march is coming. quiet march.

spring is coming ... i can just. feel it in the air. been hiking two or three weekends in a row now. planning on a very long hike this sunday in 50-degree weather. i can't wait. i hope there is sun.

i've been taking pretty good care of myself, does staying up late in bed for hours reading a good book count? i actually like being on the internet only once a week. i'm getting more knitting done, too. i promise pictures when i get ends (many ends, sigh) woven in.

things at school are busy, but less stressful than before. i'm sticking with my plan to make march a quiet, calm month because spring is always happy-busy and my summer will involve a lot of traveling!

i made a ton of homemade food this week and i'm doing better about not spending, most days, on coffee and food out. i'm drinking a ton of tea.

dreaming of future days in my farmhouse-style home with babies ..... why not? <3

love and light,

karen

menu planning

yeah, i'm trying to do that again. in an effort to force myself back to eating at home 99 percent of the time and get back on that frugal path i seem to keep slipping from. why is it so hard to change our habits?

anyway, here's what i'm eating this week:

quinoa-beet salad with chard
peanutty-tofu roll-ups
sesame-soy breakfast spread on sesame bagels
oatmeal with fruit, nuts, flax seeds, and maple syrup
soy sausage scramble with hash browns
veggie pizza
slow-cooked black beans with white basmati rice accompanied by a raw spinach salad
turkish spinach and lentil soup
one night of takeout dinner

all homemade from scratch, of course (except the takeout). with some bits of chocolate wedged in, no doubt, and copious amounts of fresh fruit. i'm thinking if all goes as planned i will have leftovers every monday ...

also hoping my week will involve lots of rest, reading, knitting, general self-care, hiking, walks, and yoga. weather, please cooperate.

it's been good to be off the computer a lot more .... unplugged is how i choose to live life. leave the IPhones, blackberries, facebook, and earbuds behind, thank you very much. this includes when walking in nature. these things are just not necessary. why do we think they are? food for thought i guess, in a post about food.

i will try and post some pictures of my knitting soon. i finally finished a long in-progress scarf, and i'm now working on a similar project.

i am drinking tons of tea instead of decaf coffee. white tea in particular which is the most healthful of all teas. and peppermint, of course.

and working on letting go of all the stress that work can bring.

have a good week, loves. i'll be back in soon.

simple woman's daybook

attempting to get tons of veggies and whole grains back in my life ... lunch the last two days has been red quinoa topped with steamed swiss chard, lemon juice and tahini ... simple but soul (and belly!) filling. the above salad was around for a while, too, recently.

Outside my window... it's dark and frigid cold but supposed to warm up considerably for this weekend ... yay, hiking!!

I am thinking... about remembering to be young when i AM young and not to worry myself about the serious stuff yet, to take it when it comes.

I am thankful for.. my boyfriend flying out to visit me this weekend, and for moving here soon!

From the learning rooms...parent conferences tomorrow. these are always difficult for me. there's good reasons why i work with children ...

From the kitchen... kitchen's closed. i think lunch tomorrow is amy's no chick'n noodle soup and saltines and dinner is mexican food out

I am wearing... one of my mom's old nightgowns

I am creating... knitted gifts that were supposed to be for christmas ... whoops

I am going... to go read in my bed for a bit before bed

I am reading... girl with the dragon tattoo, children at play (waldorf book), formation of man (montessori book), and living outside the box (book about living a tv free life, yay!)

I am hearing... my cranked-up heat circulating ... but why are my feet never warm in winter?

Around the house... all is quiet. almost bedtime.

One of my favorite things... a clean house which i more or less have now

A few plans for the rest of the week: finally, a weekend of relaxation! dinner out, dinner in, snuggling, hiking, art museum. sleeping, sleeping.

self-care

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one having trouble with regular blog posts lately. Oddly, I've been surprisingly busy these past couple of weeks. Setting the wheels in motion for the rest of the school year, mainly ... and for my school "year" this summer. The last set of courses before I receive my master's! An exciting time.

It's been nearly 10 days without any exercise. I blame business and cold weather. So a Yin Yoga class tomorrow will be a real treat.

I am nearly done with a Christmas (yes) present scarf. One more Christmas present (yes, that's for the one that just passed) scarf and I'm free to finish up a wristwarmer for myself and a hat for myself and maybe finally move on to that baby surprise jacket project ... knitting motivation is hard for me these days.

mostly, i'm just holed up in bed by 8:30 p.m. with a book ... or three. tonight's an exception. i was up late writing parent-teacher conference e-mails!

i need to set some manageable goals for myself. like tomorrow morning, forcing myself out of bed BEFORE eight to ten hours of sleep have occurred, do some yoga, maybe even bake some bread (carrot-cranberry-walnut) and prepare lunch before heading out to school.

my mantra these days is: self-care. sometimes there aren't enough hours in busy days so we create them where we can.

this coming weekend, after two busy ones of running errands (which i normally avoid at all costs), i'll be: snuggling, hiking, maybe visiting the local art museum, and having yummy mexican food out and yummy homemade food in. literally, that's it. no work allowed!

i'm still considering a new haircut and hair redder than the red it is now. freshening up the winter. which we apparently still have a few more weeks of. been a rough go this year!

sure wish my posts were more interesting ... soon, maybe, soon! i keep hoping. :-)

love and light,

k.

i'm still here

vegan chocolate chip cookies, homemade, from 1,000 vegan recipes

just hibernating, a bit. not too much to report. slogging through this winter. some nights at yoga, some at the pool, most just home, spending more time in the kitchen.

i have a few lovely food pictures i've been collecting. i'll share with you soon. the cookbook 1,000 vegan recipes is inspiring! i've made a wonderful soup last night from it: butternut-curry-tomato-lentil-swiss chard. YUM! also this week i used up some frozen tortillas and made spinach-mushroom-black bean quesadillas dipped into vegenaise and frank's red hot. holy amazingness (and SAME cookbook, see a trend here? lol!!)

there has been a TINY bit of sunshine here, and temps into the 40's .. heat wave lol!

i'm not having much inspiration to knit and i have so many unfinished projects ... oh well. it is what it is.

on the plus side, i'm reading a lot of books! try water for elephants if you're in need of a good one.

the vegan chili party went well....


~that's spicy jerk-seasoned "beef" chili ... from guess what cookbook ...

i've also been out with two co-workers and had some amazing VEGAN sushi ....


ate breakfast at whole foods...steel cut oatmeal! look at that sun! so fleeting ...

i've just used my slow cooker to make my own! and mixed in vegan butter, walnuts, dried cranberries and raisins, agave/maple syrup blend, and flaxseeds. YUMM-O.

and tonight, i'm going to bake some tofu i've been marinating for a day in homemade bbq sauce (also from 1,000 VR) and make a sandwich.

i've taken to drinking wine a few hours before bed on sunday nights. very relaxing!

it's a boring winter time.

has anyone made the honey cake from Apples for Jam? It looks divine!