Little Miracles

Our lives are filled with blessings and little miracles everyday sometimes we're aware of them and other times not so much.  I've been working to try to slow down and be aware of all of the wonderful people and things I have in my life.  

As I've posted here, I begin my day with meditation and often journaling.  I've talked about how much I love motivational quotes.  All of those habits are wonderful for injecting that feel good vibe into the start of my day... but sometimes things happen when I leave the comfort of my office space.

My daughters will suddenly remember that they need something important for school - like balloons for a random act of kindness day.  I'm scrambling to find a package of balloons and less than patient.  Or I get cut off or impatient with a slow driver on my way to work.  Suddenly that ‘chilled out life doesn't get me stressed out’ buzz I had post meditation is gone and I'm a cortisol driven lunatic... well maybe not quite a lunatic.

There are so many times when the little things, and they are little things distract us from what is really important.  Today two things happened to remind me of the beauty I am surrounded by.  

We had our first major snowfall last night.  My world looked like this when I woke up. 

My daughter built this fun lady....

I also was able to visit my niece.  She is just 5 months old.  I have 6 nieces and nephews and they are so much fun.  But this baby is the first niece or nephew that has come into my life since my kids were born.  The amount of time that has passed since my kids were babies until my sister had her daughter has made me realize how amazing babies really are.

My niece was born five weeks early and made a rather dramatic entrance into the world for both my sister and herself.  Fortunately, everyone is healthy.  But each time I see and hold this baby I am reminded of what a miracle she is. But if we really stop and think about it each of us are miracles.

There is a specific set of circumstances that allowed us to be here.  Not to get overly explicit into the details of mating and genetics but the chance meetings between our parents, grandparents, great grandparents that provided the ability for us to be here are pretty amazing.  

Combine those situations which allow us to be here and consider the close calls during our childhood, while driving or any other situation where we may not have survived and our existence can seem quite precarious.  

If we chose to, we can view each day as the miracle it is or we can allow ourselves to get caught up in the small irritations that don't really matter.  

My goal for the next week is to focus on perspective.  When I feel that irritation kick in, I'm going to try to remember to ask myself - Is this frustration worth it?  Hopefully the rational side of me will kick in and I will remember the joy I feel holding my niece or watching my own daughters with her. Even just the minute it takes to step back may stop the negative thoughts from taking seed and hopefully they diminish.

Life is how we chose to view it.  Let’s see it as a miracle.

Fun Food Friday - French Onion Soup

When I was a kid, this soup was one of my Dad's recipes.  We had these special bowls that were our French Onion Soup bowls.  We didn't use them for anything besides this particular soup.  Some how, I have ended up with these bowls.  So I decided to make French Onion Soup for my family.

To make this soup really taste authentic, you need to caramelize the onions.  The flavour that develops through the caramelization process gives the base for a really good soup.  I happened to have a variety of onions from my farm share.  But you want to make sure you use sweet onions.  They will caramelize easier than standard cooking onions.

To avoid time in the kitchen stirring the onions, I decided to use my slow cooker.  It took about 4 hours for the onions to caramelize on high and around 8 hours on low.  Just a word of warning, if you do use your slow cooker for this, your house will smell like cooked onions.  

My kids didn't mind this recipe even though they aren't big onion fans.  I think they were more impressed with the bowls and the melted cheese on top which if memory serves me correctly was what I loved best about this soup as a kid too.

French Onion Soup

by Denise Boyd Dunlop

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 1-8 hours depending on cooking method

6075865

Ingredients (serves 6-8)

• 3 onions finely sliced horizontally
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 spring thyme (or 1/2 teaspoon ground)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 8 cups beef soup stock
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 6-8 slices of day old bread
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cups shredder gruyere cheese

Instructions

To caramelize the onions - I used my slow cooker. I placed the onions, butter, thyme, bay leaf and salt and pepper in my slow cooker and allowed onions to cook for 4 hours on low. Alternately you could use the stove top method. Melt butter in a sauce pan over low heat, add onions and spices. Cook until onions become soft and caramel in colour.

Once onions have caramelized, remove bay leaf and thyme sprig. Add stock and Worcestershire sauce. Increase heat and bring soup to a simmer.

Meanwhile, break the bread into bite sized pieces toss in olive oil. Lay in single layer on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Toast in over preheated to 375 until light brown and toasted throughout. Remove from oven.

Ladle soup into oven safe bowls. Top with toasted bread and sprinkle with cheese. Set bowls on cookie sheet and broil until cheese has melted.

Powered by Recipage

Workout Wednesday - TRX Jump Squats

Number 6 on my top 10 favourite TRX moves are jump squats.  I love this move because you work through a really deep squat position which activates your glutes in a much deeper engagement when compared to regular squats.  Also you bring a cardio aspect into this move through the jump.  It doesn't take very many of these to begin to 'feel the burn' of lactic acid building in your quads.

Typically I do this move in two ways.  If I'm looking to really work my quads, I will try to jump and land in the same place.  If I'm targeting cardio I will jump forward from my squat position and immediately jump back to the starting point.

How to do jump squats:

1. Start with your TRX straps in a fully extended position.
2. Turn to face away from your anchor point.
3. Tuck the straps underneath your arms and hug the handles in toward you.  Your thumbs should be touching your shoulders.
4. Leaning into the straps, walk your feet toward your anchor point.
5. Remain on the balls of your feet and bend your knees until you are in a deep squat position.
6. Jump to a full standing position bending your knees to cushion your landing.  As mentioned at the start, you can choose to land in the same spot or hop forward and then back.
7. Repeat for 8-12 reps.  Completing 1-3 sets.

True Riches

I make no excuses for the fact that I love motivational quotes.  On Pinterest I have a board dedicated to quotes, I favourite and retweet them on twitter and like them on Facebook.  I love the inspiration and the momentary feel-good buzz you get from reading someone else's inspiring words and I really try to remember moving words during difficult situations.

One of my favourites is by Steve Prefontaine -

To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.

These words are so simple and obvious but I often forget their power.  We all carry gifts with us.  Our true talents, and yet without the proper attention they go wasted.  It is so easy to become distracted by what we deem as 'real life'.  If our focus is on getting through the day without checking in and deciding how to create or do something with ourselves that allows us to truly use our gifts are we living our lives to its fullest potential?

Over the past year and a bit, I quit my full time job and am now working part time.  I am fully acknowledging that this decision is not for everyone and was certainly not something I had envisioned myself doing three years ago.  But sometimes, life presents itself in a way that we have no choice but to wake up and make a change.  

These changes are often not easy to make, however, for me, my health and my family life were suffering.  I made a decision between choosing to continue on a path that really wasn't working for one that was completely unknown.  And it was the scariest thing I have ever done.  The fear that I have made a decision that could be wrong is still very present today.

My biggest fear, like for most of us out there is financial.  If I don't have the stability to support my family and provide the comforts for my children that I had growing up, then I must be a failure as a parent.  Or at least that is what a small part of me thinks when I allow the 'money fear' to sink in.  

But my kids aren't suffering if I look at the bigger picture.  When I stopped working full time, I cut back on expenses and I didn't feel deprived doing so.  The things I cut back on were dinners out, I now have the time to shop for groceries and cook.  I don't have to pay someone to clean my house because I am home to do it and the whole family pitches in.  I also stopped shopping for entertainment.  I don’t need a lot of the unless things I was purchasing and have a less cluttered house for it.

But the biggest difference from these changes is that we are ALL more relaxed.  Our mornings before and after school aren't rushed.  The kids have their homework done because we've been able to establish and stick with a routine.  We prepare and eat our meals together.  When my daughter wants to show me something even as trivial as a hula hope routine, I have time to actually pay attention and watch her because my mind isn't thinking of all of the other things I feel pressured to do.

We still have money for things we consider important such as travel and sports but as a family we choose to make those activities a priority. While my bank account may not see the influx of cash it has in the past, I have something I consider far more valuable.  First I am regaining my health.  But secondly and more importantly I have the gift of time.  I have gained the freedom to choose where I focus my attention.  

My family is the most important part of my life and I am able to spend my time there.  I am not sacrificing the gift, because all of my attention is focused on it.

I have the space to create a new start for myself.  Each day I remind myself of how blessed I am to have this opportunity to start again.  I am learning that the stability from money is nothing in comparison to the riches you experience when you have the space to follow the passion that truly ignites you and has the ability to touch others.

We have been given one life to live.  This is not our practice life and for me I am living it to its fullest.

Fun Food Friday - Fall Super Food Salad

I've decided to extend my crop share into the fall.  I really think that the produce this time of year is my favourite - of course I'd probably be saying that in the spring and summer as well.  But what I love about fall veggies are the variety of colours.

Vegetables and fruits that are brightly coloured typically contain a variety of antioxidants that help us fight damage from free radicals among other benefits.  The expression 'eating a rainbow' is fantastic advice for ensuring that we receive the most amount of vitamins and minerals naturally from our diets.  

In my veggie pick up this week I found a rainbow - purple cabbage, beets (golden and red), carrots (orange and purple), green and red peppers, kale, onions in a range of colours.  The entire thing looked so vibrant I was inspired to make a rainbow salad.  I know that the temperatures are starting to drop, I am watching rain switch to snow as I type this, but I decided to leave everything raw to preserve as many of the nutrients as possible.  Hearty salads in the fall are a nice change from soups and other comforting foods and don't feel quite as cold to eat when accompanied with a cup of tea.

What I love about this salad is the simplicity.  Normally I make a vinaigrette to top my salad but I find the contrast between the natural oils and smoothness of the avocado balances the acidity in the lemon juice.  The lemon juice also accents the natural sweetness of the carrots and beets.  All of the flavours meld together and taste amazing.

Fall Super Food Salad

by Denise Boyd Dunlop

Prep Time: 10 minutes

6075785

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 1/4 head of a purple cabbage chopped
• 1 golden beet peeled and sliced thinly
• 1 purple beet peeled and sliced thinly
• 1 carrot peels and shredded
• 1 acocado chopped
• 2 tablespoons raw pumpkin seeds
• juice from 1 lemon
• freshly ground pepper
• sea salt

Instructions

Divide cabbage among two plates. Layer beets and carrots. Lay avocado slices to one side. Add pumpkin seeds. Squeeze one half of each lemon over each plate. Season with salt and pepper.

Powered by Recipage

Workout Wednesday - TRX Burpee

The dreaded burped.  I watch the students in my class cringe when I say - "Ok next up TRX burpee."  But they should be thrilled to do these. Why?  Because they are hard.  When an exercise is hard to do it means that it is working a lot of different body parts or it is pushing you out of your comfort zone into a different level of work.  In that push is where gains in fitness and strength happen.  

The key to using this push to a level of discomfort is to pay attention to your body.  There are those times when we are working where we thing we can't do one more rep and someone say yes you can.  And you end up pushing yourself further than you thought you could.  Then there are those times were you look around the room at what someone else is doing and think - if they can do it, I should be able to.  

When you aren't ready for a move or push yourself beyond your level of fitness, you risk injury.   So what is important with these or any exercise you push through is that you listen to your body and what your are capable of.  

That being said, I find burpees with my foot in the trx strap easier than actual burpees.  What is great about these is you are working your entire body, arms to balance, shoulders, core, legs and because of the up and down it is a fantastic cardio movement too.

Here are the basic burpee steps:

1. Start with your straps in single handle, mid-calf length.
2. Put your right foot in the foot cradle and start out about 4 feet from the anchor point.
3. Place your hands on the floor and let both feet move back toward the anchor point in a plank position.
4. Do a push up (optional)
5. Stand with your free leg in the same start position and jump on one leg.
6. Complete 8-12 reps for 1-3 sets.  Repeat on the other leg.