Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Day 22: Let the Love Flow

Eevory had another rough night so Tom let me sleep until 7:30. I can't remember the last time I slept that late. It has been many months. He also came home for lunch to help me put Mia to bed so that I could practice while she napped.

Eevory took a late nap so she was awake for my practice. She spent most of the practice at the top of my mat, smiling and laughing at me. She would pull herself up to standing while I was in my seated postures so no jumping back today. She would occasionally wander off to find a new toy, but kept returning to the mat to play. I wasn't frustrated that I couldn't devote 100% of my attention to my practice. I was filled with joy and love for my baby girl. For navasana she sat on my lap. I stopped there today since Eevory wanted attention and I wanted to give it to her.

Earlier today, Eevory was almost hurt. I don't want to go into specifics because it scared me more than I've ever been scared in my entire life. I'm not ready to talk about it. She's fine, but I'm still shaken. So, during my practice today all I could think about was how grateful I am that she's OK. I rededicated myself to caring for her and for Mia above all else. After the accident, I didn't put her down for hours.

In a previous post I wrote that my friend Lissa had given me a slow cooker for my birthday. I've used two days in a row and I consider both recipes to be successful. I'd make them again. My favorite was the one I made yesterday - black eyed peas with Swiss chard over soba noodles. It wasn't a one pot dish, but it was still easy.

After my practice, I sautéed some shallots, garlic and carrot in a skillet. I added the mixture to the slow cooker with two cans (Eden organics, no BPA) of black eyed peas with a cup of veggie broth. After 8 hours on low, I added some swiss chard that had been boiled in salted water for 5 minutes. I served it over cooked soba noodles. A vegan dish that tasted meaty and satisfying.

My picky Midwestern husband isn't enthusiastic about trying new things so it took a bit of a sell on my part to get him interested in eating it. He typically won't eat beans so when he saw two cans going into the slow cooker, he was apprehensive. Surprisingly, he ate it with gusto. He kept saying, "This tastes much better than I thought it would."

Even Mia ate some, though mostly just the noodles.

4 comments:

  1. You are the best mama ever! I love the pictures you sent me from Eevy playing on the mat. So heart-meltingly adorable. It was great to see you during lunch, the whole house smelled like tasty crock pot caramelized goodness!

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  2. That sounds delicious! It's hard to come up with something creative and vegan all the time. I'm inspired to try it today!

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  3. Did you try it, Sophia? I'm a huge fan of black eyed peas and have lots of swiss chard growing in my garden right now. I also have lots of kale, so I'll probably harvest that tomorrow and make some lentil and kale soup.

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  4. YEs I did! It was yummy. I didn't use the slow cooker though. I just cooked everything separately. Wow, you have a garden! That's so awesome. I live in Toronto, Canada, so we have too short of a growing season and I don't have much of a yard. I'm so jealous of you Texans!!!

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