Hello, my name is Jan and I am an addict

If you are reading this, you know me well and know that last summer I changed my lifestyle as it relates to food consumption.  I've been pretty good except for the last four weeks.  I have come to the realization that I am a sugar addict.  It all started with one chai tea latte on a crisp fall morning.  This program that I've been following with great success -- goodbye 35 pounds of flab -- calls for no refined sugar.  That means fruit sugar is okay... as long as it's still in the fruit when you eat it.

My chai tea lattes were my gateway drug.  I wasn't happy with just a cuppa cuppa in the morning.  It led to biscotti at break, peanut clusters to pummel PMS, mochas in the market.  It was out of control.  I planned my driving routes based on where the nearest fix was.  I even went so far as to get a supplier in Bend, Oregon, that would set me up with wholesale prices.  Now, that, my friend, is a serious addiction.


Though I haven't gained any weight as a result of my "problem," I know that it's contributing to the aging process, the aches in my muscles and the overall sluggishness that I sometimes feel.


No matter how hard I tried to cut down -- I came up with a schedule to imbibe only on certain days of the week -- I was continually drawn to the latte hut near the bus station, the SBC RedBox at the grocery store or <gasp!> the coffee cart in my building.  I won't mention my Sunday morning coffee dates that I've been taking for about nine years with my husband.  I think Starbucks puts crack in their coffee (or milk for those of us who do not drink coffee).   I really know that it's the sugar that keeps me coming back.  Sugar is highly addictive.  It's toxic for our bodies and yet we consume it.  I wouldn't put crack or methamphetamine or any other elicit drug in my body because I know it's bad for me -- and probably would land me in the Gray Bar Motel -- so why do I consume sugar at such an alarming rate?  Perhaps because it's legal and accepted.  But I digress...   



Enter... LENT!  What a fine time to break the cycle!  Today, Ash Wednesday, is Day 1 with no sugar.  Yesterday was Fat Tuesday.  I celebrated with... no, not pancakes, but by having my final chai on my bus ride to work.  I finished off the day with a box of Junior Mints that were screaming at me from those little racks near the checkout.  They scream loud, I tell you.


So what does it mean to "give something up" for Lent?  For me I see this as a struggle, as a huge sacrifice.  Oh, wait... isn't that what Lent is all about?  We are to acknowledge the sacrifice that Jesus made for us on the Cross.  Think of the struggle Mary had when she handed over her son for us.  I can give up my sugar.  I know I can.  I expect it to be a daily pull to enter the dark side, but through prayer and remembering why I'm doing this, I know I will make it.  I don't intend to go back to my old sugary ways come Easter, but it's too early to tell.  Six and a half weeks should be enough time to cleanse my entire system of the sweet stickiness that currently swims in my veins.

Will you join me on my journey?   I won't, however, give up my Sunday dates.  The order may be just orange tea, but you will still catch me sitting in the big leather chairs of our local Starbucks catching up with my hubby on the week's details.

build a bridge today

The Bridge Builder

By Will Allen Dromgoole 1860–1934
 

An old man going a lone highway,

Came, at the evening cold and gray,

To a chasm vast and deep and wide.

Through which was flowing a sullen tide

The old man crossed in the twilight dim,

The sullen stream had no fear for him;

But he turned when safe on the other side

And built a bridge to span the tide.

“Old man,” said a fellow pilgrim near,

“You are wasting your strength with building here;

Your journey will end with the ending day,

You never again will pass this way;

You’ve crossed the chasm, deep and wide,

Why build this bridge at evening tide?”

The builder lifted his old gray head;

“Good friend, in the path I have come,” he said,

“There followed after me to-day

A youth whose feet must pass this way.

This chasm that has been as naught to me

To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be;

He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;

Good friend, I am building this bridge for him!”

Too Yummy for my Tummy

Last summer the family & I went to a restaurant in Eugene, OR called Cafe Yumm.  A little place that, at first glance, seemed a little strange.  A healthy menu, order at the counter with table service.  I've been dreaming of a Yumm Bowl ever since and now with the great benefit of GOOGLE, I was able to make our very own Yumm Bowl.  This comes as a great benefit because it was either replicate it or buy a franchise into Cafe Yumm, and the beloved husband was having none of it!  I guess a close duplication is better than investing $250k in something that perhaps not everyone on South Hill would appreciate as much as we do.  So tonight we tried them and I would say it will do... until my next trip to Oregon, that is.  You can buy the sauce by the case from the company, but I modified the recipe just a bit to make this as healthy as everyone knows I eat (most of the time).  You will see my changes in parenthesis.  Try one for yourself.  You may be pleasantly surprised.  

YUMM BOWL!

For the Yumm Sauce:

• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup grape seed or canola oil  (omitted)
• 1/2 cup almond meal or finely chopped almonds (used whole)
• 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/2 cup cooked garbanzo beans (omitted)
• 1/4 cup cooked soybeans or 1/3 cup tofu (used 1 c. cannellini beans)
• 1-2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried cilantro

For the original Yumm Bowl:

• Brown rice, cooked
• Black beans, cooked
• Shredded cheddar cheese (omitted)
• Salsa
• Diced fresh tomato
• Sliced fresh avocado
• Sliced black olives
• Sour cream (omitted)
• Fresh cilantro sprigs
• (subbed in cucumber)

directions

For the Yumm Sauce:

• 1
  In a small measuring cup, mix together the water and lemon juice. In a separate small measuring cup, measure out the appropriate amount of oil. Set both aside.
• 2
  In a blender or food processor, process the almonds, nutritional yeast, garbanzo beans, soybeans or tofu, garlic, salt, curry, oregano, and cilantro together until almost fully ground, about 15 seconds.
• 3
  Scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula. With the machine running, add lemon juice-water mixture in steady stream through feed tube. Scrape down bowl and continue to process for 1 minute. With the machine running, add the oil mixture in a steady stream through feed tube; continue to process until the sauce is smooth and creamy, about 15 seconds, scraping down bowl as needed.
  (who reads instructions?  Not me... I just threw it in the VitaMix & blended til smooth)
• 4
  Transfer the sauce to a clean bottle or jar, cover, and refrigerate overnight to allow the flavors to blend.

To assemble the Yumm Bowl:

• 1
  Place a scoop of brown rice in an individual-sized serving bowl, then layer a scoop of black beans over the rice. Drizzle the rice and beans with a desired amount of Yumm Sauce, then sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese over the rice.
• 2
  Spoon a dollop of salsa in the middle of the bowl, then spoon the tomato, avocado, and olives around the perimeter. Place a dollop of sour cream in the center of the bowl, garnish with some cilantro sprigs, and serve.