Veggie Lunch

I put this lunch together pretty easily at home, as I had all the ingredients on-hand. It was the first time I've made this Moroccan Chickpea Stew and I'll definitely make it again, it was really tasty!

Moroccan Chickpea Stew

Recipe & attribution: The Clean Dish.

Lunch Setting

From the left: Sauteed Swiss chard with tofu, MCS, and Lemon thyme sesame noodles.

Vegetarian Courses

Here are some vegetarian courses I tried at home that were quite good.

Roasted Vegetables

This one has cauliflower, sliced fingerling potatoes, de-seeded and chopped tomatoes, some garlic, and onion (drizzled with a little EVOO, sprinkled with salt, pepper, mixed, and baked at 400 deg F until slightly tender).

Grain Base

This is farro with black lentils (along with some sauteed onions and squash cubes, as shown). Since the farro and lentils take about the same amount of time to cook, I cooked them together in some veg broth, and it came out quite well. Particularly suitable as a bed to put other items on top of. I didn't find the onion & squash very complementary to this dish, so I won't do that again - sometimes you learn by making mistakes ;-)

Thai Style

Here's a Thai style dish, with peanut sauce and fresh mint.

Veggie Bowl

And here's some sauteed veggies over rice with a Sriracha drizzle on top, quite tasty!

Lift for Life!

I was fortunate to develop an affinity for strength training when I was on the swim team during my High School years. It's stuck with me all these decades and it's something I still avidly participate in three or four times a week. As I've aged, however, I've learned that some exercises must go and some must come. Here's a neat article with ideas for older folks like myself, which gives some good tips!

Golden grains

See this article for a great intro to heritage grains that provide healthy alternatives to wheat and rice. Nice to see these grains are gaining cultivation and favor nowadays! Montana's organic farmers are helping with it, too.

An icon moves on

Chuck Williams, the founder of Williams Sonoma, has passed away. One hundred years old, wow!

Farmers and GMOs

For most consumers, it's a matter of altered vs. natural. But reading this article it becomes clear that for farmers, it's about economics. Nice to see that non-GMOs can compete with GMOs, though! Choices are good - for farmers, too :-)

Legumes in ancient history

Legumes have been around for a long time and have been farmed and harvested for their nutritional value since 9,000 years ago. See this interesting article describing archaeological finds made in Palestine.

Ahihud, one of the Neolithic sites in the Galilee. Photo: Yaron Bibas, courtesy Israel Antiquities Authority.

Back conditioning exercises

I've had some occurrences over the years where I put out my lower back bad enough that I could barely stand or move afterward - and it took a major muscle relaxant plus four days to recover from, too. Absolutely no fun, ugh!

In the course of dealing with my flakey back, I was sent to physical therapy, where they gave me some stretching and conditioning exercises to strengthen my lower back and leg muscles to better support my spine. When I'm consistent at doing the exercises (which I generally am) it's less likely that I'll have a problem, so I believe they've helped me.

Some of the exercises are detailed in this article from livestrong.com, so you may want to try some, too. In moderation of course - take time working into them and evaluate which work well and avoid any that don't.

Natural analgesics

Here's an interesting article from livestrong.com that showcases some pain-fighting spices and foods. As always, consume in moderation, watch for allergic sensitivity, and realize that none of these are a substitute for medical attention if necessary.

Geriatric exercise

Yup! Elder exercise has benefits.