The Behinder I got :-)

Much better day pain wise yesterday . Arthritis responds to certain drugs, but it also responds to anything that can get an increase in blood flow to the area affected, and therefore frequent gentle movement will make you feel a lot better. Walking is a excellent way to do this, and yesterday we walked a bunch !

Began the morning with a fruity 7 grain cereal mix( apples, pears, dates and blueberries). I bought this a couple of weeks ago when the store was out of steel cut oats, and I figured it would make a suitable replacement. Turns out it is only so-so; I like oats , quinoa or millet more! After breakfast we did our Wii sports and our first walk. Somehow we got to just having fun with the walk, time got away from us and it turned out we had spent a solid hour exercising ! Good for the body, but heck for homeschool and other household chores that needed to get done. I will catch up...I thought .

After a good chunk of school we broke for this AMAZING lunch ! Sweet Potato lentil salad, and the recipe came from Kath - whom i think I would like to be when I grow up ! Basically you cook lentils, cube a sweet potato per person , sprinkle with cinnamon and roast at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Meanwhile , cut up 5 dates and chop 1/4 cup walnuts and heat in the microwave for 1 minute. She made a dressing out of maple syrup, balsamic vinegar and something else- I used some Brianna's Honey Mustard for ours. Place baby spinach in a bowl, top with lentils and sweet potatoes, dressing and then the walnut date mix. It was possibly the best salad I have ever eaten !

Back to school, more walking, and I kept getting further behind but I didn't care. The weather seemed to make a change about mid day and when Bob got home he suggested we all head for a walk in the woods before dinner. We did , and got to witness something few people see- a controlled burn !
This is done often in prairie restorations and other times in attempts to control invasive plant speicies. This area was originally tall grass prairie, and fire was part of the life cycle.This forest preserve is attempting to bring back the prairie, and they do a controlled burn once a year. We often see the scorched earth, but never the actual fire. It was exciting to watch from a safe distance and HOT ! I can only imagine how terrifying prairie fires must have been !
The rest of the woods was fragrant, peaceful and gave numerous signs of waking up after a long winters nap.

Dinner was something I jokingly call The Fraizer Special- tossed salad and scrambled eggs ! Sauteed leeks, mushroom, red pepper and spinach with eggs, and the salad was romaine, watercress mix topped with sliced apples, pears and strawberries. It is amazing how satisfying colorful meals are !

After dinner I attempted to catch up with some of the must do things, but no such luck. Today is a new day and I will somehow get it done. In the meantime, I sure had a lot of fun getting behind !