RawFu Challenge - Day 54

Thursday, 01 October 2009

This week is flying by, but aside from not getting enough sleep, things are going fairly well. The week started off with a really nice day where things just seemed to align themselves; Zofia busied herself with the blocks, rather than pestering us, while I worked with Flo on some writing. Then Zofia fell asleep around 2:30pm and took a nice long nap, enabling me to do some stuff with Joe, catch up on some cleaning, make a meal and actually catch my breath for a moment. That’s not to say she wasn’t a challenge most of the time she was awake, but at least she afforded me a brief interlude.

Tuesday was was our produce co-op delivery day, so I spent the day sorting produce, then chopping up a ton of romaine lettuce and kale. Thankfully, a couple friends stopped in to visit, which made the monotonous chore of chopping up veggies less of a drudgery. Darren also peeled and cubed the rest of the butternut squash we had, so we made a nice raw butternut soup, which we warmed up in the VitaMix. It was a nice addition to the usual salad.

Also, after cutting the stems off of ten bunches of kale, we marinaded some and put a batch of kale chips I in the dehydrator. I made the marinade from pumpkin seeds, sundried tomatoes, pepper, garlic and water. The “chips” were done this morning, and we ate all three trays before the day’s end. They hit the spot!

Yesterday, Flo and Darren left this morning to head down to Martinsburg for Darren’s dentist appointment, then over to the C&O Canal in Williamsport to meet up with our homeschooling group for a scavenger hunt walk. Meanwhile, Joe, Zofia and I had a leisurely morning and afternoon catching up on a few chores and working on Joe’s reading.

Dinner last night consisted of rice noodles, tomato sauce and black beans for the kids, and a big salad with lots of chopped veggies (zucchini, tomato, red pepper, avocado, onion and carrots) that we all shared. For dessert Darren and I had a banana and a few dates with cashews stuck in them.

We also sliced up five pounds of sweet potatoes we had in the fridge and marinaded them in a little salt, pepper and olive oil, then stuck them in the dehydrator.

Today went by in a blur. Zofia tossed and turned a lot last night, and I got an interrupted six hours or so of sleep. I got up late, and dragged myself on the treadmill, hoping the exercise would give me some energy. No such luck. But, I did manage to do a little cleaning and make a big salad for me and Darren in the early afternoon, when he got back from his Thursday jaunt to DC for work. We also made “ice cream” out of frozen bananas, pumpkin seeds, dates and a bit of coconut oil. Tasty and very indulgent.

Despite feeling rather bloated and crampy, which I think was a side-effect of eating some dehydrated mushrooms, I headed out to the gym tonight for a yoga class. Even though my stomach was making weird gurgling noises for the duration of the class, it was relaxing and actually did make me feel better, so I’m glad I got myself out the door and went. Flo and Zofia came with me, since Joe and Darren were at hockey. I put Zofia in the child care area, and was surprised to have her stay without much protest, even without her big sister accompanying her. And, it was nice to spend a little time with Flo alone without distractions.

Zofia didn’t nap today, so I’m hoping for a quick descent into sleep for her, so I can run back downstairs and pack something for the kids lunches tomorrow, since we have to head out early for our homeschooling co-op. Then, with any luck, I can squeeze in a good night’s sleep before going another round!