One More Saturday Night

Saturday night we got together with our regular “group” for our somewhat regular “appetizer” party.  The host house takes care of the bar while the guests generally bring an appetizer or a light dish.  Being the only non-meat eater in the group, I am always advised to “bring something I will eat.”  While I totally understand, it frustrates me because there are SO many foods we will ALL eat.  Desperately wanting to bridge the gap between the two, and make my “different” eating, less different, I give a lot of thought to what I bring.  Since I also my time in the kitchen, I will often opt to bring a home made dish, instead of grabbing something already prepared.

Saturday night I made a big bowl of hummus (this time with cannellini beans) and a large Israeli salad.  Mitch ran up to Falafel Bistro and picked up 20 falafel balls.  (At 50 cents a piece, these may be the best deal in Parkland and beyond.)  I rounded the whole thing out with some pita bread and not only was it a great appetizer, but also is substantial enough to be an entire meal and cost under 20 dollars to put together.   The remainder of the Israeli salad actually ended up going home with one guest who was trying to eat more healthfully and loved the salad cut up that way.  That always makes me happy!  Shelly and Al are great hosts and we had a blast, as always!  Shelly reminds me how important it is to laugh–and sing–and dance!  The dancing, by the way, definitely helps burn those extra party calories right up!

Apparently I wasn’t the only one blending different food choices this weekend.  Who knew Chelsea Clinton was a vegan?  Apparently since her teenage years.  She even took a course in vegan cooking from the White House staff, before going away to college.  It makes me happy to think that the Clintons don’t just talk the talk, but also walk the walk.  I say this because they not only support choice, but live it.  This is obvious as we witness Chelsea eating the foods she chooses and marrying the man of her choice, as well.  I had some tears as I watched the bride and groom…she in her beautiful (Vera Wang) gown and veil, he in his tux with a yarmulke on his head and a tallis on his shoulders.  I am once again reminded of what Sylna shared with me recently.  When we know the “truth” we don’t need to teach it, we just need to live it.  I am working on that one…thanks again, Sylna.

I am sorry that some of you are unable to view photos.  I think in some cases it is because I take them from my aol mail and copy and paste.  More likely, I need to download them to my computer and then upload them to the blog.  Time is of the essence in the morning, so I am not always able to do that. This morning, for instance I had tons of spam to delete from my comments before I could even get to writing.

Carole, not only were the Beatles telling us to “give peas a chance,” but after watching Sesame Street when the kids were young, I also learned that while I once thought they were singing Let it Be, I learned it was actually–“Letter B, letter B, letter B, yeah letter B….”

Wanted to let you know that I have actually clicked a few of the ads on this site and found some great stuff.  I clicked an add about bananas this weekend and ended up with a great newsletter from the people at Dole, with tons of recipes including bananas and other fruits.  Just know that the links are brought to us by the people at Google and are “safe” links.

Well all the peas in the world are nothing with fitness.  I am off  to get ready for lots of that, today.  I’ll be at TFC this morning for 1/2 hour of cardio, 1/2 hour of mat work.  Then off to train with Jane before hitting Bally for 2 SilverSneaker classes.  I am up to 20 laps in the pool, every other day, so weather permitting its swimming day, as well.  Since the laps only take a short time, its a great way to also get in my necessary dose of Vitamin D, without over-dosing on it!

Happy August.  Have a wonderful Monday.