Pomegranates

SO! I learned something new today!!! How to pith a pomegranate. If you score a pomegranate into quarters and let it soak in a bowl of cold water, and then you seperate the quarters and rub the seeds out into the water...the seeds will float to the bottom and the pith will float to the top!!! So much easier than me raking through the fruit to get the teeny tiny seeds.

New Project Coming

I have a scathingly BRILLIANT idea!
It's big! I mean BIG! A little adventurous, a little socializing, a lot of cooking, most likely a lot of crazy antics. I'm so excited about this! This is going to take me a bit of time to get set up.  I'm thinking end of September camera's will be rolling....in this case, I might mean literally. ;) In addition, hopefully you'll be seeing some changes to the photography and layout of the blog. Be excited!!! Stay tuned!!!

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Thou shalt not live by the seat of your pants.

So…I need to lose weight. I know! Girls say this…and boys groan and people try to make you feel better by saying things like “No you don’t! You are beautiful just the way you are.” People, it’s not about beauty it’s about health and healing and being and longevity and being afraid of diabetes and cancer and scoliosis and the preservation of my body before I die (Did somebody say “EW!” or was I speaking out loud just now?)

It’s no secret that I’m a Christian…and I’ve been trying to read through the Old Testament. I read through the long books ridiculously slowly and when I grow impatient with myself I read the shorter books, finish them and go back. So I’m on the rather long and tedious book of Leviticus that I find myself usually gleaning over because “we are no longer bound by the old laws…blah blah blah” Well, quite frankly…I want to live my life better and more intentionally, and not that I think it’s a sin to eat pig (I rather enjoy myself some bacon) It just leads me to wonder about the rules the Lord lay forth in the ways of cleansing and food consumption among other things. So on my retreat last weekend, I read a book about the “Hallelujah Diet” and discovered the magazine “Spirituality and Health” both of which got me to thinking.

Man...I wish they talked more about this stuff in church.

 I have, for a while now, been skeptical of Peanut Allergies and ADD and ADHD and people with one hundred bazillion allergies. Why are these things on the rise? And why specifically in America? After reading “French Women Don’t Get Fat,” and having lived in Europe, and having several gorgeous European friends and noticing their food preferences. I’m wondering if the search for convenience and almost an “acedic” outlook on our lives hasn’t ‘caused us to be fat, lazy, highly allergic, hyper, unfocused  American people. According to a lot of the research that is more recently coming out about food linked to moods and curing illnesses etc.

I was talking to my doctor the other day, and I think he was a little upset with me that I’ve only lost 10 lbs. Well Dr. May…I’m a little upset with myself. L

How do I structure my life in such a way that I’m productive, prayerful, healthy, active and not stressed out all the time, running from one thing to another and grabbing a 6 piece chicken Mcnugget meal which is TOTALLY within my daily allowance of calories-but I forgot about the Starbucks and donut I had this morning for my intake of sugar and caffeine to get me going this morning? Right?!?! Right.  (That was a GIANORMOUS run on sentence that was grammatically sound! Good job Sarah!) Not to mention I’m physically drained and exhausted by the end of the day, which for all intents and purposes-let’s blame on my job for now.

Well-it’summer. I’m moving in 30 days. New City. New Life. New Me.

I want to make something clear her; I'm not saying a don't want to be spontaneous- I DO want to be spontaneous. I want to leave room in my life for spontaneity I don't feel guilty about.

Reading both the Hallelujah Diet and The Makers Diet Along with Fit For My King and Armed with Eating Well the website and a vintage 1950’s cookbook called “The Bible Cookbook” and a few other supposedly “biblically based” recipe websites. My goal is to lose at least 8 lbs before I move to California, which should ‘cause me to drop another dress size.  But not only that, I want to stop living, loving and eating by the seat of my pants.  And, whoever you 1,000 people are who read my blog, in your hearts, your thoughts and prayers, I would like you to hold me to that.

Today for breakfast I had

Fried eggs and stir fried veggies in olive oil with a cup of lemon water and a cup of mint tea.

For Lunch I ate a really delicious tuna salad  with Chilli Peppers and Peppers and celery with rye crackers and carrot and celery sticks.

Dinner is steak with Slaw and Salad.

It’s amazing how yummy fresh organic from the garden food is!!! When I live in a place I can plant a garden….I’m going to. SOOOOO worth it! It's prettier plated too. Will start to take pictures tomorrow.

After completing everything I’ve set out to do in my life before the age of 30, I figure I didn’t wake up dead this morning because God still has work for me to do down here. 

Wow. 

On to new adventures!

Moving

I am about to move myself to California for both known and unknown reasons for myself. I don't have a job and I will probably be living with my aunt for a bit until I find one, and then find an apartment. I spent the past week on a retreat and felt the Lord give me peace in my move (though the actual process of moving is horrifying me) and some instructions on how to live my life. One morning I sat intrigued by a hibiscus in front of me and began to write. Like an Ogre/ or an onion I have layers...actually the other day I decided I was a darkchocolate blackberry cupcake pie! I think perhaps this is a culmination of my layers and my heart and God speaking to me. A couple people have asked me to write this out and send this to them. I figured my blog was the most convenient way to do this. So I hope it inspires you. :) 

There is nothing that the Lord makes that is still. 

                                           Only things that man makes. 

Things that God makes are ever changing, ever growing. They surprise you-they move-they are never stagnant. They also have the constant potential to delight you. A special and specific "wink" from God.

God breathes life into everything. Even the tiny grains of sand have ancient journeys, or a rock, or a mountain. oh the testimonies and life stories they could tell!

The things of God change. Everything in it's own way. Everything in His will-in His ordering of things. 

Things that man makes do not change unless they undergo destruction by powers of God or by mans own hand-except in the case of Art.

Art can be constantly changing, constantly growing. The difference is, except for in the case of man all things God has made are made as they are ad take on Gods will at any given point in time. 

Butterfly's don't simply decide to stop being butterflies and question their existence or their purpose. Their purpose is to be a beautiful butterfly and a butterfly, speaks the gospel in their butterfly way and brings honor and glory to the Lord. 

The flower opens- just as lovely as a bud as it is now in full grown bloom. Ever changing, yet always, always perfect. A bird hatches out of it's egg blue shell just as fascinating and precious in it's egg as it is a little baby. 

But we, most lovely of all Gods creations-and most definitely most loved above all, have a ways to grow in God's perfecting of us. Perhaps that is why he loves us the most; because He can see our potential- our movement- His constant work-not only in our bodies- but in our minds-hearts and souls.

This work he has completed in the bird and the flower. They will go on doing and being as they were forever meant to do and be.

But God has an individual mission for us, and individual journey in all respects. We will never be the same or experience the same as any other human- unless we choose to- and then what makes us different from the birds and flowers? We're born. We Live. We Die and are forgotten- and nothing came of it, other than the fact that we existed for a brief period in time- and that is all.

I finally DID IT!!!!!

I cooked salmon! I did it! I did it! I was successful! AND it tasted DIVINE! It was almost as good as my experience at Lydia's last year for my birthday....or my first enjoyment of Pad Thai!
So simple! I was inspired by this recipe I found  for Couscous Fruit Salad it suggested pairing it with salmon.
It just so happened that I had salmon in my freezer that I have bought on a wishful thinking whim. Now, I have been trying to lose weight and so began a cleanse last week. Needless to say. I cheated a TEENY TINY bit EVERY DAY and yesterday I felt like I just went absolutely stark raving mad and ate MickyD's Chicken Fingers and Drank a half and half Iced tea. I didn't feel as much guilty as I felt like that was just a gross thing to do to my body. So for dinner I had an asparagus and mushroom stir fry.

Well this morning I woke up, and found I had lost 9lbs (not in the week of course) but I dropped two lbs this past week. So I was much encouraged....well Martha Stewart's cleanse continues on to allow beans and meat in your diet starting Tuesday. I was going to be really good today, and managed until I realized my raspberries and blueberries in my refrigerator were going to go bad if I didn't do something with them quick. I found the above recipe and decided that we could skip on to Tuesday and pretend like yesterday never happened. Fish it is! I love salmon, and if fish is the only meat I can eat this week....well...we have to learn to cook it.

After church, I ran past the grocery store to pick up a nectarine an a few other items. This was the most fruitless (no pun intended) trip I've ever had to the grocery store. The Bananas were green, no nectarines or Peaches or Plumbs. I have a hard time eating non-organic soft skinned fruits anyways...so instead I bought frozen peaches to suffice. Next time I make the couscous salad I'm going to add black berries and strawberries like the picture....maybe some mandarin orange as well.
Couscous CHECK! Even though I can't have a banana in my smoothie tomorrow morning. :(

On to the salmon...
I read some directions...through some olive oil in a pan....salted the fish, a dash of lemon juice, ground up Lemon and Orange Pepper....Cook Five Minutes on One Side, Turn the stove off, five minutes on the other until it's heated through...and Voila! Oh my goodness...these are the kind of meals I have to praise God for WHILE I'm chewing! I mean I'm not ready to cook Fugu or anything.....but fear factor overcome!

Ironic that my past post was about salmon as well.....I love it I love it I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE It!
Posting pics soon!!

Skin and Bones

So FYI Trader Joes Sock Eye canned salmon has bones and skin. For dinner I quickly made a Trader Joes meal of Salmon and Potatoes over arugula....well I thought it was going to be quick...but I'm a dummy.

Talking about Vinaigrettes again...

Trader Joes Frozen Parmesean Potatoes are perfect for the single girl who is not going to eat...let alone bake a whole potatoe for dinner...and it's a quick Gratin. But after cooking the potatoes I commited a faux pas and didn't read the directions the entire way...I thought I was supposed to cook the salmon in the oil and vinegar...anyone ever say oil and vinegar don't mix?  Well yeah...when you have hot oil and you pour vinegar on top of it...it splashes worse than water  first of all...second of all...I opened the can of salmon expecting my typical bumblebee Tuna consistency. Nope. Trader Joes ain't playin' folks. This is the real thing! De-Bone it yourself! I think the can should come with instructions. I LOVE salmon, but other than the canned variety...I'm scared to cook it...and all of a sudden my canned variety has BONES?! After picking my way through the can with a fork, I threw the salmon into the skillet and then realized there was supposed to be buttermilk in there somewhere? Oh yeah?! IN the buttermilk vinaigrette.....

P.S you can use vinegar to make buttermilk out of regular milk...a few drops of vinegar in the milk, let it set for about 4 minutes and voila!

Vinaigrettes and Pepperplate.

P.S Did I mention I LOVE Pepperplate? It's an ap for your phone too. And I recently discovered pintrest, which just eats at my time some days, but I figure I do that anyway so why not share it with everyone.

In conclusion: I've been on a diet for 4 weeks now. Last time I checked, I had lost about 3.5 lbs. So I've been actually just focusing on counting calories, which has helped me in the past. Then I started reading this book about dieting and it kind of scared me about bleached sugars and flours. I also have felt a real drain in energy lately, probably due to the weather and other things, so I started looking up ways to boost your serotonin levels naturally. Consensus being that certain foods release chemicals in your brain, and processed foods make you feel yucky.

This all has a point I promise.

SO! On days when I go over my caloric intake (usually because I ate something heavily caloric and processed out of the vending machine) I usually rely on salads. I've been using meals off of EatingWell.com...which BTW I love, it's like a healthy spin on Epicurious.com...which I also love.

So I've  been discovering making my own vinaigrettes for salads. They are lovely! For instance, yesterday I had a blueberry walnut vinaigrette for my spinach and Blueberry steak salad with fetta cheese. And currently I'm having a strawberry and spinach green salad with a maple pepper vinaigrette. And the other day I made a spinach blueberry salad for my friend, Jax. Vinaigerettes are super quick to make, somewhat healthy and so much more creative than your bottled french dressing. (Though Newmans Own Dressing is to DIE for.) Different flavored peppers from Trader Joes help to switch it up too!



It also helps that I love spinach.

Here I am Again!!!

Sooooo I haven't posted on here in FOR-Ever....and you know what?! I realized something on Friday, I realized I'm a lot more productive when I'm happy. My house gets cleaned, I don't skip showers.... And lately I have been getting out of my funk, (besides my smelly funk :P) and I'm feeling a lot happier these days. A new chapter in my life is about to start. God is good, and all is as it should be, and Sarah is creatively cooking again. She also set her kitchen on fire, and she is now speaking in the third person....but that's a story for another day.

Moving along.

So tonight we have our first gospel community since before Christmas, and we are having a pot luck dinner.    Two of the guys were bringing main courses and I asked them what they were bringing so I could coordinate a side dish accordingly. Brian said he was bringing "Caribbean Jerk Meatballs" sounded good. But I had no idea what that was and couldn't find a recipe. So I figured I'd go with the word "Caribbean" and see what I couldn't come up with...and wouldn't have a ton of ingredients because yet again...I'm pretty broke....come on pay day!!!

I found a recipe for Caribbean Pumpkin and Black Bean Soup.  I read the recipe...seems simple and inexpensive enough...but then it suggested side items, and I just went a little over board with that and ended up with Soup, Sides with Tortillas and Caramelized Pineapple and Coconut with Caramel Macadamia Nut Frozen Yogurt...whoops! And I wasn't even sure how the soup would turn out based on the reviews on epicurious.

Well the Epicurious site was down, and I was desperate for the recipe. Rachel Ray had a similar recipe online so I ended up kind of sort of combining the two and then adding my own spices. So it ended up being the Original Recipe with tomatoes and Cayenne Pepper with a dash of red pepper flakes and pink salt and pepper to taste. I think it turned out pretty good. Not what I'm used too....but I could get used to it. It's pretty yum! Will post pics soon!