I'm a Daiyan'!

Today is Yoga Thursday. Woot! And it couldn't come at a better time considering my hips and lower back are going "and why exactly did you decide to do your cardio workout on a 2-7% incline at that speed for that long?"

Yesterday was a day full of good, wonderful surprises. I discovered, driving through the ever-pleasant Anchorage rush hour traffic, that a dear friend from high school has moved back to Anchorage. In fact, said friend has been working right around the corner from my house. What a coinky-dink. Another friend has discovered the beauty of yoga and is doing well in his new location, and I had the joy of accompanying my Lovely Writer Friend (from here on out referred to as LWF) on a walk with the happy go lucky/drag queen looking male poodle she is dog sitting. Yesterday was full of so many surprises, it appeared, that passing out at 10pm, dead cold, was the best thing for me.

So. The menu for today.

I'm a breakfast person. When I say that I'm a breakfast person, I mean that I'm entirely sure I could eat all things related to breakfast food (excluding meat, I will say) all day, everyday, and have done so before for months on end with a smile on my face and a song in my heart. I've been known to sing off-tune and short arias to my oatmeal. They go something like this, to the tune of the opening of that song in the Phantom of the Opera where Christine's friend is asking her "Christine, Christine . . . where in the world have you been hiding": Oatmeal, oatmeal! You are so good, tasty, and yummy. Truly you are perfect! I cannot heat you in the microwave, so you must go with yogurt!"

Really, it sometimes gets out of hand. Just add some potatoes O'Brien to it, and I'd have a full blown musical on my hands. Jazz hands and tapping included.

Anyway. I dig breakfast. I wake ravenous, almost always, for breakfast. For the last year, though, I've been in a crazy toast kick. I work this way, also: I find a food I like and I will eat it until I can no longer bring myself to eat it everyday. I'm not there on toast yet. It took three years of exclusive oatmeal for breakfast eating, to move on from it. Toast with peanut or almond butter. Nom. Nom. Nom. And MEH got me hooked on this great peanut butter from The Peanut Butter Company. Get this folks: it's Dark Chocolate peanut butter. Oh. My. Paired with some trusty orange juice and spelt bread, it's quite deelish:

Two tablespoons (which, for anyone who's actually tried eating two tablespoons of any peanut butter on anything knows this is just a ridiculous amount of peanut butter) only have 170 calories, 6 grams of protein, and 4 grams of carbohydrates. that's almost half the calories of regular peanut butter and the same protein/carb content. Woo! And here is the real clincher: It's all natural and certified vegan! Ah! Amazing! Greatness! Holy Buckets of Strawberry Jam!

I've gotten several coworkers in the past hooked to this stuff. You can even order it by mail. Or get some of their other fun stuff on their website . Yay!

And on the at-work-need-food-menu, we have:

From left to right we have the second to last slice of my chocolate cream pie, Daiya Italian Vegan cheez, vegan quiche ala VeggieMama, organic mango, organic cucumber, and organic cantaloupe.

It's no wonder that the most frequently asked rhetorical question in my office is "are you eating again?" Goodness. I discovered Daiya through my good friend Allison last week, who discovered it through the Green and Crunchy blog. I actually called her elation from Natural Pantry saying "THEY HAVE DAIYA! AHHH!" and have found myself saved thanks to the Italian shredded and non-shredded cheese. Melt it on some tortillas, add some salsa, and voila!, bliss!

Are you a frequent snacker, or a big meal eater? Or, are you somewhere in between?

Mantra for the Day: "Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha," translated, it means: "gone, gone, gone beyond, gone utterly beyond, Enlightenment, hail!" I discovered this mantra, which is actually from the Heart Sutra, when reading The Heart of Understanding by Thich Nhat Hanh. I have found it to be peaceful, albeit a little longer than some I use frequently, and when read in conjunction with the rest of the Heart Sutra, absolutely wonderful. The Heart of Understanding really expounds upon this, and is a beautiful short (maybe 90 page) read.

Question of Gratitude: Who or what am I thankful for today? I am thankful for my dear friend who has relocated to Idaho this past year. Every time I talk to him, he is fully of a joy and enthusiasm for life and friends that I have yet to find equalled by anyone. He is a truly beautiful being and I am so thankful to call him a friend. Thanks, D, for being so . . so . . . you!