Caroline Dines

I woke up this morning knowing it was going to be an absolute scorcher out. Normally on these types of days I would literally RUN to the nearest body of water and try to keep cool. Since it was Tuesday, and Tuesday is my day at the Re-Vision Urban Farm, I ran to the farm and worked the fields in the heat! For breakfast I focused on fueling myself up so that I wouldn’t get hungry during my time at the farm. Of course I incorporated a giant Green Monster smoothie into my breakfast (what better when the weather is sooo hot?) but on the side I had something a little different than normal.

Yesterday I picked up a bag of these TJ’s Ciabatta Rolls for our dinner. I had one left over and decided to toast it and spread a small amount of Organic Whipped Light Cream Cheese and Homemade Strawberry Jam! Cream Cheese and Jam is one of my all time favorite combos and brings me right back to childhood. The strawberry jam (Thanks Mom!) also made me feel so summery this morning (as if I didn’t feel it enough already with the 90 degree heat!). This breakfast was FILLING but in a good way!

I have been back at the farm for a few weeks now and I was so happy that today we actually got out of here…

And got our hands dirty out here!

I don’t think I could have handled working IN the green house today. Instead I spent the morning working with a wonderful group of volunteers from the University of Maryland.They helped out immensely and we got a really hard job done in no time! We basically created 10 beds for growing Tomatoes. These beds had to be measured, dug, weeded, fertilized, raked, irrigated, and finally covered with plastic. Here’s a bit of the process:

We all made sure to stay really hydrated and took breaks in the shade from time to time.

Again, it was so nice to have such a great “community” feel at the farm today. Even though these individuals were from far away they had the same ideas about the state of our food, issues around hunger and access to good food, and in general a positive work ethic! It was a wonderful morning. Around 12:00 I grabbed this apple from my bag. It tasted a little bit like hot apple pie to me (minus the crust) because it had literally been baking in the sun! Ooops! Still good though.

My run this morning to the farm was trying so I knew that by mid-day running home would be brutal. I started out ambitious and quickly realized that it would be smarter and safer to take the bus!

Thank goodness for Charlie cards!!! I always make sure to have mine on long runs, just in case!

When I arrived home, I took the quickest shower possible (I was covered with dirt from the farm!) and made myself a big lunch! All the components were superstars but I just had to highlight these Dr. Kracker Crackers because I can’t believe how awesome the stats are!

Besides the great ingredients and health components, the taste is incredible. Seriously, they are worth every bit of the $4.39!

With the heat I was craving lots of vegetables and cold food. I think I was also in need of salt because I was totally into this pickle! However, when I am NOT into pickles?

The plate was made up of a pickle, Ful Medammes, Grape Tomatoes, Carrots, Watermelon, Dr. Kracker Cracker, homemade broco-slaw and a few mozzarella pearls. These are by far my favorite types of lunches, all the different tastes and textures keep my mouth so happy!

While I was sitting staring at my beautiful new herbs on my window sill I felt that I just had to add a little bit of fresh mint to my watermelon. I didn’t eat it but just the smell made the whole dish that much more enjoyable.

Tomorrow I am happy to report that Meg C. and I are heading OUT of the city and will be spending the day on the South Shore at the beach!!! I can’t wait. Summer is here!

…I just haven’t been documenting as much! With Christmas fast approaching, work and personal business have been taking priority over my daily posts. I have been working extra hours so that I can take a nice long break beginning Christmas Eve all the way through the New Year! I am so excited since I will be heading home to Maine to be with my family and Darin’s family and will be cross country skiing (my favorite form of exercise!), sledding, skating, maybe even snowboarding. So as I said, you can rest assured that I have still been consuming food, (probably too much with all the sweets around here!) but with holiday parties that don’t allow for paparazzi shots I am feeling like quite the neglectful blogger. Either way here are some of my highlights for the past few days.

Breakfast on Wednesday was a lovely Multi-Grain Bruegger’s Bagel which was “scored” from the Community Social at the house which took place on Wednesday instead of it’s normal Tuesday this week. I added Light Herb and Garlic cream cheese to my hollowed out vessel.

After breakfast I hustled off to the Haley House which turned into a very rewarding shift. I had quite a few customers and also some individuals who stopped by to just get warm (I actually gave one a free cup of coffee). Since the Haley House is not JUST a bakery and it’s primary goal is to provide community to individuals in the South End who may not have a home to call their own, I felt really pleased that the regulars were starting to become familiar with my face and felt comfortable talking to me. I put out our fabulous cupcakes as free sample; partly because I wanted to try a bite and also because I knew they would draw people in!

The rest of Wednesday was spent working and saying goodbye to a co-worker who is moving to Denver and will be dearly missed. We went out to a local bar called The Mission which had delicious bar food in my opinion. Sadly I have no pictures from the evening but I am sure you can picture in your mind such dishes as Sweet Potato Skins, Mussels, Bruschetta, and a killer Nacho plate. I had a Magner’s Cider with my appetizers which was such a treat since I was actually “working”. The next morning I was craving some fruit and “carby” goodness so I dug into my last ruby red and prepared a peanut butter toast to eat with it. The flavors here weren’t exactly complimentary but it hit my cravings perfectly and provided adequate nutrition I believe.

I’ve been hitting yoga hard this week and after my session on Thursday I came home ravenous. Lucky for me I had a fresh bag of TJ’s Salsa chips and a tub of Sabra Hummus.

I don’t think I have ever tried these chips before but let me just tell you if you have any love for Doritos and just can’t justify eating them anymore, try these! They are not as heavily doused in seasoning but have a great taste which allows the chip to stand alone fine or pair with salsa, hummus or any other dip you can think of.

This morning I woke up thinking about breakfast. This hasn’t happened in awhile (maybe I have been too full from the night before?) so I decided to resurrect an old classic: GREEK YOGURT MESS! This one contained one little tub of Strawberry Oikos, a sprinkle of blueberry muesli, some walnuts, and unsweetened coconut. SOO good and even though it’s not very seasonal the coconut looked like snow so that has to count for something right?

Yoga was another awesome sweat sesh and I came home ravenous. I actually dreamed this sandwich up on my frigid walk home and it came out better than I had expected.

I toasted two slices of my low carb When Pigs Fly bread, smeared one slice with Sabra hummus and the other with TJ’s roasted red pepper spread. Then I cut two slices of cheddar cheese and topped it off with two Claussen sandwich stackers.  Such an awesome sandwich! A good cheese sandwich is sometimes so satisfying in my opinion.

It was “oh so photogenic” too, don’t you think?

And I would be remiss if I didn’t include the dessert from last night since a bite or two of it did make it’s way past my lips today. I had a full “tree” last night and was able to photograph them without many questions since I just said in front of the families that they were too cute not to picture. After all they ARE too cute! They are a brownie base with green colored frosting, m+m’s for decoration and a candy cane trunk., They’re supposed to be Christmas Trees if you couldn’t tell!

After a long week I am so ready to be done with work related stuff. Luckily I have plans to meet up with Meg C. for a vegan dinner at Veggie Planet in Harvard Square and hopefully some drinks afterwards. Happy Friday everyone!

…would you have snow, ice, rain and lightning all on the same day! I had high hopes for a real winter storm this morning but soon after it started snowing here in Boston, it changed over to a “wintry mix” and then to just plain old rain! I battled my way to the Haley House despite the poor conditions and was happy to walk into a warm storefront and fix myself a cup of Chai Tea. With my tea I enjoyed a Lemon Scone (made with half whole wheat flour!). I hadn’t been hungry this morning when I woke up so eating breakfast at 10 a.m. worked well.

Even though I wasn’t “hungry” I was super curious to try the newest pizza on offer. I made a quick sign to try and entice customers into buying!

I have never tasted such a pizza before and was completely won over. The base was of course whole wheat and from there the layering began with carmelized onions, then to sweet potato disks, and finally big globs of goat cheese! The pizza dough was also noticeably seasoned with fresh rosemary which added a lovely aroma and taste. I was surprised that I didn’t sell one piece. Even with these delicious looking samples sitting out (people did try the samples and said they liked it but then ordered a wrap or soup!) Maybe people are weirded out by goat cheese and sweet poatatoes. The whole time I was thinking if only I had some of my fellow foodies around, they would buy the whole pie!

I mean just look at this for a beautiful combination!

Despite the poor pizza sales, I had an awesome shift. I enjoyed myself by turning the radio station to Christmas music and taking in the scents of this Holiday Candle. It felt very cozy with “the weather outside so frightful”.

I had a doctor’s appointment this afternoon which went well, I had my first ever “blood work” to check my cholesterol (I guess your supposed to start doing this every five years in your twenties?). I absolutely hate needles and was so proud of myself that I didn’t come up with an excuse as to why I couldn’t get it done today. I was brave and let them take two vials of blood from my arm! Yikes! Beforehand, the doctor asked me lots of questions (she is a new Primary) about my diet. She wanted to know what kind of food I eat, whether I drink soda, etc. I almost said, “Can I just show you my food blog?”. After the appointment I arrived home and promptly devoured an entire grapefruit. I have had some serious citrus fruit cravings lately and this was exactly the afternoon snack I had been waiting for.

I followed the fruit up with three slices of provolone cheese. Love it.

Dinner was inspired by The Broccoli Hut’s recipe for Peanut Butter BBQ Tofu. I had a block of tofu in the fridge and wanted to do something kind of different with it. Whenever I think of tofu I immediately think about The Broccoli Hut so off I went to search her recipes. I was so excited when I found this because I love BBQ sauce and any kind of nut butter! I used Cashew Butter instead of Peanut Butter and added a dash of the hot sauce I received from the farm this past summer. An utterly delightful combination of ingredients if I do say so myself. I baked the cubed tofu at 400 for a good long time (45 min?) and also baked some broccoli and carrots with a little dash of the sauce over the top, alongside the tofu.  The end result was a bowl of sweet, spicy and nutty heaven! Hey, even Darin ate it, and he doesn’t typically go for tofu!

The best pieces were the slightly crispy ones. Sometimes you would get a big chunk of cashew butter since it didn’t get mixed as thoroughly as it should have. Although I don’t really see this as a problem. Cashew Butter Chunks = Scrumptious!

And since all the gingerbread cookies are gone, I had a small candy cane for dessert. Not half bad.

I’ve been a bit neglectful of the blog today since I was on the move most of it. An early morning yoga sesh got the day started on the right foot. I then had to woof my breakfast down (not fun to do with such a delicious bowl of oats) in time to take a shower and get to the Haley House on time. Here’s my oats:

The T was so late. I literally waited for 30 minutes for one to come and then when it did it was too full so I had to wait for the next. I was aggravated because I didn’t want to be late for my shift. Even though I am volunteering they do rely on me to take over the shop and I need to be there on time! I was only 15 minutes late which wasn’t TOO bad but I felt like a loser anyway. It was somewhat of a slow day due to the nasty weather outside. When customers did come in they ordered hot soup and hot coffee. I sampled the soup (per usual) and had a corn muffin on the side. Today’s soup was African Peanut which has been deemed my favorite thus far.

The corn muffins are also stellar. I read up on the ingredients when it was slow and found that they contain organic grits. So that’s what makes them so “gritty”. I love me some texture. They’re also small, the size a homemade muffin usually comes out, which is the way they should be in my opinion.

I really wanted one of these bad boys but I held myself back, barely.

On my way back home I made a pit stop at the Copley Place mall to pick up a few things. By the time I left the light drizzle had turned into an all out downpour. Good thing I was prepared with my umbrella. And too bad it basically snapped in half the second I stepped outside. It was a wee bit windy. Oh well, at least I was on my way home. Once I arrived, I promptly changed into comfy clothes and ate some more leftovers for lunch. They looked exactly like yesterday’s (but I served it in a tupperware container which wasn’t very photogenic) if you care to peek.  Work time came on fast and before I knew it dinner time was around the corner. I had intended to get some groceries on my way back today but due to the monsoon I opted to run straight home. Tonight I looked in the freezer for inspiration. Hmmmm…TJ’s individual chicken breasts, ezikiel bread, broccoli….and on my pantry cart some Korma Sauce. Sounds good to me

I cooked the chicken in the microwave (most of the way) and then cut it up into bite sized pieces and added it to the Korma sauce that was already heating. The sauce was purchased at TJ’s awhile back and has just been waiting for the perfect night. I even threw in some raisins because I love they way they taste in this sauce.

Darin kind of laughed when I told him on the phone what we were having. He always calls to ask and tonight I said “chicken, broccoli and toast”. I admit it sounded a little odd but once again it all came together nicely. Darin actually ended up saying “wow this is really good for being a ‘throw together meal’”. I took that as a compliment

I am trying my hardest to be better about my posting but my computer has been acting up (not much memory left after all the pics I have been uploading) and I think I need to replace it or do something to fix it fast. Having to wait until I get into work to post isn’t ideal.  Breakfast was eaten quickly because I was running late. What better to eat on the run then toast with barney butter and apple butter. Yum.

My first stop of the day was the Farm. Today was Volunteer Appreciation day and I was so glad that I was able to make it, even if it was for a short time. It was nice to have a bit of closure and celebrate a great growing season with my fellow volunteers. They had apple cider, apple pie, and sour cream coffee cake for us to enjoy. I had a small glass of apple cider (served in a mason jar. love this.) and a small piece of coffee cake.

It was a gorgeous day for this small outdoor gathering. The table here displays the yummy eats as well as the honey, raspberry jam, and hot sauce (all made by the Farm Managers using Farm ingredients). Each of the volunteers were able to choose one of the jars to go home with. I chose the hot sauce because I was intrigued listening to Farmer Matt talk about the process he went through to make it. He said that for days after wards his hands still burned, that’s how hot this stuff is!

After the Farm I rushed to the bus stop. I caught one bus and one train and then walked the 10 or so blocks to the Corner shop. My shift went great despite being frazzled at the beginning. I was impressed with the new packaging we have for our chocolate chip cookies (one of the biggest sellers).

While I didn’t have any of the cookies I did have two samples of the soup. I feel it is my duty to try them for two reasons: to make sure they are hot enough, and to give customers an honest opinion on the taste. The first was the Curried Pumpkin. Hands down this is one of the best soups I have had in awhile. I have to recreate this somehow.

The other soup on offer was the Minestrone which had chunks of turkey sausage and tons of white kidney beans in it. Yum. Hearty and rich but still brothy which I liked. Sadly my camera ate the picture. I also had a big cup of tea. They have the best tea here, MEM tea. I tried this variety today and added a splash of soy milk.

I also ate an apple (that I picked up at the Farm earlier) while I worked and I hate to say it but I gave in to a few samples.

Today was the passion cupcake which has the most heavenly frosting and is topped with coconut. It doesn’t look all that pretty in this picture since it was the last piece on the sample tray, but boy did it taste good!

After my shift I rushed home as quickly as possible to be sure I had time for a nice long run. I ate a slice of cheese and a piece of turkey bologna wrapped up before I set out (sorry no picture). The weather was perfect and I was totally “feeling it”. I ran for about 5 miles, mostly along the Charles River. I came home to ice and stretch my piriformis muscle I am determined to beat this injury and have a big run planned for Sunday with Meg so I need to step it up a notch! Tonight is our third “Recipe Night” at the house and we were lucky enough to have a family staying here all the way from Iceland who offered to cook a traditional Kjötsúpa (Icelandic Lamb Soup). While the recipe is fairly simple (lamb, carrots, potatoes, onion etc) the secret ingredient as with most foreign dishes is the spice mixture which she brought with her from Iceland. I was able to score a tupperware container for my freezer so I will be eating it again but I wish that I had access to the special herb mix that she used so I could recreate it on my own.

The dessert was unlike anything I have had before. The mother called it a cheesecake but this was not like a typical “american” style cheesecake which is so rich and dense you can hardly get through one bite. This was light, airy and refreshing. She made the crust using digestive biscuits (whole wheat she told me) and layered it with cream cheese that had been whipped with the smallest amount of confectioner’s sugar. Then it was topped with milk chocolate that had been mixed with sour cream. This sour cream in particular.

Finally fresh strawberries and blueberries were sprinkled over the entire “cake” and then a dollop of homemade whipped cream (just heavy whipping cream and a splash of special Icelandic vanilla). I had told myself that I wasn’t going to over do it in the dessert department tonight and even though I had a good portion of this I feel perfectly content right now and don’t have that awful sugar high that I usually have after birthday cake or cookies. I am going to get the recipe for this for sure.

After reading Caitlin’s post yesterday about deciding whether a food choice is worth a splurge or not, I started thinking about my own diet and the choices I make each day. Living and working where I do, there are lots and lots of donated meals and snacks. When I first started working here I was much more diligent about what I chose to eat. Recently I have gotten lazier with my cooking and buying groceries because I figure there is so much free food here why not just eat that? The reason is simple: often times it’s not good food and it’s definitely not worth a splurge.

Last night was a perfect example of where I am making mistakes. We had a wonderful meal of Thai food donated which I thoroughly enjoyed, but then because I was bored later in the night (not hungry at all!) I decided to try the different pastries that Starbucks had donated the day before. I am thinking of coming up with a mental list of “WORTH IT” vs. “NOT WORTH IT”. Thai food would definitely be in the “worth it” category and the Starbucks apple fritters…well they’re just “not worth it”. Needless to say I woke up this morning feeling full which was sad because I look forward to being hungry for breakfast. I did get a little hungry before leaving for work at the Haley House though so I ate about 1/4 cup of plain greek yogurt with nothing on top. I ate it right out of the container because it was the last of it. No toppings this morning, I just needed a good clean food.

This morning I was seriously dragging. I stayed in bed and watched the Biggest Loser on my computer instead of getting up early and going to yoga. Let’s just say eating badly drains my energy level and makes me just want to crawl into bed. I was able to get myself up and out to the Haley House though and once I got outside the sun totally rejuvenated my spirits. Through my shift I am proud to say that I didn’t eat any of the free cookie samples, I know what they taste like (good!) and I was holding out for something better in my opinion.

I did however sample the two soups of the day which were: African Peanut (super creamy) and Aztec Chili (made with chicken and cocoa!) They were both divine and while I could have eaten a whole bowl a sample of each did the trick.

The special of the day was the Spinach Pizza on a whole wheat crust. There were carmelized onions on here and I believe fontina cheese. My job was heating it in the oven for about 30 minutes and then I got to slice it up and package it into “to-go” containers. It smelled heavenly.

Before my shift was over I made myself a cup of Ginger Lemon tea and selected the perfect muffin for my lunch in the park. I have been dying to try the pumpkin and today was the day.

Topped with real pumpkin seeds and turbinado sugar, this muffin was so worth it. It wasn’t HUGE either like some and since I read the ingredients last time I know that it was made with whole wheat flour, good oil, real pumpkin etc. So moist and flavorful. I sat in front of the Boston Public Library sipping my tea, savoring my muffin and catching up on emails.

After some quick window shopping and making a return for Darin, I arrived home. I was a little hungry and knew that I was lacking in fruit and protein for the day so I sliced up a banana and topped it with a little Barney Butter. Just because they didn’t make my morning yogurt doesn’t mean I am not going to get them in at some point!

Sorry it has taken me literally all day to post. I was seriously on the go from 8:00 this morning to 8:00 tonight. My food choices were a little random but satisfying none the less. Here’s how I started my morning. The typical pumpkin/barney butter greek yogurt and banana with the addition of coconut and craisins.

I ended up at the Farm this morning because my day at Haley House has been switched to Wednesday. I seriously considered not going this morning due to the cold rain spattering my window, but since it was the last “working” morning (next week we have Volunteer Appreciation day with Cider Donuts!) I dug out my rain gear and trudged off to the bus. I only got to handle one veggie this morning and that was these beautiful, dirt caked onions.

I used to hate onions as a child but I have come to love them, texture and all! These were dug out this morning and needed to dry in the green house. The rest of the morning was spent making boxes for the C.S.A. pick up tomorrow (last one) and organizing irrigation tubing. Let’s just say I prefer digging in the dirt to greenhouse tasks but it’s all necessary and I know they were happy to have the help this morning.

One of my fellow volunteers offered to drive me to the T station so that I wouldn’t have to wait outside for the bus (I was so grateful because at this point my hands were turning blue from the cold and I needed a chance to warm up). I snacked on this PURE bar on the bus. Did you know that they have 1.5 servings of fruit per bar. Not bad

On my walk back from the bus station I calculated that I would have enough time to go home, drop off my stuff and head to the 12:15 yoga class. Normally I stay later at the farm but since the ride was leaving early I took it! It worked out nicely because my body really needed the yoga release today. Plus it was so cold outside that heading into a heated studio wasn’t bad either . I came home to quickly shower and go to physical therapy. At this point I was pretty hungry so I dug into some chips and dip right on the counter. No plate, no shame. This bean dip is awesome. The cheese dip tastes great but I was disappointed to see that it has a ton of ingredients in it (surprising for Trader Joe’s) some of which are forms of MSG, a big no-no in my book.

After physical therapy (which was great by the way, my hip hurts a lot less and my legs are feeling super strong from all the exercises I have been doing there), I was still hungry since I never really had a “real” lunch. Does anyone else feel this way, when you snack a lot you feel cheated out of a real meal so you end up eating one anyway? Well I do. I decided to heat up the left over carrot fries from last night which were stellar! I basically just took a bag of organic carrots, washed them (didn’t peel them), cut them in half and then in half again, tossed them with EVOO and S+P and baked for 40 minutes at 375. They reminded me a lot of sweet potato fries but I almost liked them better because they tasted less starchy and I really enjoyed the fact that they were carrots instead of potato. Today I served them heated up with a bit of BBQ sauce and some dilly beans and a pickle spear on the side (my Dad’s homemade pickles and beans).

I also had a corn dog. I am trying to use these up. They’re good but I know they’re not the best so I don’t think I’ll be buying them again anytime soon.

Then it was time to head into work. Tonight was Thai Food which was so needed after my long day which didn’t allow for any grocery shopping (we have no food at the moment). We had three main dishes delivered. The first seemed to be a combo of Pad See Ew and Pad Thai (the noodles were like Pad See Ew but there was egg and the flavor was more Pad Thai like) I really have no idea what it’s called but it was one of my favorite dishes that they have brought so far. They always switch it up which is fun.

The second dish was Massaman Curry which came with big chunks of fried tofu. The Curry was my favorite of the evening. The sauce was spiced to perfection and it was loaded with veggies.

The last dish was a very spicey beef. I liked it but it wasn’t something I would order myself.

Mmmmmm….Thai Food Tuesday is by far my favorite night at the house (good thing it only happens once a month!)

The Haley House was busy today! I was pleased that I had a fellow volunteer with me to share the responsibilities because there was a steady flow of customers from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and during that time we got our delivery from the main cafe of our lunch foods. Today we had wraps, salads, sandwiches and soup. This week we also had a sample tray set out by the cash register to try and entice customers into purchasing one of our yummy scones or cookies. I think it worked and we sold a lot of baked goods but it also was a major temptation for me!

These chocolate chip cookies are made with premium ingredients (free range eggs, real butter, gourmet chocolate chips) and are baked from scratch each morning. I probably had 3 pieces of this size over the course of my shift. Not horrible but little bites add up to a real sized cookie if you let yourself! We also had a lemon scone on sample which I nabbed a bite or two of (sorry no picture). The scones are made with half whole wheat flour and are supposedly award winning. I promise I’ll picture them next time I decided to fuel up with some amazing grass mix around 11:30.I mixed it with half water and half soy milk which we had in the shop. It was one of the mini “kid” packets so it went down quick and easy.

For “lunch” I thought it would be helpful for everyone if I sampled the soup so that I could recommend it to customers Annnnd I had been smelling it all morning and just really wanted to try it. I bought myself an Izzy and small soup. The soup was amazingly fresh tasting and was called Smoky Tomato with Collards and Roasted Red Pepper. I was reading up in the manual and found that all of our soups are made from scratch and they use local ingredients from a farm nearby (when available). This soup totally hit the spot and I am happy to say that I sold 3 large containers after that because I was able to tell people how good it was!

It tasted like real tomatoes (what could be better?) with a little kick from the roasted red pepper. The collards were a welcome addition too. I didn’t even find myself needing salt or pepper or any kind of bread to dunk in it (would have been good, but the soup held it’s own).

I finished sipped an Izze on the side. Never tried the Sparkling Apple variety until today and I was happy with my pick. Perfect for the fall, it reminded me of Martinelli’s Sparkling Cider which always “says” fall to me.

I am off to my real job now and am anticipating a very busy night with no post since we have a huge group from the hospital over to cook a spaghetti dinner. I am planning on eating the salad with a meatball or two on top. I am also going to pass on the desserts since I had my fill of cookie today and am trying to stay on track. I’ll try and take pictures and maybe post what I ended up with in the morning. Hope your all having an awesome and productive Tuesday!

Wow.  For being so discouraged last night, I had a truly awesome day all around. I should have known it was going to be great when I opened the fridge to find that I had finally made my way through the Almond Butter jar enough so I could eat my yogurt mess IN it just like Kath! Little did I know she was doing the same thing this morning with her oats

The jar was everything I expected and more. The added bonus for me, who doesn’t have a kitchen sink (in my apartment) is that I didn’t have to wash any dish! I was also very fond of the way I always had the proper amount of almond butter. What a genius idea! I have a baby sized Barney Butter which I think I am going to open tomorrow (from the Healthy Living Summit Swag bag). I have just been waiting for this one to be gone and now I can proudly say it is! Enjoyed to the last scrape!

After breakfast, I packed up and hopped on the T in order to get to the Haley House Bakery/Cafe for my second week of volunteering.

Here is the outside of the Haley House. It’s located on a beautiful, quiet street in Boston’s South End neighborhood. The first floor of the brownstone houses the bakery/cafe, the kitchen and the common area where members of the house’s live in community serve meals to the homeless and elders in the area.

The second two floors are for the 5-7 community members who sign on to live here for a year or more with-out pay. They manage the bakery/cafe and help faciliate the many group meetings that come through here each week. The house serves 40,000 meals per year (breakfasts for the homeless men and senior luncheons) they also have a food pantry, and offer permanent affordable housing in the area for eligible indiviudals.

One of the coolest services they offer happens at the Roxbury location. Local vegetarian chef, Didi Emmons, had the idea to teach indiviuals who are transitioning from drug addictions, homelessness, or incarcerations, how to cook healthy and nutritious food. This program gives people the tools to find a job in the food industry and at the same time helps build their self esteem and self respect. One of her quotes in a local paper was “This is social work, it just happens to be in the form of a restaurant”. How awesome is that? For someone like myself with a social work background and a passion for food I couldn’t imagine a better place to spend my Tuesdays.

Here is the small store front where I sit behind the counter.

And here is the kitchen and community area that is connected to the store front. Today about 20 senior citizens from the neighborhood came through the cafe stopping to buy a coffee and a scone from me, and then made themselves comfortable here.

As I “worked” I drooled over the cupcakes. Check out the toasted coconut on top!

And the beautiful Muffins (some of which are vegan)!

On the way home I stopped into the Copley Square Farmer’s market for some dinner supplies. Gorgeous skys and an interesting contrast in architectural styles.

Here’s my loot!

By the time I got home I was starving and had to throw down a quick lunch before my Physical Therapy appointment. Left overs did the trick with a tall glass of Iced Green Tea to quench my thirst. 

And just for fun here I am modeling my new Haley House t-shirt with their logo proudly displayed! Love it

Physical therapy was awesome! Did you expect me to say that?! I was diagnosed with Piriformis syndrome (just as I had suspected) but told that it is an easy ailment to treat and I will most likely be cleared to run the Tufts 10k! I am going to go in for some ultrasound and heat therapy for the next week and half, do some stretches at home and take a few more days off from running but after that I should be good to go. Apparently the muscle is just strained and needs to relax.  What a relief. After such a busy day I was exhausted by the time I began my real job but eating this HUGE salad gave me the energy I needed to get through the night. The salad contained the following which (veggies from the Farmer’s Market):

• green lettuce
• scallions
• red pepper
• tomato
• cucumber
• wonton crisps (in the house kitchen, didn’t buy myself)
• chicken
• CASHEW GINGER DRESSING left over from the other night.

Yummmm. The dressing made the salad but I think the veggies helped a lot too. It was a great combination of flavors with a lot of crisp and crunch.

Well technically they’re not pickled, and our actual harvest was more like 23 lbs! They were certainly fresh and beautiful though!

The farm was awesome today! It was CSA day which meant that the morning was spent harvesting peppers, cilantro, and collard greens from our fields.

Re-Vision Urban Farm’s CSA partners with Drumlin Farm in order to provide enough produce to make a CSA feasible. Drumlin Farm’s truck showed up around 11:30.

We then frantically unloaded all of their produce…

weighed it..

sorted it…

and then began packing up the boxes that would be distributed to the members beginning around 12:30…

We did it all “assembly line” style. I was in charge of giving every one 2 broccoli heads, 2 green peppers, and one head of bok choi. The organizational aspect and the system we had set up was very satisfying. It was a lot of work but so much fun. The finished boxes were lined up for the CSA members but 15 of them were stacked on the front porch of the shelter that is part of the farm for the residents living here. I kept thinking about how awesome it would be to receive one of these boxes that was busting with freshness.

I worked up quite a sweat on the farm today. I was successful in my mission of running there this morning which along with the back breaking work contributed to my intense hunger as I was leaving. I had thrown together a quick trail mix this morning which hit the spot with some nice cold water.

I ended up doing probably another 2.5 miles on my way home and walked the rest. I alternated running and walking and snacked a bit at the same time. By the time I got home I was ready for lunch which was so easy to pull together thanks to my leftover avocado salsa from last night.

I took a low carb wrap and melted some jack cheese on it (also a shake or two of the Mirasol Cantina Chipotle sauce) and then scooped some of the avocado salsa on top. It was tough to get as much as I wanted on there so I had a small portion on the side with some chips. A sliced honey crisp apple completed the meal.

And just because I saw this kitty on my way home sleeping in a store front window I had to share it with you all. It was just so cute I actually stopped running just to take a picture. I love cats, especially those that are slightly overweight