A Big Week of Walking

This week brought some wonderful hill walks with the pooches.  One of my favorite walks, Minton Church and Dean Road has a lot of time when we are on a dirt road.  The dogs are getting very good about staying next to me and actually halting when a car comes by but I still prefer to walk off a road if I can.  Thanks to the good farmer in the big red machine. we were able to walk in the newly mowed field for a significant portion of our walk.  The dogs, especially little Bean, were almost apoplectic over all the smells of little animals that live in the fields.  Thank goodness we didn’t find any tragedies which I suppose the threshing machine could have left behind.  It was warm but very clear air so we walked for about 2 1/2 hours through the fields and over the hills.  We walked more this week as we were out five times and walked 36.7 km for the week.  Am trying to adjust my thinking from miles to kilometers and am getting there slowly.

Then we came to what I refer to as “the formal part of our walk” when we arrived at a spot that my cousin planted with over 125 crab apple trees last fall.  They bloomed in the spring and were beautiful and now they are covered with crab apples.  I think you can see why I call it formal, the trees are beautifully aligned.  Imagine what they will look like in a few years when they have filled out some more.  It is gorgeous now, it will be even more gorgeous then.

Time to Say Goodbye

It is time for us to say goodbye to 55 years of accumulated memories.  The house that my mother lived in for all those years is so full of memories for all of us.  We have slowly been clearing things out of the house, i.e. the junk but this week we had to face “the office”.  The papers that were in the filing cabinet going back so many years, the old photos that were carefully stored in file folders, memories of my father who died in 1973, it was exhausting and cathartic and sad and happy all at the same time.  We were determined to get it done, after all we are hoping it will sell quickly, so we had no choice but to clear it out.  None of us really noticed a lot of the items that were there because we had lived with them for so long we didn’t see them anymore.  The real estate company brought in a stager who moved many items around, brought in a painter who began to brighten things up, removed curtains and wonderful old paintings from the walls, got rid of rugs that had seen better days and suddenly it wasn’t the same old place anymore.  Wonder what Mum would think of it all?  The final stage is being done now with the last of the painting and big clean scheduled for this coming week.

Some Food for Thought

 

This week’s reading was on fermented foods.  I found this great graphic that gives a very good sampling of the kinds of fermented foods you could add to your diet.  Wish there was another word but you could say food intake I guess.  Anyway, I love certain fermented, pickled foods like pickles.  The really good ones that you either make yourself or you can find in the refrigerated section of your grocery store.  Hopefully not the ones loaded with sugar but those are ok for an occasional treat.  Many years ago I was lucky enough to go to South Korea and there I tried Kimchi, well you couldn’t avoid it, it was everywhere.  I did NOT like it at all.  Therefore, it has not darkened my door again.  However, I do like sauerkraut and yogurt so they often find their way onto my plate or into a bowl.  I have tried Kombucha and while I like the taste it really doesn’t like me.  I am going to try it again but even though it doesn’t have caffeine in it, my body reacts as if it does.  Tried kefir and wasn’t impressed at all but I guess I could try it again.

A Recipe Perfect for August

Crunchy Zucchini Fritters with Avocado Dill Sauce
courtesy of Heathy Holistic Living 

Ingredients
Fritter Ingredients
1 large zucchini (or 2 small ones)
1 clove garlic peeled and minced
1/4 cup fresh basil we grow our own, but you can find it at any grocery store
1/4 cup fresh oregano ditto
1 tbsp lemon zest
2 organic eggs or Flax Egg
1/4 cup gluten-free flour
1/4 tsp onion powder
to taste salt
to taste pepper
Dip Ingredients
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh dill
Avocado Dip Base 

Instructions
Using the large holes of a box grater, grate zucchini. Place zucchini in a colander set in the sink and toss with 1/2 teaspoons salt. Let stand 10 minutes, and then wring zucchini dry in a clean kitchen towel to remove moisture. Place zucchini in a large bowl and gently mix in egg, garlic, basil, oregano, lemon zest, onion powder, salt and pepper. Mix well to combine. Slowly add flour, stirring so no lumps form.

Heat 2 tablespoons coconut oil or olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat until the oil sizzles when you drop a small amount of zucchini mixture into the pan. Carefully drop about 2 tablespoons zucchini mixture into pan; repeat, spacing fritters a few inches apart.

Cook fritters until golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Lower heat to medium. Turn fritters, and continue cooking until golden, 2 to 3 minutes more. Transfer fritters to a plate; set aside in a warm place. Cook remaining zucchini mixture, adding more oil to pan if necessary.
Recipe Notes
If you want more veggies try adding a ½ cup of finely chopped kale or spinach!

Wyke and Bean are wishing you a wonderful week of healthy eating and walks in the outdoors.

Love Louise