Where in the world have you been?

Well, I'm back. Hopefully. Thank you to those of you who inquired about my health. My ear infection seems to have cleared up and I'm working through the last couple of days of antibiotics and trying to kick this cough.

My goal as of late is to continue to be a healthy balanced person. Eating as little processed (or at least not processed by me) food as possible. June was a busy month and I did lots of yummy at least partially local eating and baking. I do hope to get up some recipe specific entries. I found a local source for flour and the farmer has whole wheat and spelt bread flour. He also said he grows soft wheat on a rotation, but I wasn't quite sure what that rotation is. I also have a local source for organic (though not certified) non-homogenized milk and butter. I haven't tried the butter yet. It's hard for me to go from paying $2/lb for butter to $4/lb. Especially since I've been baking a lot.

Yesterday, I did my third 5K of the year. I'm pretty proud of the results. This was my first outing where I was on my own for the whole race. My brother and I both did the race, but as he is an actual serious runner, we don't run together. I finished in just over 42 minutes, which sliced about 3 minutes off my time. The Garmin (the gps running gadget that gives me my time and pace) and my ipod really helped me keep my time in check. It seemed like my pace was always sub-15 min miles which is good for me. I know I'm not going to be winning any awards just yet, but this was a big victory for me. Plus I was about to run for about 3 minutes at a time which is also pretty great especially considering I've not done any training for this at all.

My friend Laura and I have been doing 3 mile walks together, but definitely not at any particular pace. And I'm still struggling with that last mile. Miles 1 and 2, no problem, mile 3, omigod, when is it going to be over? My brother's suggestion for that was to start doing longer walks so 3 doesn't feel like so long. I'll have to start walking another mile or so. I'm also hoping to be able to get a heart-rate monitor soon. I think it will help. I've also been meditating and doing breathing exercises some in hopes of helping the asthma. It did seem to help yesterday when even though it was humid, my lungs didn't feel like they were going to explode.

In other news, my husband and awesome mother-in-law (and mother-in-law's "best guy" as she calls him) have gotten me a new bike for my birthday. I'm very excited to be able to ride more often (my other bike has become uncomfortable and well, is 14 years old which my husband points out is a long time ago) and hopefully to be able to bike commute at least one day a week (the issue being that there's no where to shower once I get to work. So I have to do it on days I don't care so much about being a little sweaty at work. Luckily my office is very casual). Plus, I definitely want a basket so I can bike to the farmer's market and to the grocery store for those short trips. Oh and the library. I love biking to the library.

I'm now out of battery, but I hope to get some more posts up this week about all the baking I've been doing.

Ow.

I have an ear infection in both ears. It hurts. And apparently this isn't supposed to happen to anyone over the age of 6. Great. Obviously I am not feeling well and the lovely updates I have saved to polish will not make it up for a couple of days.

Just a quick message....work has been busy lately and I haven't been able to sit still at night (we've had a ton of stuff going on...including Dustin turning 30) and this coming week I'm helping out at a week long event at OSU. So I'll be back this coming weekend. I have drafts of stuff saved I just haven't had a chance to post.

oh my

So, last week, I said I was going to make cookies. So I made the cookies pictured here. They were awesome. They came from this book. However, in the stress of my in-laws coming to visit (I like my in-laws, but is there anyone who isn't stressed out by them coming?) I helped DH and the in-laws finish of the entire batch of probably 6 dozen cookies by Monday morning. It was not such a good weekend for the stress eating.

I'm mostly back on track and I love, love, love the lettuce and bok choy from the farmer's market. I had an awesome grilled chicken salad on Tuesday with the lettuce, bok choy and chicken we grilled on Saturday. Yummo!

California photos

I mentioned a few posts back that pictures my husband took of me in the dress that looked adorable in the dressing room were enough to keep me from eating. I thought I'd post one, because apparently I like to torture myself like that. Also, if you have a large chest, please don't buy an empire waisted dress....as dooce would say, be ye not so stupid.In my defense, it really looked more like this and less like I was pregnant.

more farmer's market fun

I think I'm getting into the farmer's market groove. This was week 2 of our (small, about 10 stands) farmer's market. This week from the CSA, more bok choy* and flowers, but also a small amount of broccoli and green onions. Yum. I also bought 1/2 dozen eggs from the egg people (www.2silos.com), lettuce, and some local honey. I was reading on a website that someone in MO had strawberries at their farmer's market. I'm jealous, I can't wait for the berries. I'm still splurging at the grocery for berries. I also bought some parsley to grow with the rest of my herbs.

I do have to say that I love the atmosphere of the local farmer's market, I get to ask questions, like which honey is best for my allergies, and can I get a half dozen eggs. Plus, it's way more fun than the supermarket. I just felt better being there.

With all this fabulous fresh produce, I've been doing pretty well with eating healthy although it continues to be stressful at work and a splurged for dinner Thursday night and yesterday for lunch and I had to open a bottle of wine last night. It just seemed like the thing to do on a Friday night for dinner after a long week.

Exercise too has been difficult. The weather turned very warm this week, and with my asthma, getting outside to exercise in the warm weather is difficult because of my breathing. I did make it to the gym but I'm trying to get on my bike more, because I just love biking and our bike path is shaded and pretty flat so it doesn't get too hot.

My in-laws are coming this weekend, so I'm making cookies. I've had a terrible urge to bake. Something about following directions and a concrete product soothes me. Plus, you get to eat the results. I'm making Oatmeal peanut butter chocolate chip cookies (I don't remember the exact name) from Baking: from my house to yours by Dorie Greenspan. I have yet to make anything from this book, though it's beautiful to look at. I love cookbooks. Plus the recipe that the Baklava Queen posted sounds fabulous. I might have to try it if I can get some lavender from my brother.

*Which last week I put in stir fry and came out pretty good. To me, it didn't taste like much, but I'll take veggies that don't taste like much that I put in something and they give me fabulous nutrients

The farmer's market

Today was the first day of my neighborhood farmer's market. Our CSA had emailed us to let us know that they thought they would only have flowers for us today, but when I got there, they also had bok choy for us. I've never had bok choy, so it will be a new adventure. The farmer recommended it in a salad or steamed. Since I've usually heard about it in stir fry or chinese food, I might have to make stir fry this week.

I also purchased some thyme, rosemary, and basil. I absolutely love the smell of basil. I think I would bathe myself in basil. Last summer I was obsessed with pesto sauce.

A quick survey of the market also had several other produce stands (still not a ton of produce yet, because it's early here in Ohio) and someone with eggs. I've been reading about fresh eggs and how they are supposed to be tastier than the stuff you get at the grocery. They had various varieties and I may have to try some different stuff.

I also tried Qdoba today for the first time. I love Chipotle, and allow an indulgence sometime for Chipotle since they so have quality ingredients and you can tell. Qdoba is new here, so I thought I would try it out. While tasty in that fast-foody way, I could tell it was not as quality as Chipotle who's guacamole haunts my dreams. I might try it again when I could eat in and have the cheese sauce which my friend says is the best part about Qdoba to him. So, that doesn't necessarily fit my mission, but at the same time, my mission is about balance. Which means the occasional indulgence.