tacos Archives - Intentionally Unrefined

A Tiny Home Invader, Brene Brown, and Upcycling In Action

August 24, 2021September 26, 2021

Day 23 of 28 Day Refocus

I don’t startle easily so much anymore, but this little dude, literally, came out of nowhere as we were leaving this morning. This is fair warning if you get squirmy with reptiles, this might not be the place for you. Come to think of it, I post a lot of insect photos, too, so…

Anyway…clearly, this little creature was having the exact same experience of being in the wrong place and, man, was she ever freaked out! Truthfully, I don’t even know where she got off to in the end. Right after I took this photo, she disappeared as quickly as she appeared. Fingers crossed that I don’t find her in an upside down state in a few days…

Cornered, The Condo
Atlantic Beach, FL – August 24, 2021

Parks and Recreation:

Spanish Pond, Timucuan National Preserve
Jacksonville, FL – August 24, 2021

In The Gardens:

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle; The Condo
Atlantic Beach, FL – August 24, 2021

I found a couple of extra trash cans in my guest room closet while I was looking for the right space to put a washer and dryer in the condo. I was about to put them in the Goodwill bin, but decided that I would re-plant some tomatoes instead. I’m going to have to start moving some of these seedlings to the garden soon. It might seem like I am planting a ton of plants and that’s because I am. The clock is ticking down to tour and the end of my time playing in the soil, for now. I think that the 9’ sunflowers will probably be my most successful planting endeavor, but I am looking forward to the fall season.

Mammoth Sunflowers, The Condo
Atlantic Beach, FL – August 24, 2021

Sweating It Out:

It was such a nice “return from the rest day” pace and there was a good special on the TV, so I added a bonus mile.

What I Watched:

This particular Netflix special is one that I return to again and again. For those of you that don’t know of Brene, we must not be spending enough time together. She is one of my heroes and, by far, one of the most inspirational people to me in terms of trying to understand…well…a lot of things. She is a shame and vulnerability researcher, but she is also a professor, a business woman, an author, and a tremendous storyteller. Her books are all over my house and Kindle and her two podcasts, Unlocking Us and Dare To Lead, are among my favorites. This talk is really grounding for me, so I was happy to keep at it on the treadmill while she kept talking.

On The Plates:

Goodness was all over the plates today! Brunch was, per usual this month, my standard green drink, but I had a pretty grain packed day after that. Supper was my new favorite meal of grass fed beef cubed steak with coconut milk buckwheat and green beans. I’m not saying that I licked the plate, but I definitely used a green bean to scrape up the last bits of yumminess. I meal prepped the buckwheat and steak yesterday and the green beans cooked in the skillet that I used to reheat everything. I’ll probably have the same thing tomorrow, but with a different veggie.

Dinner was equally fast, but not quite as successful due to a structural failure. This is my third package of this brand of sprouted corn tortillas and I haven’t had this problem until now. The tortillas seem to be much drier and more crumbly than the past packages, but the meal was good, so I didn’t care and ate it more like a salad. They were very well seasoned scrambled egg tacos with pickled carrots, red onion and green peppers on mixed greens.
I ended the day with a pear that was close to the size of my head and two servings of cashews. Today is one of my two “Under 1700 Calorie” days for this week of my four week challenge. The other five days, my goal is to keep under 1500 calories.

Cronometer:

Garmin Says:

Easing back into it and feeling strong heading into Week 4! I’m keeping the goals the same for the last week of the challenge. A minimum of 15,000 steps per day, including a 5 mile stretch of any pace over 4.0mph or a 15minute/mile (meaning 5 miles of exercise, not activity), plus three days of resistance training. I think I can nail it. Everything is started to get a little more routine and moving, in general, is easier as my body re-adapts to purposeful movement. I remember how this becomes addictive again.

Stay safe and moving, y’all!

Taco Tuesday, Val Kilmer, and San Marzano Sprouts

August 17, 2021September 26, 2021

Day 16 of 28 Day Refocus

Jack Russell Park
Atlantic Beach, FL – August 17, 2021

We headed out for a neighborhood walk this morning and hit up our favorite parks. The water is starting to recede a bit, so we moved a little faster this morning. The dangerous part about walking during the summer storm season is that, sometimes, you think it’s a safe path through the grass and the next thing you know, you are stepping into an ankle deep puddle that was cleverly disguised by said grass. It reminds me of trick puddles on NYC street corners…you think they are snow and ice, but you are wrong…and now your shoes are wet. Wet sneakers are pretty much a daily occurrence around these parts no matter the season, I have learned…and Codee just suffers through lots of baths.

Howell Park
Atlantic Beach, FL – August 17, 2021

“Maybe I can get in over here…” – Codee
Howell Park
Atlantic Beach, FL – August 17, 2021

In The Gardens:

It’s still too hot to move these to the garden, but we’re getting close. Most of the sprouts are San Marzano tomatoes, with one tiny Purple Peacock Broccoli sprout in there, and they mostly came up really fast. As I have mentioned before, my balcony faces east, so I get great sunlight in the morning. The end of the direct sunlight comes right around 12:30, saving them from baking all afternoon. They lean so far towards the sun that I have to keep rotating the pots to keep them growing straight.

Full Pots, The Upcycle Balcony Victory Garden
Atlantic Beach, FL – August 17, 2021

On The Beach:

Sweating It Out:

Above 95 degrees outside means an inside treadmill wog with 3lb dumbbells.

What I Watched:

What a collection of footage he has! I may have only been 8 years old when Top Gun came out, but I feel like his movies were such a huge part of my teenage years. I mean, come on. How great are Willow and Real Genius?

On The Plates:

Taco Tuesday!!! These were Lola Farms chorizo tacos with sauteed leeks and homemade pickles. I served them with some zucchini slices that I brushed with avocado oil and broiled for about 15 minutes. Truth be told, I’m guessing at that number because I really just keep my eyes on it. The broiler and I have a history and I have learned the hard way that I shouldn’t get distracted while I have something under it. It’s best to just check it often because it might have been closer to 10 and, anyway, your oven will be different. Or, you could grill the zucchini and that would be delicious. I’m not allowed to have a charcoal or gas grill here…HOA rules say electric only…so the broiler is the way to go for me.
I also had my daily green drink and peanut treat, along with a quinoa bowl with very little imagination and thought, but I was hungry and it did a fantastic group of fixing that problem.