The Whirling Dervish

We visited Sofie and Poppa yesterday and our favourite mini ball of fur greeted us at the elevator in a complete state of excitement.
She's definitely got the behaviour of a whirling dervish perfected, and if the point of those religious dancers was to express emotion it seems that Sofie is on the same page: she's very happy to see us!

MrBP managed to hang onto her for a few seconds so I could take this photograph, otherwise it's nearly impossible to capture her, she's fast as a rocket, careening around the room from one of us to the other.
She's a delightful puppy, and Poppa is smitten with her.  At nearly 88 some people might find it a challenge to train a new puppy, but not Poppa.  I'm happy to see that he's enjoying the challenge, and that having Sofie in his life eases some of the loneliness.  He has his apartment perfectly organized with toys and sleeping crates, and a gate closing off the kitchen so he can leave Sofie to go to the grocery store, the gym, or to lunch.
One of the aspects of having Sofie in his life is that Poppa has many more visitors, not just family members but friends, and friends bringing their grandchildren to visit the puppy.  It seems that there are endless social benefits to having Sofie in his life, a very nice thing to see during the long winter months!
After our visit we went to lunch with Poppa and Aunt Anne Marie, and we had a lovely time talking about a range of issues.  At 88 and 89 they are two of the most interesting people we know.

How's your Sunday shaping up?  I'm putting on my cleaning apron today, I have to get the office building in shape, I've been neglecting it something terrible.

Have a wonderful day today, whatever you're up to,
xoxDani

The Vegetable Diet

 I was at the gym the other day and bumped into an old friend, and after exchanging news of our families we started discussing our workouts and "new year" diets.  She mentioned that she was on an all-fat diet.  Huh?
It triggered something familiar in my memory, I remembered reading about an all-fat, or carbohydrate restrictive, diet as a a method to put the body into a state of "ketosis", sometimes used as a way to control treatment resistant epilepsy.
It seems to me that the old Atkins diet, which is also carbohydrate restrictive, is another name for a ketosis type diet.  Do you remember that diet from the 70's?
I have other friends who follow the Paleolithic diet, which basically seems to be a diet in which only foods that could have been hunted or gathered by our Paleolithic ancestors are consumed.

Neither of these diets would work for me because I don't eat meat (Paleo) and if I had to become a cave person suddenly and go out and kill a wild boar or a chicken (did they even have chickens then?) I would not be very successful.

Eating a diet that restricted carbohydrates would probably have me fainting pretty quickly, never mind the fact that when I eat fatty things I feel... fat.  I guess it goes without saying that meat would be a large component of a carbohydrate restrictive plan?  As far as its effectiveness in treating epilepsy, well I'm just grateful that the type of epilepsy my daughter has is responsive to treatment.

So it's safe to say that I'm on The Vegetable Diet, and I have to say I really love it.  I feel good, I spend less money on food and my kitchen is filled with colour and joy.

Yesterday morning our deliveries from our local organic vegetable source began again, they take a two week break every year over Christmas and New Year's and I really missed them.
I have changed up my vegetable delivery a little bit, we're now buying lots of local vegetables as well as a few imported from the south (things like greens, which are not available here this time of year, though our cabbage is still local).   We were buying more things like bananas and apples, which weren't being consumed after Middle Rascal left home in September.

Once the vegetables are unpacked from their box I do a quick scan and immediately start menu planning for the week.  The goal is to use every vegetable by the following Monday, and while some items will have obvious uses, others require a bit more thought (and some recipe searches).

So excited to see these beautiful mushrooms!
Risotto with marsala and mushrooms is on the menu.

 The first thing I cooked with the vegetables was a big stew to have for lunch.

I sautéed a large yellow onion in olive oil, adding in a teaspoon of ground turmeric.  Then I threw in about 6 roughly chopped and peeled carrots, several new potatoes, half-peeled (only the bad bits) and chopped, and an entire bunch of spinach.  I threw in about a cup of red lentils for some protein.

 Saute all, then cover with water, adding in salt and pepper:

 Simmer down the stew for about 30 minutes or so, and you'll have a delicious and nourishing lunch.

So simple, and it keeps well in the fridge too.

What sort of diet are you on?  (If you had to give it a name that is.)  Do you have friends whose diets vary quite differently from your own?
Happy Wednesday to you,
xoxDani

One Man's Folly

 Have you read this design book about the homes of Furlow Gatewood?  It's the one I go back to constantly.  You can see it's top-of-pile in the dining room.  If you'd like to see some pictures of his crazily beautiful interiors you can check out this Pinterest board.  Which is making me think I need my own Furlow Gatewood Pinterest board! Must get started on that.

Today I'm going to be whipping up a lasagna for a friend in the neighbourhood who just lost his brother.  Then I need to find a plant of some sort suitable for a friend who just lost her father.  Hard time of year for people to deal with loss, isn't it?

I have a comfort food recipe that does not involve copious quantities of cheese like a lasagna does, and this dish is one of my favourites for lunch: Black Beans with Grits!

 I do a light saute of tomatoes (cut in half) with jalapeños and cumin, a little bit of Herbamare sea salt and a bit of lime juice.  Open up a can of black beans, rinse well and add.
On to the grits: I use these corn grits by Bob's Red Mill, they are so easy to cook and they are delicious, they have the perfect grits texture.

 I simply follow the package directions, adding in olive oil, some nutritional yeast (a great product for plant-based people as it is highly fortified with B vitamins) and some Herbamare sea salt.

Voila! A delicious and filling lunch.  This would be a lovely and easy weeknight dinner too with a big salad on the side, maybe a mixed green salad with a lemon and shallot vinaigrette topped with pumpkin seeds?  Oh and add an avocado to that, yummy.

It looks like another beautiful day here (so warm!) and I'll be going for a long walk up to the University with Scout.  My arms are killing me from yoga yesterday, must have been those downward dogs.  I think some stretching is in order!
Hope your day is a good one,
xoxDani