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Tag: Chicken salad

Insect Crossing, Guitar Case Chard, and Sandra Oh

Day 19 of 28 Day Refocus

Jacksonville Arboretum and Botanical Gardens
Jacksonville, FL – August 20, 2021

It seems silly to drive for a walk, but the sun can be pretty relentless around here…when it’s not stormy…even in the morning. I suppose we could get going earlier, but we’re not that kind of team. As expected, the best place to find the shade is at the Arboretum, but even there we’re doing fairly short morning activities. As many times as I have been now, I still see something new and beautiful every time wander through their trails. We had kind of hit a stride when I took this photo and, full disclosure, the shot was for the flower, but I guess this guy was out for a stroll as well.

Jacksonville Arboretum and Botanical Gardens
Jacksonville, FL – August 20, 2021

In The Gardens:

Guitar Case Greens, The Condo
Atlantic Beach, FL – August 20, 2021

It got so much bigger than I expected! I love growing chard even if I don’t usually eat what I grow. I lose a lot to weather and I’m on borrowed time now, but I think it’s so pretty with the bright, contrasting stalks.

Honey Nut Squash, The Condo
Atlantic Beach, FL – August 20, 2021

On The Beach:

We’re deep into the rhythm of August with heavy mornings, afternoon thunderstorms, and clear perfect evenings, so I have been trying to make up for our lack of distance during our evening walks. I have varying success with the exercise part, but we have fun on the beach regardless of heart rate. It’s never a waste of time to come to the beach.

Atlantic Beach, FL – August 20, 2021

Sweating It Out:

My pace today varied from 4.2 to 6.0 with the majority of around 5.6 and I held 3lb dumb bells for 4 of the 5 miles. Nice and even…unlike the weather outside.

What I Watched:

I am loving all the female driven content! Especially, shows that are discussing some of the realities of breaking into a predominantly male environment when you are not one of them. Specifically, the emotional care that we are expected to present to our older male counter because they might get their feelings hurt when they realize they aren’t in charge anymore. This was a good watch and Sandra Oh delivers a great character. I hope they make Season 2.

On The Plates:

Today’s menu was all about the heat of summer. My standard green drink, raw veggie snacks, and a delicious blended frozen blueberry cashew banana jar (phew…I need a better name and not Nice Cream). Okay, that was my biggest calorie meal, but supper was the only one on a plate. The other day, I listened to a Leslie Jordan interview and he mentioned that he makes chicken salad a lot and now that I have made my own mayo, I’m all about it. I wish I had hard boiled eggs in the fridge like his mama used to use, but this version has capers, tons of sauteed leeks, and a touch of Dijon. Complimented by some veggies, it makes the perfect summer plate. Maybe I should have eaten those mushrooms a few days ago, but they were still tasty. It was just a snacky kind of day which isn’t terribly unusual for me. This is why logging is so important for me though, because if I’m not paying attention, the snacking can get out of hand…pun intended. 😉

Cronometer:

Garmin Says:

Keep calm and carry on or something like that… I know it’s redundant, but I’m feeling really proud of my consistency nearing the end of Week 3.

Stay safe and moving, y’all!!!

Zucchini Carrot Egg Bake Fail and Some Views of The Balcony Victory Garden

Day 6 of 28 Day Refocus

Upcycle Balcony Victory Garden, The Condo
Atlantic Beach, FL – August 7, 2021

Here in Florida, the pandemic rages on, so I figured I might as well make use of that balcony furniture with plants. In between the community garden and the farmers market, we headed to Lowe’s because goodness knows what I need is another bag of potting soil, she says sarcastically. It’s really a race against time now, so I better get a few more seeds started…Before I had a car and a Codee, I would frequent my local Ace, but Codee needs practice inside new public places and most Lowe’s are dog friendly. I might have to start going to a different one though because he has gotten so used to it that he waits at the register for a treat before we leave. Insider tip, they have a container of treats under the register and some employees give them out and some don’t. Codee thinks it should be mandated…like masks should be. 🙂

Potted Pepper
Upcycle Balcony Victory Garden, The Condo
Atlantic Beach, FL – August 7, 2021

I am a little surprised that the potted pepper plant is actually fruiting, but it’s awesome that it is. While we were at the community garden, I discovered that I had been robbed…I can only imagine that whatever ripped these peppers from the plant yesterday needed them very badly…they weren’t even ripe.

Violated Pepper Plant
Dig Local Community Garden, Dutton Island Road
Atlantic Beach, FL – August 7, 2021

In The Sand:

Codee Coolin’ It Down
Atlantic Beach, FL – August 7, 2021

Never one to go much past the break, Codee does love to run into the ocean to cool off. After a few minutes, we typically retreat to the shade of the pier. It was a remarkably calm day for a Saturday….which is exactly perfect for me.

The view from under the The Cloisters pier.
Atlantic Beach, FL – August 7, 2021

On The Streets Where I Live:

Just a passing shower
Atlantic Beach, FL – August 7, 2021
Turtle Love, Beach Blvd
Atlantic Beach, FL – August 7, 2021

Sweating It Out:

It was a rest day for any programmed strength training, though I find that I have picked back up on the habit of my teeny tiny body weight workouts while doing other things….like single leg balance holding the water can straight out in front of me while it’s filling or modified push ups on the counter while I wait for the water filter container to fill…I do a lot of waiting for water, but a lot of women have to walk for clean water, so I can do a few push ups, right?


Initially, I bought the treadmill to mitigate a few limiting factors in my quest to get a bit more exercise. I wasn’t sure if it would be another waste of money, so I bought a relatively inexpensive one that has a folding handle and can go under my desk. There is a maximum speed of 7.6mph, though I don’t typically go that fast. I have put about 100 miles of actual running (6.6mph) on it in addition to all of my walks and wogs, so I am starting to feel like I have gotten a return on my investment. Just this week alone, it has helped me reach my goal at least three times. It’s so much more difficult to come up with excuses when you shop out your limiting factors. 😉

What I Watched:

Streaming on Netflix, it’s a great introduction to the remarkable world of fungi. The more we learn, the more we don’t know what we don’t know, it seems.

On The Plates:

Today’s meals started like all the others this week with my Green Drink for “brunch” at 2PM. I had gotten away from adding the chia seeds in the past year, but now that I have them back, I’m into the texture. It does mean blending the whole thing at full for longer, but it’s worth it. Otherwise, you get really big chunks.

Supper was so good for little work. I roasted a couple of skin on chicken breasts the other day, so I had one in the fridge. I removed the skin and cut it up into a large dice. I added 2tbsp of Coconut Amino Gochujang Sauce and a little full fat coconut milk and stirred everything up in a mason jar, lidded it, and put it back in the fridge for four-ish hours. Then, when we got back from a walk a mixed up Chris Morocco’s chickpea pancake batter. I didn’t read his cooking instructions or make anything else in the recipe, but the batter was good. It’s four ingredients after all…
I heated my pan to a low medium and added a little toasted sesame oil….I added more to the pan mid flip as well so that both sides got it….I would almost say pan fried, but not quite.They were super light and crispy. (https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/chickpea-pancakes-with-kale-and-fennel)
Then I cranked the heat, added the green beans and let them cook for a few minutes. Instead of using water to steam them, I used tamari and it reduced down in the process. I added a splash of tamari to the hot pan and then covered it super quickly. A few minutes later, they were on the plate. Two thumbs up, if I do say so myself.

Gochujang Chicken, Chickpea Pancakes, and Tamari Steamed Green Beans
Atlantic Beach, FL – August 7, 2021

Dinner was not quite as successful, but it still tasted good and I grew the greens in my hydroponic garden, so it was not a complete loss on the excitement front. It was going to be a zucchini and carrot frittata, but I forgot that last time I used the Ninja for a frittata, I used 6 eggs… This one had four and two of them got added at the last minute. I was thinking of other things and more focused on the veggies, but of course two eggs isn’t enough….neither is four. It just ends up being too thin. Like I said, it was late and, truthfully, as long as they are actual eggs and not powdered eggs, I pretty ,ugh like them all. The carrots got just soft enough and air frying the zucchini earlier in the day really helped keep it from being too watery. I ate the whole thing (not pictured), so I’m going to chalk it into the win category even though it isn’t perfect.

Cronometer:

It was a pretty even keeled day with some really delicious bites.

Garmin Says:

Clearly, we’re coming to the end of the week. This makes a streak of 6 days hitting my step and calories (according to an algorithm) burned. One more to go.

113 Days Until Load In…Stay safe and moving, y’all!