My O My Papaya

My O My Puh-PIE-ya !

We did it!!! I am embarrassed to admit we have bought at least four papayas that sit on top of our fridge or in our fridge and ALL of them went uneaten :(  But this week we committed ourselves to trying fresh papaya and the verdict is - eh!  It wasn't bad but I don't need to rush out and buy more today. 

I wanted to like this fruit - a lot!  First off say the word - papaya (puh-PIE-ya).  Isn't that fun?  And the fruit looks fun.  Its kind of big, not watermelon big - but good size.  It starts off a pretty green - think watermelon green.  And then you cut into this fruit and it has the coolest looking seeds inside.  They are perfectly singular and look like squishy BBs.  Their black color stands out very distinctively from the mellow salmon color background.  I have heard great things about these seeds - WHEN dried out.  They take on a peppery flavor that goes great with sweet dishes or a good rub for meat.  So I've been told.  But as a word of warning that must be their flavor when they're dry.  My experience as they were fresh from the newly sliced papaya was that they tasted like a squishy bitter caper - tangy with a nail polish remover bitter aftertaste.  Not all that yummy - to me at least.  And perhaps the size of a papaya made me reminisce about tough produce to slice in half or peel (Turban squash, anyone?).  This was not the case as my knife slid through very easily and the peeler slid smoothly removing the peel from around the fruit.

My initial taste of the papaya was mushrooms.  Now I admitted to my husband what I am admitting to you.  I might have picked up on the taste of what was cooking in our kitchen as I was disecting and investigating our new fruit of the week. In our kitchen cooking was the fixings for steak fajitas with red bell pepper, onions, sirloin tip, and nice thick portabella mushrooms.  YUM is the right word for this.  So there is a tasty aroma floating around me that at first covered up the mild flavor of the papaya.  Because I love mushrooms but a fruit the color of papaya shouldn't taste like them.  After a new consensus between both mine and my husband's palette we agreed the fruit tasted more like a cantaloupe.  This made more sense in my mind.  What would you do with a papaya?

We saw great recipes online - some cooking, some raw, but honestly we tended to be missing out on key ingredients.  For instance in a few recipes I found the ingredient - jaggery.  Ummm I have no idea what this is.  So with my line of logic I had to assume we did not have any jaggery in the house.  There were great tropical salads, and dessert goods, and more salads (lots of salads!) but a lot wanted to include fresh coconut and other tropical goodies that again aren't in our house as I looked up the recipe.  And as we were less than an hour away from dinner I was trying to keep ingredients local like within my own kitchen local :)  I decided to go the blender route.

Again I should stress I am not really a cook nor a chef nor a person with kitchen talent.  Another reason I married my fabulous hubby who keeps me from losing my way and keeps my tummy full.  He is great in a kitchen (So great I really would love for him to become a professional chef - but then he probably wouldn't want to cook for me and our son as that is what he would do all day at work- which means cereal anyone? :) 

So after that tangent you are probably thinking anyone can use a blender.  Oh how I chortle in your general direction.  My blender and I have had several catastrophic messes.  And I may have used the wrong part here or there.  So as I am assembling our three piece blender (base, container with blade attached, and top) I did ask my husband at least twice if I was putting it together right.  A lot of our time together is having this exact conversation -

He laughs a big laugh.  I ask "What?" His response always includes a shaking of the head and the one-word response "You".  I still to this day don't really understand how his response answers my question.  But I chuckle for the conclusion and we carry on with our activity.

So now I have the blender together.  We are missing a key ingredient pineapple.  There are only four ingredients and we are missing one.  But we forge ahead.  We toss in our peeled papayas in small chunks and two diced bananas and a dash of milk.  This was okay as a smoothie kind of drink but lacked a little bite.  Bananas and papayas were both mild flavors and then so is milk.  We added about eight - ten strawberries with a sprinkle of cinnamon.  The strawberries added a touch of sweetness and sour and the hopes were that the cinnamon would add a little warmth.  Still not quite the taste we were looking for so we added two capfuls of lemon juice to bring out a bit of the bite and a bit more milk to smooth out the texture.  It was okay.  I would like to try it with coconut milk and pineapple next time to give it more the tropical flavor and also maybe yogurt to give it a smoother consistency.

But the big news is my o my we ate papaya :)  It is always fun to spend time in the kitchen and tackle the new produce item.  Because there is nothing like learning about food firsthand.  Don't be afraid to try new flavors - new techniques - at worse you may not eat your five dollar purchase.  But will definitely learn your money's worth about what works and what doesn't for your palette and possibly your self esteem :)  Its one thing to read a recipe, see a cooking show, but nothing like getting your hands dirty, giving it the ol' college try, and hopefully having fun!

May your HealthFULL journey offer you wisdom and laughter through experience, attempts, and successful endeavors. 'Til we meet again. . .   

Been There, Done That, Worth Repeating

Planning works.  I actually ate five plus servings of fruit and veggies, a little bit from all the natural color groups (except blue/purple).  By preparing my fruits I was able to eat produce with little effort and how nice to not plan, waste time, or energy running late and once again skipping the fruit/vegetables I know I should eat.  Lunch was delicious as my body could immediately feel the effects of true food.  I call it true food as I tend to gravitate to food in boxes, bags, and cans.  Stuff that comes from the ground is a welcome break.  I had a tasty lunch that included a sweet potato (trick - bake a bunch of them in foil and then store in the fridge for a couple days.  I then smashed one in a container and either eat it cold or heat for less than two minutes and I can enjoy the tasty flavor and the wonderful beta carotene.  I do warn you if you leave the potatoes in foil they will get a bit damp from the "steam" you created by baking and then cooling off.  And then I ate a salad somewhat resembling a Cobb Salad, a little meat, a little cheese and many veggies.  I dressed the salad this morning allowing the dressing to soak into the lettuce variety by lunch and still be flavorful.  However, I did pack some nuts separately as I love a little bit of crunch to my salad (wasabi peas, honey sesame sticks, and nuts all seem to work for me).  I also concentrated once again on drinking more water.  How funny and completely different are the results with just a little extra awareness.  It is easy for a day to pass and not realize the lack of produce I've consumed (or ignored might be a better word) until bedtime when it is too late to really make a difference.  So by 1 pm I had ate five veggies and fruits and drank sixty ounces of water.  I feel like I stumble upon something brilliant when I plan ahead.  I feel less rushed, more organized, and just ready for life's curveballs.  But then I need another reminder as I begin to quickly backslide into my familiar ways.

Back to bellydancing today.  It is a pretty intense work-out.  Well for me it is a pretty intense work out as I don't constantly push myself to sweat.  But as I try to wriggle and giggle I am also trying to catch my breath.  My hips still don't move like their hips tend to slither but I am actually able to follow the DVD and complete most of the moves, with some minor modifications.  Now that I went back to the DVD the first time I have started to feel it is a fun workout. 

I am drifting to lullaby town so I will bid adieu after a final wish of good night and pleasant dreams.  May your journey revisit pivotal and enjoyable moments.  'Til we meet again. . .

Going Through the Motions

Today was Monday and I had the full Monday blahs. I started the morning at five am and let the marathon begin. I start with high hopes but by five oh five I am off schedule. I hit snooze. Well, okay honestly I reset the alarm clock for a half hour later. I was hoping to get my work out done in the morning and not have to fret. But sleep sounded more important and certainly more enticing. Then toast for breakfast because the morning was moving rapidly by me after sneaking in a feeding and cuddle with one of my fave people. Then work and then unto my parents for a family meal. There were healthier options but I didn't even notice. I just grabbed for flavor and comfort actually bumping my hand on veggies and bypassing them. Bring on the rolls! And it was driving home that it hit me. I had several choices to be healthier and I skipped them because I was on autopilot just going through the motions. Wake up, shove food in my mouth, shove a bottle in my son's, cuddle, burp unto work. Do my job, stop for lunch, continue work, drive to obligation, make small talk, grab food for dinner plate, drive home. That sums up my day. Even my work out on the Wii Fitness was just adding the minutes to 21 minutes. But really coming to terms of going through the motions. Because honestly I do this too often. I work myself up into a frenzy for different events and then just go numb and work off autopilot until I am recharged and ready to get myself into another frenzy and the patter continues over and over. So I packed five vegetables and fruits for tomorrow. That was my food victory. I am planning to be healthier and one way to up my success rate is to truly prepare myself. Don't pack chips for lunch because how convenient can you get (grab bag put into other plastic bag , bring to work.) Love simple! So I grabbed the knife and cut up an apple. Mixed together a hearty salad and smashed a sweet potato already baked. I have to keep myself aware to truly live in the moment and stop settling for the autopilot life. It's not fun because I'm not connecting to it and therefore it is not engaging and its like I am edging myself out of my own life. Because when you stop connecting then what's the point? So I have to remember to plug back in and not retreat. Signs you may not be connecting - avoiding mirrors (who wants to face reality) , punching ignore and quiet on the cell phone more times than answering (because why bother), less than three destinations in your day (home, work, childcare - this screams routine with no adventure and what kind of journey is that?) , and unaware if you have smiled or frowned within the last five minutes (what kind of mood are you projecting? and more important what kind of mood are you feeling). Ways to connect - take a minute to admire yourself in the mirror and dress in an outfit that is attractive and comforting, calling friends/family or sitting down to write a note to let someone know you care, stop to smell the roses or at least allow yourself and extra thirty minutes to check out a new shop/eatery, and stretch your face muscles by making funny faces. May you HealthFULL Journey incorporate fun, fellowship, and FULLness. Let's stop going through the motions and letting the precious seconds slip by and Live FULLy by Fully Understanding Life by Living. ' Til we meet again. . .