Sunday, January 3, 2010

Insomnia....check!


Apparently, one of the side effects of the most recent antibiotic I started taking is insomnia because I have been wide awake since 3am this morning.

This is outstanding for me, because I really do operate with the body clock on an 80 year old woman. I am in bed most nights by 9pm and up at 4:30am so obviously, this sleep pattern is not normal for me.

As I was up at this ungodly hour today, I did, in fact, google the effects of the new drug, and it does turn out that restlessness and trouble sleeping is a side effect. So yep, I am prone to just about every single side effect of every single drug out there. Maybe I should think about being drug test participant and at least make a little money from my odd tendencies.

Aside from being irked with no sleep, I must confess how frustrating this illness has been on my life in general. I have not been able to run more than 3-4 miles at a time before having to stop. Going from running 5+ miles at a time every day and loving it, to barely making it through a painful 30 min run is quite depressing. I keep thinking it will get better each week, but sadly, it just seems to get worse.

I was reading Tina's post and truly emphasized with her vent on being sick of being injured and how it limits her from running what she desires to run.

All I can do is focus on the fact that I can still run and do so many other things that a lot of people can not. I should be grateful for that, even though it is not as much as I intend, I know that my body needs to rest right now too.

Okay, I get it. Sometimes you just need to say it out loud.

Anyways, since I had been up since 3am, I was happy to see my hubby earlier than normal for a Sunday. Guess I wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep as much as they wanted.

We drank some coffee, sorted through the paper and moved right into Sunday Breakfast.

I wanted some quick but delicious, naturally, and we had just enough ingredients in the fridge to make the ideal breakfast.

Natures Path Maple Cinnamon Wafle, Stewed Cinnamon Pears with Dried Cherries and Walnuts, Vanilla Oikos, Honey Almond Butter with a Sweet Apple Chicken Sausage on the side

I took a few bites out of the sausage and suddenly felt some sharp pains in my stomach. Not sure if it was the meat or the dairy, but I stopped eating the rest before it got worse. Trying to figure out these dietary limitations is not fun!

After we ate, I got ready to brace the sub below temps and El Nino wind gusts to make my way to the store.

2 hours of grocery shopping, prepping food/meals for the week, and organizing the kitchen worked up quite the appetite for lunch.

I wanted nothing more than a BIG AMAZING salad. Often, I find myself craving these when I come home from grocery shopping. Partly, because I am attempting to clean out and make room in the vegetable drawer and partly because I want to try everything I just bought, so what better way than to throw everything into a bowl over lettuce?

This salad was pretty sensational.

Romaine, Cabbage, Carrot, Avocado, Tomato, raw zucchini, roasted brussels, leftover roasted root veggies with balsamic and hummus

I think what made this salad so incredible was two things....

This.....

And these....

2 new products I picked up at the store. I know that everyone raves about Sabra Hummus and I FINALLY jumped on the bandwagon and realized why.

HOLY COW this is the best hummus I have ever had! It's so creamy and buttery and almost decadent. Why do I always fall in love with the overpriced fancy products that I can never afford. The only reason I bought this today was because it was on sale and I had a coupon. Must make this last!

And then these babies added so much BANG!

Sahale Ksar Pistachios covered with bits of pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, figs and moroccan spices. These were so flavorful that just adding a touch on top of a salad gave it an incredible flavor.

I cleaned up lunch and went straight to dinner. I love making big meal on Sundays that will leave many leftovers throughout the week.

But the secret to my method is that I really don't take much time at all to create it.

I made a variation of the Chocolate Coco Chili from the Eat Drink and Be Vegan cookbook.

Only I used my Crock pot and may have added/omitted a few things.

The entire dish took 20 minutes to put together and cooked for about 4 hours on High.


I also whipped up some Beer Bread to go with our chili. Again, simple stuff. Mix the bread and the beer and vola!


This chili was INCREDIBLE! Maybe just about the best I have ever had. The texture was rich and velvety. The coconut added a great subtle sweetness without overpowering the other deep flavors.


I was really unsure if Toly would like it because it is a bit different. His initial words were "There are a lot of smells coming from this bowl." Surprisingly, he loved it!! That is saying a lot if my meat and potatoes kind of husband enjoyed a bowl of chocolate bean soup.

Okay, now I must call it a night. I am running off 4 hours of sleep and I start my new job in the morning! I must be in top form for such a big day! :)

Hope you all had a lovely weekend.



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12 comments:

  1. Ahh ... I hope you get a good nights sleep soon, Lauren!!

    That chili sounds more than delicious ... and I love that it's a crockpot dish! Makes it even easier plus you get the added aroma in your house ;)

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  2. sorry about the insomnia - sucky. i've been wanting to try that chili recipe for a while now....

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  3. I've been wanting to try out this chili recipe, but had the same reservations about whether or not my husband would like it. You've convinced me to make it sometime soon!

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  4. Lauren, I'm so sorry you have to live through all of this. I commend your strength and positivity through this whole period. Not many people would be able to soldier on like you have.

    In foodie news - YAY for the Sabra! I bet it would be awesome on that beer bread too ;) I have yet to try beer bread, that should change!

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  5. Chili sounds about fabbo right now. And everyone is making beer bread, I need to get on that stat!

    Sabra is the bomb, garlic, spicy, and red pep are my favorite flavors.

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  6. Hi beautiful!!! Insomnia? ewwwwwwwwwwww gross! I am so sorry! My sleep sched has been SO OFF the last 2 weeks with going out often, and sleepovers with the boy, and running around.......and messing with sleep patterns can just throw us off completely, huh?! OY.

    Anywho......I'm sorry the antibiotic is giving you side effects, and I wish you a quick quick quick FAST speedy BOOM BOOM snippity snap recovery. :D


    On a foody note:
    1) Love your HOT AND COLD salad, and mixing such wonderful items. I need to change my salads up more often!!! (Oh, and buy more hummus! :D )
    2) That chili looks awesome!! I think your meal planning ideas are fabulous!!
    3) BEER BREAD!!!!!!!! Looks amazing!! Seriously need to make this asap!!!


    Love love love to you miss Lauren!!

    YOU GO AND SAY WHAT YOU NEED TO SAY! yes, REST your body and take care of youself!! MWAH!

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  7. oh my gosh, sorry about the sleep troubles :( that sounds awful. at least our food looks delicious!! hope you get some rest lovee

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  8. LOTS AND LOTS of love to you girl - hang in there, you WILL figure it all out!

    ummm your eats = always amazing. i always want each and everything you eat - and those sahale snacks are the best! i have tried almost all of them and have loved every single one!

    have a wonderful day my dear!

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  9. Ah, insomnia is really a toughie. I hope you recover back a regular sleep pattern soon, Lauren. But meanwhile, I'm really impressed to see the way you fight to keep your optimism and positivity. That says a lot about your character.

    Chocolatey chili? YES PLEASE!

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  10. I'm so sorry about your insomnia. That's the worst. Hopefully it's short-lived. Poor thing!

    Loooove coco-cocao chili! That beer bread looks amazing, too.

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  11. Lauren! I'm so glad your new career is going well :D You're a survivorr wooo ;) Anyway, I totally feel ya on the whole being sick of being sick! I was the same way about a year ago. I was a medical mystery and I kept getting bloodwork done (weekly for awhile) and it was the same old same old. I had to stop any form of exercise completely and that was sooo hard. I grew up being active, and moving around is in my nature and it releases the energy I have pent up inside of me. I've got enough energy to have a busy day and dance till 3 in the morning.. so not being able to do anything just made me feel like something was very... off. Anyway, I finally worked with a specialist and got a bunch of MRI's and crazy tests and at first they thought I had some disease but it turns out my hormones were funky and they also found out I had a lot of internal stress. I KNOW that this was partly because of me not being able to exercise. Exercise is such a great destressor. It was so hard to see people running.. I just wanted to jump up and run too. But now I'm back to doing what I did and I feel better than ever. Once you get back to it, I'm sure you'll do the same and you'll have an even deeper appreciation for it :)

    Now on to your eats LOL!! WOWWWWWW! Ok yess Sabra is soo delicious. I never get it myself because I like to make hummus at home, but nothing is as creamy as Sabra this is true. I don't know what their trick is. I saw an interesting variety at this specialty market the other day that was Tahini hummus. I am the same way with clearing the fridge out lol. My mom is too - she will usually make a very random stir-fry. As for that chocolate bean soup. YUMMMMM! Imagine if it had a side of pumpkin cornbread or something delicious like that. I've never had beer bread but it sounds interesting. What kind of flavor does it have?

    Anyway, I hope you have a fabulous second day at your new job! With your gorgeous smile and infectious personality I'm sure it'll be an awesome day two for you :) And before I forget. I was watching the VS fashion show the other day and there's a model on there that looked like you! I had to look it up lol. Her name is Abbey Lee but you've got a nicer smile. Way nicer lol. But you should look her up in the Victoria's Secret fashion show.

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  12. do you ever eat cedars hummus? i like the garlic& chive and the roasted red pepper. they are both really yummy and usually cost less then $3

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