“I Have a Dream”

Good morning to you, on this day that we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, a peace aspiring man, who believed in a dream that his “four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”  Thank you, Dr. King, for dreaming of peace and equality.  You make us all better human beings and today we celebrate you and work to honor your dream.

This weekend, my friend Joy, mentioned her son was training at a gym called Crossfit and hadn’t I heard about it.  “Oh, it’s the newest thing,” she said.  Apparently her son claims as fit as he is (and he is having gotten himself in tip top shape while serving abroad in the US Air Force) the workouts at this gym are kicking his ass.  I googled it this morning. This gym/workout, which claims to “not be like other franchise gyms,” is a gym that appears to be all over (I would assume they are a franchise) but each location has it’s own sub name.  In Ft. Lauderdale, it’s called Crossfit Affliction while in other locations its called Crossfit with a different “last name.”  From what I am reading, this is what athletic training for the already athletic looks like!  Boot-camp on steroids.  Biggest Loser last chance workout for those that already are fit.  A clearly insane version of Insanity.  No, I WILL NOT be trying this place any time soon.  The words AGE APPROPRIATE keep going through my head. This being peaceandFITNESS, I love to keep up with what’s new and what’s hot so, if you know someone young, already in good shape, but looking for something to challenge their fitness level in a way that definitely looks anything but boring, you might suggest they see if there’s a Crossfit location near them and good luck to them!

Yesterday at the Farmers Market there were a lot of vendors and the produce looked gorgeous.  Along with many other things, I bought brussel sprouts which I cut in half and mixed together with just 3 or 4 small fingerling potatoes that I also cut in half.  Tossing them together with a bit of olive oil and kosher salt, they roasted in the oven for about a half an hour.  Not sure if it was because the brussel sprouts were from the farmer’s market, or because they were cooked with potatoes or what, but honestly they were THE BEST we have ever had.  Crazy good…like candy.  Seriously.

Thanks to a recipe Dolores from New York sent weeks and weeks ago, I also made a pot of yellow split pea/bean/barley chowder.  This being my second “cooking soup on Sunday,” experience, I already feel pretty comfortable in the idea that soup can be most anything you want as long as you cook the ingredients long enough to get soft.  Again, I froze enough for this Thursday nights feast (Sunday to Thursday seems to long to keep in the fridge, so I will freeze the soft, as I did last week, till Wednesday night and then take it back out).  The soup calls for already cooked, diced chicken to be added before serving so I cooked up a Gardein chicken cutlet, (4 or so minutes on the stove top or grill) and diced it up and put it in my soup which really did make it in into an entire meal.  With the brussel sprouts and a fresh garden salad with lots of gorgeous (and different) tomatoes from the tomato guys at the market, it was an awesomely nutritious, yummy Sunday night dinner.  I will share the recipe for the soup, later on this week. Thanks, Dolores for sending that recipe!

Have a magnificent Monday.  I will be at TFC this morning for a cardio/mat work combo.  Then I’ll be at Bally for 2 SilverSneakers classes.  If you are lucky enough to have a day off from work, take advantage of getting your workouts in early in the day!  I’ll be squeezing a run into my day, for sure, as I get more serious about taking off the couple of pounds I put on over the holidays.  My time is TODAY.  Make today your day, and keep working on YOUR dreams of peace…and fitness!