Spring, then Winter, then Spring all in one week

Spring ... then Winter .... then Spring forward

Last Friday, it was absolutely lovely here, warm, sunny. It had all the looks of Spring. Outside my front door, I saw this:
Pretty nice, huh?

This was Monday:
   

And now, we're back to spring again. Luckily, the flowers seem no worse for the sudden and absolutely freezing cold snap. As for my working out and eating, well, that didn't get affected too badly either.

I've been walking outside when the weather cooperated. I'm waiting for brunch to digest and I'll get my walk in today.

SOUP

I've been in a mood for soup. This happens on occasion, a feeling for a particular food or type of food gets in my head. There are many discussions out there that the body lets you know what it needs so I try to listen.  I do have to ignore when the call is for pumpkin spice cake but I have a feeling that that is my sweet tooth imitating my body.

I made two soups this week. Earlier in the week, I experimented with White Bean and Kale Soup.

It came out OK. I forgot the bay leaf and left out the vinegar since Rob doesn't like vinegar. I think the next time I make it, I'd increase the seasonings. The recipe has potential but definitely needs tweaking.

This, African Chickpea and Spinach Soup, I made last night. It's a total winner. Tasty, savory, and a meal in one. The one tweak I did last was substitute swiss chard for the spinach, once again taking into account Rob's dislikes.

OH MY BACK

Last weekend was a fairly busy one. I shot a job all of Saturday evening, lugging camera equipment around the Tyson's Corner Ritz Carlton for the American Hear Association's Heart Ball. Sunday, I photographed a bunch of things that Rob and I are trying to sell that we no longer need. Then Monday morning, I woke up with a sore back. *ugh* The kind of sore back that made it tough to sit for long and transition from sitting to standing. So I actually did yoga Monday and Tuesday in the hopes of slowly getting that tight muscle loose again. I seems to have helped, along with some heat therapy and acupuncture. This weekend, I'm just about back to normal.

Planning for the week

One way to make sure that exercise and good eating happens is to plan ahead. Today, I'm going to figure out what I'll be cooking for the week and make sure that I have the ingredients needed. I'm thinking that there is going to more of the African Chickpea and Spinach Soup definitely. I'm also going to chart out when and what exercise is going to be happening. Please let the warmth last at least a couple more days.