What am I doing now

Can you believe I forgot to take pictures of any food yesterday ??? Somehow when things are more relaxed, I get less efficient. Something about pressure helps me to keep focus better I guess.

It was a good day with running errands at a very leisurely pace. We had oatmeal for breakfast, Sweet Tomatoes Salad Bar for lunch and marinara sauce with sausage, eggplant , zucchini and spinach over whole wheat pasta for dinner, and I had a bakery store brownie for my weekly treat.This place makes very chewy brownies, and it was delicious !

I was asked what exactly am I doing as far as diet now, and I think I figured out the best way to explain it. If something grows from the ground and looks like it would look good in a rainbow, eat as much of it as you want . ( Fruits, vegetables and beans either fresh, frozen or dehydrated) If it had a mother , eat sparingly or as a condiment ( dairy and all meat).Grains fit in here because they are not as nutritionally dense. If you can squeeze it to make oil or an oil itself, go even lighter( nuts, avocados, olives, olive oil and other oils). For sweetening when at all possible I use dried fruit( dates are incredibly sweet). I still drink coffee, tea, diet soda but limit it to 2 cans per day and I have a piece of 70 percent ( or better) dark chocolate every day. I drink about a gallon of water every day. No calories, no points, no minimum servings, no health goals - just working with the belief that food is fuel and I need to choose the highest grade for my engine. I do measure still but it is more to stretch the food dollar than anything. Example would be when I make pasta, I make half of a one pound bag for the three of us instead of weighing it in at 6 oz. When I make oatmeal it is a half cup dry per person, and rice is always 1 cup dry for the 3 of us. It's simple, and in it's simplicity it frees me up to do a LOT of experimenting with different combinations for our meals . It also encourages me to eat with the seasons- with different seasons different local produce comes into season and on the market shelves, and following these simple rules lets you choose from those new crops of squash, beets, apples, berries and so forth without having to wonder how to fit it in to the plan. It seems to be working.

I am going to a baby shower today for one of my nieces- her fiancee was the young man recently in the hospital and he is back home and doing well. It is so strange to remeber going to a baby shower when her mom was expecting her. Now "The Duck" is expecting her first hatchling, and the cycle seems complete. I made her a baby quilt and a few bibs- she knows she is having a boy and has chosen to do her nursery in greens and browns, so I played with the colors and created this
and I made a couple of "boy bibs" to tickle her fancy ( and serve a practical use)

I look forward to seeing everyone !