Low-Dye

Today turned out to be a lovely day in my neck of the woods! All morning at work I predicted that the sun would find it's friend the clouds at precisely 2:30 when I was getting off of work. I hate when I'm right. Luckily the clouds were in the mood to play games and didn't actually rain on me. 

Right after work I went to my third physical therapy appointment. I gave them an update on how my run went on Saturday, then they went to work on my calves. They worked really hard on massaging two specific tendons. It was really neat that they can actually tell where the tendon is tight just by me moving my foot. Apparently my tendons were VERY tight, I might even have a little bit of bruising, but they actually feel so much better. 

After they treated my calves with their meat pulverizing hands, he taped up my arch in what he called a 'Low-Dye' technique. They are trying to see if orthotics would be of any benefit for me. The best part was when he told me I needed to run tonight! Since the taping was pretty uncomfortable and I was nervous about how it would hold up over time, I opted to test it out on the treadmill. The taping helped! After a mile though I had to take it off because it was giving me a blister. I continued on for another mile. It felt so good to work up a sweat!

Next time I go in (as long as my legs aren't hurting) they are going go over running mechanics with me. They will watch me run and see if I am doing anything to cause the problem. Pretty much exactly what I've been wanting! 

This all brings me back to one of my Happiness Commandments..... "It's ok to ask for help." There was a time in my life where it hurt for me to run and I just took my doctors advice to stop running. But I knew it wasn't the answer, I knew there was someone out there who could help me to get an answer. I'm so happy that this time I didn't stop at the first road block, I didn't even have to be mean or rude, I just went with my gut and kept on pursing it. Maybe I should add to the end of that commandment, "and don't stop asking until you get help." It sure has made me happy.

*I almost added a photo of my taped up foot. I took the picture and edited it and even had it on here, but I just couldn't subject you to it! I don't like feet and will assume no one else does either. (even though mine are cute... but in need of a pedicure. 

I've been missing oats and Almond butter!
I can't believe I went all day yesterday without any!
This was plain jane oats and it really hit the spot!

Lunch!
Baked tofu half sandwich and a tasty salad.
I was running low on spinach so I tossed in some raw kale.
This was my first experience with kale in its raw state, it was really good!
This lunch was a good combo of protein, veggies, fruit, and carbs!
It kept me full for a while!
I'm still leaning about tofu...
Baked is certainly delicious and easy to put into lunches. 

Snack! Trail mix has a ton of fat.... at least it is all good fat though!
I've run out of all my go to snacks, I need to make a market run!

When I first started 'eating clean' I thought for a while about making EVERYTHING I ate.
Since then I've decided that I just don't have the time, but when I do I should.
I bought this corn flour back in those days.
It is really handy though when you don't have any tortillas in your house!
And I like that I can control how big the tortillas end up being!
Tonight's were minis!
Just add water and a touch of salt, mix and roll the dough into a tortilla!
Then you cook it in a frying pan with a bit of oil.
They are better when you use a large bit of oil, but I'd already had my healthy fat in the form of trail mix!
Super easy.

Tonight's dinner was a tostada!
Inspired by a recipe I saw in a Vegetarian Time's special edition called "Quick & Healthy 30-Minute Meals"
For 8 bucks it was basically a small cookbook.
I love that almost everything has a picture and it all looks so tasty!
I had to modify the recipe some for the ingredients I had on hand.
Not only is this vegetarian and gluten free, but you leave out the cheese and it would also be vegan.
Tasty Tostada(One serving)
Tortilla of your choice
1 tsp Canola oil or several sprays from a misto
3 tbs. white onion
1/2 clove garlic (I like the prediced kind)
1/4 tsp cumin
1 tbs. green chiles (the canned stuff)
sprinkle of brown sugar
bell peppers to taste
salt/pepper
1/4 C Beans (black would be best, I used pinto)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Heat oil in saucepan. Brown the onion with the garlic, around 3 min (I skipped this, but it would have made it better). Put onion and garlic with all the rest of the ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend well.
(While all this is going on, prepare your tortillas. Either pull them from the bag or start mixing!)
Put the tortilla on a cookie sheet and spread the bean mix evenly on top.
Bake until the tortillas start to brown.
Serve with lettuce mixture of your choice.
Sour cream would be tasty on top...
And corn on top... This is a very versatile recipe!
Get creative.

Dessert....
I've been thinking about how to do this since my Dad's dessert from last night.
He had a Strawberry Diplomat which included deep fried strawberries covered with cinnamon and sugar....
I switched it just a little...
I rolled the berries in a mix of brown sugar and cinnamon and popped them in the oven for 5 minutes.
Sprinkled with powdered sugar...
DEVINE!
The strawberries get all warm and gooey and amazing!