I’m going to sit down, Enjoy my Dolce Gusto Chai Tea Latte and relax! I’ll see you guys tomorrow

We got to watch a good bit of golf this weekend, and tonight we found the final round of the tournament we had been watching yesterday. We really like watching golf. I find it relaxing and exciting all at the same time. The drama builds slowly, but it’s gripping when you get into it.

So, today at lunch I saw a few things that you might find weird, but left me pretty much unfazed. I was facing the front of the restaurant, which was simply a large opening to the street. It took a few minutes, but about the third time the rat scurried across the opening it finally registered on my consciousness. I thought, “Well, as long as he doesn’t come in…”

Then a lady came to the opening, begging. I firmly shook my head “no” but some of the other restaurant patrons must have looked a little more undecided, because she stayed for quite a while. I gave her an A for persistence, but that’s all I gave her.

Unfortunately, on one of his passes across the opening, the rat encountered the beggar, and was startled. He veered into the restaurant and scurried along the far wall (fortunately). Just about half-way in, however, he decided this was not the place for him and turned and ran out again.

But really, for where we live that was all pretty par for the course.

Dodged rain all day. I left the restaurant in sprinkles and VERY gray skies. Rode a covered tuk-tuk to my next meeting, which was at my regular coffee shop. Got there, settled in with a hot chai tea latte, and then it just poured. SO hard. Mr. told me that here at home, the kitty did not like the noise of pounding rain on the tin roofs around us. So she went in to his office to be closer to him.

I’m still struggling to let her go to God. It doesn’t necessarily mean I have to give her up, or that I get to keep her. It does mean that I must be submitted to Him in this matter, so that I am open to hear from Him when He does show me what is best. I want to come in line with Him on this. I know it will be best for all of us.

But in the mean time, I am going to enjoy her for as long as I can. She certainly is a little furry bit of joy.

So by the time my meeting ended, it had slowed to a light drizzle. I walked home, because here that doesn’t actually count as rain. I didn’t get too wet. Again, just part of life here in rainy season.

And Mr. just made me a gin and tonic. Good man. He’s nice to have around.

I hate flying. You may have discovered this fun fact from my acrobatic flight post. To help cope with the panic, I have developed three rituals: twizzlers, chai tea, and moleskine.

I nervous eat Twizzlers like a kid that’s just broken out of fat camp, to the dismay of passengers around me. I drink a grande Chai Tea Latte with one pump of vanilla. Finally, I write in my moleskine, a book filled with random thoughts, doodles, business plans, anything that pops into my head really.

On my way home, London!

I have been communicating in one form or another all day today. Whew.

Started off with a skype coaching call. (Well, no, I actually started the day off playing with the kitty, having devotions, and exercising. Good way to start the day!) But at 8 I skyped with a friend who is coaching me. I really needed some help thinking things through.

Then I got right to work on answering some e-mails. I read posts for my on-line class. I needed to post some replies of my own, so I started researching to compose my responses.

At about 11:30 I met with a friend for coaching and general visiting and encouragement. It poured down rain so we waited it out at the coffee shop, since I was walking home, and she was taking a motorbike. They STILL don’t have decaf, by the way. Chai tea latte again. Sigh.

Home again, later than I had intended because of the downpour. Resumed my research. Typed and posted my responses. Mr. heated up leftovers for supper. A little TV. Then I wrote our weekly newsletter. Now I’m typing this blog.

And the kitty wonders why I am not playing with her.

Funny thing. I had my camera out on the way to the coffee shop. It kind of felt futile, as I snapped things at random, many of which I’ve previously posted, feeling like I had already seen everything on that street a thousand times before. But I reminded myself that I just needed to look harder. I started looking up, around, down—at anything NOT at eye level. Looking up, up, up. Balconies, second stories, roof-tops. And then I saw it. This little ornate decoration I had never noticed before. It was lit up in the sun, and just popped. I wondered how I had missed it all the other times I had walked down that street. Amazing. Beautiful.

So, I had this goal to have my blog written by 9 pm. It’s already 9:30, so I’ve missed the goal on the very day I set it. But anyway… The reason for the goal is so that I can get to bed at a decent time. The reason I want to get to bed at a decent time is so I can get up early. And why, pray tell, do I want to get up earlier? I have set another goal: to exercise 6 days a week, with just Sunday off.

I know. Unrealistic. Over the top. But it struck me: I have a target weight that I would like to achieve by my 40th birthday. I set the goal when I turned 38, and it sounded totally achievable. Now I’m just 8 months away from 40, with little progress. It’s time to kick things into high gear!

Actually, my coach this morning reminded me that, even more noble than setting a weight goal, is just the goal of developing healthy habits. So many factors go into gaining or losing weight. But I can never go wrong establishing good habits that take care of my body—regardless of the “measurable” results. She’s right, I know. (But I’d still like to see something tangible for all my hard work…)

So here we go. I did it this morning. That’s one down for the week. Just 5 to go.

And so, I’m off to bed!

I seem to be in such a better place today. Weird. Not sure, exactly, what made the difference. Well, I am paying attention to some of the more important things (devotions, meditation, prayer, exercise) and the other stuff seems to be falling into line. Even though there is still a lot to do, I don’t feel so overwhelmed, and there seems to be a better balance to my days.

And speaking of balance, I tried yoga again today. Some of you might remember my disastrous first attempt a month or so ago in Singapore, when I got a black eye. Well, this was much better. It was a beginner’s video, and didn’t seem dangerous at all. The guy did mention Buddha once, and talked about yin and yang, positive energy flowing, etc. But I figure I don’t have to buy into that, and use it as a time to meditate on the Bible verses I’ve been memorizing. And there must be something to it, because my body feels so much better after doing those stretching, strengthening poses. Not to sound too kooky or anything, but I really do think I was in a better frame of mind for having done it.

The kitty was confused, though, and kept trying to either walk on me (when in lying down positions) or walk under me (when in bridge-type positions). It was a little awkward.

The first half of the day was at home catching up on some computer work. The second half I was out and about. First, a friend and I made a deal that if we both worked out twice this week, we could go for a manicure. It was the motivation we needed. I exercised 3 times, if you count the yoga as exercise. The manicures were so nice we went for pedicures, too.

In my hunt for beauty I was captured by this door today. It was at the spa where we got our mani/pedi done. And by spa, I am using that word VERY loosely. It’s basically one room above a restaurant, but it’s nicely decorated and the price is right. 

Anyway, this door. The photo doesn’t quite do it justice because the colors seem a little washed out, and I had trouble finding an angle I liked to shoot from. But it was so weathered and rough in places, so many subtle variations in the blue-green hues. This is one time when I feel like the photo didn’t do it justice.

Then I met someone else for a coaching appointment. The coffee shop STILL doesn’t have decaf. I do like that chai tea latte, but I am beginning to miss my café mocha! I might have to try a different coffee shop!

How funny we are. Really. Less than a year ago I couldn’t have bought decaffeinated coffee anywhere in this country. Now I’m complaining because they’re out of it! We are sooooo fickle.

So, Mr. picked me up at the coffee shop and we went to a friend’s house to watch a movie. The Way. Quite good. Makes me want to go walk it, too! Maybe that’s a good thing to do on a sabbatical. Hmmmm…

So, now it’s late and I really want to go to bed. But poor kitty; she’s been alone all evening and really wants some attention. Unfortunately, she doesn’t like the smell of the nail polish on my hands, and so doesn’t want me to be too near. Kind of a catch 22.

But for now I’m going to wrap it up and go.

Oh no! So, yesterday is the first day in almost 200 days that I totally blew off the blog. Ugh. It feels like something sacred has been lost!

It was a great day yesterday, full of Mary-like important things. People, beauty, God, warm beverages. Quite satisfying. 

First off, I had a great morning with God. Good journaling, insights, thinking, communion. Took some good photos from the coffee shop where I was studying. (No café mocha, though—they were out of decaffeinated coffee; so I tried a chai tea latte. I might have found a new favorite!)

Then my friend showed up for a time of catching up, good conversation, and lunch. I went back to her side of town and finished up the afternoon painting a chest of drawers for another friend. 

But as I went back home for a pork-n-sauerkraut supper that Mr. had made, I realized that I had some very Martha-type deadlines looming. What’s worse, as I ate I realized that there was simply no way I was going to get it all done in time.

See, this is what happens when you shirk your responsibilities, the Martha in me chided.

I hit the work right after supper. Leaving the dishes for later, I wrote our weekly update, and got right to reading for my on-line class—blowing off the blog all together. I tried and tried to stay awake, but kept nodding off to the point that I couldn’t remember the sentence I had just read, and finally gave up.

Up again at 5:30 this morning, I finished up the reading and started the task of trying to formulate a response to the discussion questions. I had until 11:00 to get two responses done. Unfortunately, the first question I took on was about something quite controversial, and I had to wade through many commentaries before I could start to frame an answer. Even then, I couldn’t offer anything conclusive (I don’t think there is a black & white answer to that particular question) and missed my deadline by about 5 minutes.

Unfortunately, I still had one more question to answer, and Mr. was waiting for some graphics I had promised to do for the Bible school course he’s teaching. The next class is tomorrow, and he needed them for that lesson. So, after a quick ham sandwich for lunch, I worked for a few hours on Mr.’s graphics. He was able to import them into his worksheets for tomorrow, and got them copied at about 4:30. 

THEN, back to my on-line class, I finished my second question by about 6—about 7 hours late. I heated up left-over pork-n-sauerkraut for supper, and then we watched a little well-deserved TV.

It wasn’t a bad day today, really, except that I was glued to my computer screen for almost all of it, except for the break I took to wash the dishes that had been accumulating since the night before. Doesn’t leave you any time to go out looking for beauty. So, here’s the deal: I am posting yesterday’s photo with today’s blog. I will not be so lax again, promise.

That big newsletter is now 2 weeks late, and I have e-mails and various other small details to get caught up on. I am sooo glad to be exercising the Mary part of my personality more, but I am just not sure how to balance that with all the tasks that demand to be done.   Argh!

But for tonight I am just going to give in, play with the kitty (who has been sleeping most of the day) and go to bed early. I still have this cold lingering in the background, waiting to get me down. Can’t let that happen!

Ingredients:

• 250 ml Boiling hot water
• One tea bag of chai tea
• A dash of (soy) milk)
• A teaspoon of honey

Directions:

• Bring water to boil in a kettle and pour it in a mug
• Put the tea bag in it and leave it for as long as you’d like
• Add the (soy) milk and the honey
• Stir

To be honest no matter how addicted I’m becoming to this tea, I think my favorite one is still açai green tea. I’m sorry chai tea latte, you’ve lost this battle.

Baked sweet potatoes with one egg and butter spray on top.

Iced chai tea lattes from Starbucks.

Jason’s Deli chicken club salad. I went to Jason’s Deli this past weekend for the first time in years and am completely obsessed with this salad. It even has avocados.

But what is Jason’s Deli without taking advantage of the free ice cream?

Well, it’s probably no surprise, but I think my biggest “food weakness” is potato chips. Sure eating a plain white potato with veggies would be better, but I just can’t resist potato chips. The good thing is, we rarely buy them (because somehow the bag is gone in one day) so I say they are fine the few times I eat them.

Speaking of white potatoes, why do they get such a bad rep? They actually have plenty of nutrients. So maybe a sweet potato is even more nutrient dense but there is nothing wrong with a white potato. (Sorry, fries don’t count….unless you bake them at home!) My theory is, God put it in the ground and people have been eating it for centuries so it’s ok to eat.

via

This magazine. I squeal everytime I see it in the mail. I told my mom she has to send me all the issues in the mail when I go to college.

If you are looking for a straight to the point, practical way to learn about food and how to eat healthy, this is the best magazine out there. Hands down, not but’s about it.

What are you loving lately?

White or Sweet potatoes?

Okay I realize that none of that really counts (except maybe the homemade chai because it was really good) and I apologize. Probably means there will be a day with more then one project to share.  I’ll let you go now and do some more sewing and crafting (but absolutely no more dishes today). See you tomorrow!

And treat yourself to some of this chai, it’s really fabulous (I had two mugs of it yesterday and then lay in bed wide awake until midnight).

Today was a small but decent step towards becoming more eco-friendly: I ate all my meals, and drank all my drinks at home today as to avoid all the packaging that comes with to-go meals. I generally  eat breakfast and dinner at home, but throughout the day (and especially when I am on break at work) I like to hit up my favorite cafe La Boulange and treat myself to a chai tea and a snack/lunch.  I’ve been thinking a lot about how much money I waste, and how much I clutter the landfills with my constant to go coffee cups. Sometimes I even get a green tea to go on my 10-minute break and then a chai tea latte on my 30, :/ not good. Today I made everything at home, including some very yummy yerba mate tea in the morning. Tonight my hubby made a fantastic Mexican fiesta dish of tacos, home made salsa, and guacamole and [bonus!] there is enough for both of us to bring leftovers to work tomorrow (in reusable glass containers!)

I read that it was ‘Blue Monday’ this week, with lots of people breaking their New Year’s Resolutions and falling off the diet wagon, and if you are wavering then these gorgeous little cupcakes will push you over the edge!

Only joking…I think it is important when you are on any sort of diet to still make room for little treats like a glass of red wine, a few crispy roast potatoes or a cupcake, and seeing as my supply of Christmas chocolate is dwindling I felt it was high time to dust off the mixing bowls and get baking again.

Now, I have to confess that I ADORE Chai Tea Lattes. I first had a warming cup of it at about 3am in a field at Glastonbury Festival and it was love at first sip! It is my favourite thing to order in coffee shops, and is tasty with hot milk in the winter or iced in the summer.

Every friend I introduce to it seems to fall in love too, so I hope these gorgeous, warm, spicy flavours translate well into cupcakes!

Today’s recipe has to be dedicated to my fellow Chai tea latte addicts, Collette and Lorna – it feels like we spent every spare lunchtime between our Spanish lectures in Starbucks drinking these whilst catching up…time well spent!

Ingredients

60g of butter or margarine, at room temperature

75g of light muscovado sugar

75g of caster sugar

225g of self-raising flour

Half a teaspoon of baking powder

A pinch of salt

1 heaped tablespoon of chai tea powder

2 eggs, beaten

150ml of milk

200g of cream cheese

175g of icing sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

3 tablespoons of runny honey

How to make it

• Begin by preheating the oven to 175°C, Gas Mark 4
• Cream together the butter and both sugars in a bowl until light and fluffy
• Add the beaten eggs gradually until combined
• Slowly add the flour, baking powder, salt and chai powder
• Finally, pour in the milk and stir well until you have a smooth batter
• Spoon the batter into cupcake cases and bake for 20 minutes
• Remove from the oven and allow to cool
• To make the icing, sieve the icing sugar into the cream cheese until soft and light
• Add the vanilla extract and honey and beat until smooth
• Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, top with this delicious icing and enjoy…with a Chai! xxx

It’s a family tradition – every Saturday we get our caffeine fixes.  Super strong coffee from Philz – for the husband; non-fat spicy chai from Bello – for me.  Two cups. You know, kids should not be drinking that stuff anyways.

Every Saturday Lil’ Jem and I step on a warpath fighting over MY cup of chai.  I burn my mouth trying to chug up as much as I can before sharing it with the tireless almost-3-year-old nagger.

Non-fat spicy chai tea latte, thank you very much!

Yes, that photo posted last month, and its caption were not a joke.  We are both addicted!  This stuff is SO good!

So, of course I was super excited when I saw this recipe in my favorite Cooking Light!   

These are only 192 calories, and great for breakfast with some yogurt, or coffee, or chai, and they stay fresh pretty well!  Keep in an airtight container for a couple days, or wrap individually in plastic; place in a zip-top bag, and freeze.  They will keep for  month in the freezer.  To thaw, leave them at room temperature or re-heat.

I skipped the sugar glaze from the original recipe, and they were still delicious – airy, and moist, very light, and flavorful!

Print this recipe

PISTACHIO-CHAI MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 chai blend tea bags, opened
• 1 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, divided
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• Cooking spray
• 1/3 cup shelled pistachios, chopped
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tbs water

Yields 12 muffins

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375⁰ F (190⁰ C).  Place 12 muffin-cup liners into the muffin cups, spray them with cooking spray.

In a large bowl whisk the first 6 ingredients, set aside.

In a separate bowl combine buttermilk, butter, 1 tsp of vanilla extract, and the egg.

Make a well in a center of the flour mixture and pour the buttermilk mixture in it.  Stir just until moist.  Leaving a few lumps will actually make the muffins fluffier.

Divide batter evenly between the prepared muffin cups.  Sprinkle the nuts over it.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

The original recipe also uses a simple glaze: combine 1/2 tsp vanilla, powdered sugar, and 1 tbs water, stirring, util smooth.  Drizzle over the muffins.

The barista was very nice and accommodating, dishing out suggestions on what I may like. When I saw salad on their menu, I felt like I wanted to order that instead of the cheesecake which I initially planned for. In the end, I opted for the cheesecake because if I ordered the salad, I’d have gotten Iced Tea as the freebie and I’m not really a fan of iced tea.

And this is when trouble happened. So I ordered the Toblerone cheesecake and Chai Tea Latte and handed my BDJ coupon to the barista. Another barista then started to prepare my orders and once he was done, he called me over to the pick-up station. There was my cheesecake (in a paperbag) and 2cups. I got confused as to why there were 2 drinks when I only ordered and paid for 1. So he told me that since I used my BDJ coupon, I get coffee free.  So I told him that I opted for tea, that’s why I ordered Chai tea latte. Apparently, the “tea” in my coupon doesn’t cover tea lattes, which the first barista I talked to didn’t bother to clarify (or perhaps he didn’t know or wasn’t familiar with my coupon). It was pretty much frustrating. I didn’t need coffee AND tea; I just needed tea (perhaps I’ll need coffee another time).

Nevertheless, I ended up paying for the Chai Tea Latte that I ordered. I’m still enjoying it and it still gives me that warm fuzzy feeling so I’m happy. I hope this Toblerone cheesecake is good. As for the coffee, I’m still wondering what I’ll do with it. Perhaps if I feel sleepy this afternoon, I’ll drink it.