My First Week Of Vegetarian Menus

Posted on February 19, 2013 by Coco

As you may have seen, I decided to give up meat for Lent. After only a few days, it became clear that I need to do more menu planning and develop a repertoire of quick vegetarian meals that I can throw together when I get home from work–otherwise I will be living off of frozen meals for the next 40 days. Luckily, I had some time over the weekend to plan out a few home-cooked meals. Here’s a look at my first week of vegetarian menus.

Ash Wednesday20130218-182728.jpg

Valentine’s Day
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Saturday20130218-182744.jpg

(Does anyone have a recipe for a popular potluck salad that has ramen noodles?)

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Tuesday20130218-182756.jpg

(Yes, Monday and Tuesday are the same–we’ve got lots of leftovers already!)

Have you seen my basic black bean soup recipe?

Basic Black Bean Soup

For the spinach quiche, I used a 10 oz. package of frozen, chopped spinach
(thawed and squeezed dry) in my quiche recipe.

Spinach Quiche

(heading in to the oven …)

I was worried that it would be too much spinach for my husband, but he liked it so much he took leftovers for lunch on Tuesday!

Do you plan out weekly menus?

Posted in Food | Tagged , | 11 Comments

Put On Your Own Oxygen Mask First

Posted on February 18, 2013 by Coco

When I was losing weight and learning how to take care of myself, the idea of “putting on my own oxygen mask first” really resonated with me. Instead of feeling guilty about taking time to eat right and exercise, I realized that I needed to take care of myself in order to be able to take care of my family and do what needed to be done at work. Just like the flight attendants tell us, you need to put on your own oxygen mask first–only then can you really help others.

oxygen mask

When I started to make exercise a part of my daily routine, it didn’t take me long to realize that if I didn’t exercise first thing in the morning, it would be hard to take time for a workout later in the day. Work demands kept me chained to my desk all day, and I already was juggling dinner, homework, and school events in the evenings. I learned to get up at o’dark-thirty for my “rise and shine” exercise time.

Rise + Shine Alarm

I pared my morning routine down to the essentials–workout, shower, breakfast–so I could fit it all in before we had to leave the house to get the kids to school on time. Now that my kids are in college, the fear of traffic still gets me out of the house pretty early, but I have squeezed more and more into my morning routine.

Now, my days start with a walk with Tiger Lilly.

Tiger Lilly Shoe 1

When we get back from our 1 mile loop around the block, I do my own workout, and then get ready for work. I eat breakfast at home, and spend 20-30 minutes catching up on Facebook, Twitter and my favorite blogs. By the time I leave for work, I’ve usually been up for 2.5 hours!

An essay in the March issue of Good Housekeeping made me realize that my whole morning routine is my oxygen mask. The exercise time helps me take care of my body, but the social media time helps me take care of my soul. I am fortified by updates, encouragement, and inspiration from my friends and social media networks, and starting my day with things that interest me personally helps me face whatever traffic jams, work emergencies, and back-to-back conference calls the rest of the day may bring.

Do you put on your own oxygen mask first?

Posted in Fitness, Life | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

God’s Love Never Ends

Posted on February 17, 2013 by Coco

Now that you’ve eaten the best chocolates out of your Valentine’s assortment and your Valentine’s flowers have started to fade, it’s a good time to remember that God’s love for us is enduring–it outlasts every “Hallmark holiday” and withstands all of our faults.
Empty Box of Chocolates

If you’ve been to a Christian wedding, you’ve probably heard these words from
1 Corinthians 13:

Love is patient;
Love is kind;
Love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude.
It does not insist on its own way;
It is not irritable or resentful;
It does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. 
It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends.

If you are disappointed that your partner did not give you “a Valentine’s Day to remember,” keep in mind that what really matters is that your love for each other goes deeper.
Hearts

Love that will grow and endure is watered with kindness and patience, in soil that is fertilized with truth and hope and weeded of envy and self-importance. That kind of love will carry you through the trials and tribulations that life will bring your way, even if the road is not paved with diamonds or lined with roses.

Heart Plants God’s love never ends!

Posted in Life, My Faith | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Why I Love Running

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Coco

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Posted in Fitness | Tagged | 14 Comments

***Ash Wednesday***

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Coco

Today is Ash Wednesday, which marks the start of Lent, a 40-day period of repentance and reflection that many Christians observe before Easter.

(source)

Although Ash Wednesday is a solemn holy day in the church calendar, it is not all doom and gloom. In fact, I really love the liturgy of the Ash Wednesday service in the Episcopalian Book of Common Prayer. The opening prayer gets me right away:

Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have created and forgive the sins of all who are penitent.

I think being reminded of God’s forgiveness before we confess our sins reinforces God’s unconditional love for us.

On of the readings usually is Psalm 103, which includes these verses:

The Lord is full of compassion and mercy,
slow to anger and full of great kindness.

He will not always accuse us,
nor will he keep his anger forever.

He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
nor rewarded us according to our wickedness.

As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our sins from us.

To me, this Psalm is a reminder that God sees us apart from our shortcomings and wrong-doings. While we tend to define ourselves by our worst traits, God loves our whole selves.

After the Bible readings, the service continues with an invitation to observe a holy Lent, which begins:

Dear People of God . . .

I just love that phrase–maybe because it connotes a sense of belonging to God.

With the imposition of ashes the priest reminds us:

Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

Ash Wednesday Selfie

 

While this may strike some as a macabre part of the service, I see it as a needed reminder of my place in God’s creation. So often I get caught up in myself and my own abilities–I think I can do anything, that I have to do everything–that I forget to place my faith and trust in God. It also is a good reminder that our days on this earth are numbered and so we should spend them wisely.

For the first time in ages, I am giving up something for Lent.  I also am renewing my efforts at daily prayer, and making time for the Daily Prayer podcasts based on the New Zealand Book of Common Prayer.

Are you giving up anything or committing to do anything for Lent?

If you got ashes today, has anyone told you that you have a smudge on your forehead?

Posted in My Faith | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments