No Recipe Day

This morning when I woke up, the weather was amazing. The temperature was a cool 70 degrees, and humidity was below 55% for the first time I can remember in a long time…perfect running weather!

However, I decided to keep my promise to myself and my aching body that today would be a day of rest after an intense couple of weeks of rapidly increasing mileage, culminating in a 12 mile run yesterday morning (in heat and humidity, of course). So instead of putting on my running shoes, I decided the “cool” morning was a sign that I should put on a pot of oatmeal!

As my steel-cut oats simmered, I considered what to add to them. I’m out of berries and peaches (hoping to replenish the supply tomorrow at the farmer’s market!) so I opened the fridge and cabinet and just started tossing things in. I went with a bit of almond milk, a spoonful of almond butter, a few dabs of cocao bliss, a spoonful of almond slices, a splash of vanilla, and a sprinkling of unsweetened coconut on top. I took a taste and I dubbed the result “Almond Joy,” not because it tasted like the candy bar (I am not sure I have ever tried that particular candy bar!) but because it was a joy to eat!

I sat down on our deck to enjoy the morning with my oatmeal and raspberry leaf tea, and then remembered…the camera!!! My mother-in-law is a fantastic photographer, and yesterday when I saw her she loaned us her older digital camera, since she has moved on to a newer model. So of course I had to take a photo (or 12) of the oatmeal using the new camera and trying out every setting. I don’t have it all quite figured out yet, but I’m fairly confident that with a little luck and a lot of practice I hope to continue to improve the quality of the photos on this blog. Today’s photos are already an improvement over the ones I’ve been taking using my phone, yes?

After breakfast I just had to sit for a while longer and enjoy the weather, so I grabbed one of the many books I’m working my way through and read a couple of chapters.

I’m loving this book, and the common-sense idea that we should all eat FOOD, not the “edible foodlike substances in the supermarket.”

Speaking of food, lunchtime was another fun example of a meal I put together without a recipe. A few days ago I combined some leftover quinoa with leftover grilled shrimp from the weekend, scallions, chickpeas, cucumbers and tiny tomatoes from my dad’s garden, and a drizzle of olive oil, sea salt, and pepper. It made a delicious salad I have been munching on all week, so I finished it off today for lunch with a carrot muffin and a chocolate-banana-blueberry smoothie. Yum.

Perhaps even more so than oatmeal, I have found quinoa to be a fantastic food to cook on the weekend and keep in the fridge all week, to be combined along the way with whatever I happen to have or whatever strikes my fancy. Pretty much any combo of veggies or fruits, any salad dressing or oil/vinegar you care to top it with will end up being a success. If you don’t believe me, though, and at least need to start with a recipe, try this Simple Quinoa Salad…but then venture out on your own by tossing at least one extra ingredient in there!

I didn’t really set out to have a “No Recipe Day” but I’m glad to have the chance to share my random creations with you in the hopes of inspiring you to feel comfort with “tossing things together” and enjoying the creative satisfaction (not to mention the taste satisfaction) that it will bring!

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