acorn, and 2 pie pumpkins.

:-)

This makes me very, very happy!

So last night I saw that I had some escarole that I needed to take care of. I am NOT one of bitter greens, so I wouldn’t normally have escarole, but my last CSA box came this week and in it was a huge head of the stuff. I started picking leaves off of it for a salad (I thought it was lettuce) when I stopped and said to Matt.

“This isn’t lettuce. This is escarole.”

I also made a face.

Ok, so I made it through a few leaves in the salad. Escarole is a variety of endive, but it isn’t as bitter as other kinds of endive (or other bitter leafy veggies). I am still not a huge fan, but okay, it’s good for me, I’ll eat it.

Last night I went to make dinner (I popped a delicata in the oven whole, as I was trying out this method of squash roasting), and I opened my fridge and saw the rest of the escarole. Ok, fine, I’ll eat it. This time though I sauteed it in some extra virgin olive oil, sliced leeks, and minced garlic. I added a little salt as well. Then I mixed up a quick sauce on the stove using some vegan parm and Mimiccreme unsweetened coffee creamer (yes I do the weirdness when I cook for myself). The squash took about an hour to cook, and then I peeled it (I don’t like the texture of roasted peel) and cubed it. Tossed the escarole on the squash and topped the whole thing off with the sauce. It was VERY good!

Squashy Belly Goodness

After that I also made 5 servings of Raw Chocolate Pudding. I like to stock up ;-) I ate some topped with some Trader Joe’s peanut butter and also a hefty serving of ABU. For the joy of the belly :-)

Night cap of come Tulsi tea (the chammomile honey flavor). My mother has a cold so I am trying to bulk up my immune system and Tulsi apparently helps with that. As does a good night’s sleep. I have been taking Wellness Formula supplements, drinking tea, eating well, got my exercise, and got to sleep earlier and I feel fine! My naturopath recommends Sambucol for colds and the flu, and so I gave my box to my mom. I have to order more to keep in stock just in case!

For exercise I have been doing yoga and walking. I try to get in 20 minutes of yoga or an hour of walking in almost every day. This is a far cry from my manic exercising of yore which was extremely stressful. I am not a great yogini, and sadly cannot afford real classes yet, but I hope to get better. I was doing some yoga from yogadownload.com, but I found their poses to be hard to follow in the non-slide show version, and many of them were too difficult for me even though they were “beginner” level. I have been doing the short videos that Polly has on her blog. I love how she talks you through the poses. For a beginner who isn’t all that flexible in a lot of ways, it is REALLY nice to hear that it’s “okay” if your heels don’t touch the ground when you do a downward dog. It’s also really nice to hear a yogini say there are some poses that are hard for them, or that they cannot yet do themselves! I also like knowing that some days a person can do a pose, and some days it just doesn’t work for them. I tend to beat myself up when I can’t do something properly, and I assume I am not getting value from trying. I also have to tell myself that I can get a good workout even if I don’t feel exhausted after it. Often I am sore the day after doing yoga. Last night my heels almost touched the ground in downward dog too! Polly is a GREAT teacher so eventually I will probably buy Polly’s DVD too. I am a little concerned however, as I am not a Christian and any mention of organized religion tends to get my mind working and stresses me out. When I am doing yoga I prefer to be relaxed. I think in her sample videos there is only 1 video where she reads a biblical verse, and I just skip that part.

So last night I decided to get back into something I was doing a few years ago. I was a dancer when I was younger. I did ballet for about 13 years, tap, jazz, and also was learning to belly dance. I have always loved dancing, but since my real passion has always been acting the dancing always took a backseat. I have not completely recovered from my surgery a year ago, so I cannot physically do as much as I would like to, but I have decided that I definitely want to get back into dance. It’s great exercise and it has always made me feel good. So last night I dug through my DVDs and pulled out my Tribal Fusion Belly Dance DVD. Rachel Brice is the kind of dancer I cannot take my eyes off of. Just look at her! She’s incredible! I love her serpentine slowness and hope to emulate that. I am of course NO WAY near her skill level, but that won’t stop me from learning. I do have one comment about this particular DVD. While I love how they incorporate yoga and belly dance, I find the way they describe the movements to be overly complicated. Technical in a way that takes the grace out, and makes it nearly impossible for me to actually do them. My favorite belly dancing DVD thus far has been Dolphina’s Goddess Workout. I much prefer the way she explains the movements, and I don’t have to think about it nearly as much as I do with Rachel’s. I prefer Rachel’s style, but Dolphina’s teaching. To be fair Rachel isn’t even doing the teaching, she is doing the movements and there is a voice over. Anyway, I did the 30 minute practice and I am SORE today! I think I am going to have to get back into ballet too. I really miss the flexibility in my legs from my ballet days.

Ok, ready for some Framboise Caramel tea now!

Have a wonderful weekend!