I’m eating lots of yums at my parents’. My mom made this wonderful amazing stir-fry tonight for dinner.

I don’t know the recipe, but I know it had lots of peanut butter. It was delicious. Maybe I’ll ask her how she made it sometime soon. It had all of my favorite veggies – broccoli, mushrooms, carrots (which I actually avoided because I’m trying not to turn orange), and red peppers. She’s not scared to use enough oil to make it taste good either.

This morning (and yesterday I think) for breakfast I made a really good bowl of hot cereal. I mix together…

• ~1/2 cup of quick cooking oats
• a few tablespoons of farina
• cook it in water & almond milk
• cinnamon, almond or orange extract (or both!), dash of salt

I like to top it with milk (whole cow’s milk or more almond milk) and maple syrup or honey. My facial lady told me to avoid sugar and see what happens (I know what will happen – my face will be clear), so today I had it with no syrup (but extra milk).

Uh oh. I think I have a new addiction. It sounds like kabocha, but it’s more expensive – kombucha.

The one I tried was $3.39 (yikes) and it was "GT’s Organic Botanic No. 7 Kombucha". I specifically got the one with probiotics to help with my digestion. This one was raw.

Kombucha is a fermented Chinese tea. It takes about 30 days to make; during the process various nutrients are formed (enzymes, probiotics, amino acids, antioxidants, and polyphenols). It’s basically the healthiest thing you could possibly drink.

Some people say it tastes like vinegar; I thought it tasted a little bit like wine, only fizzy and better (I don’t really like wine). I’ll definitely be buying this again as soon as I can wrap my head around the price. It’s so darn pricey. I will absolutely try to make this in the future. Tips?

Speaking of yummy things, I did these 5 videos yesterday for exercise. They are each 10 minutes. Try them out! My sister loves Polly’s videos too.

• YOGA for yummy abs
• YOGA for upper thighs
• YOGA for your muffin top
• YOGA for yin
• YOGA for triathletes

Do you like kombucha? Have you tried it? Have you tried Polly’s videos yet? (It’s her birthday week by the way!)

P.S. Check out Clare’s Positivity Giveaway. She’s so sweet

My dad and I started out the day with almost matching bowls of protein powder oat bran.

Dad’s was topped with granola and maple syrup; mine with sesame seeds and maple syrup. (My dad did the Amazon deal already – what are you waiting for?) He wasn’t too impressed with oat bran, but he did admit that it was a brick-in-the-belly breakfast.

After packing some snacks (bars and fruit) we headed down to Monterey. We wandered around Cannery Row and Fisherman’s wharf…

Then we headed out to a park in Monterey for a short (but hilly) hike. We hit up Trader Joe’s for lunch before proceeding on to another state park on the way home – Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. This place was amazing. This tree was around before Jesus was even born. It was 2200+ years old when it fell back in 1934 and had been around for the signing of the Magna Carta, the Revolutionary War, and even when the Normans conquered England (1066).

These trees are huge.

As is this "banana slug".

When we got home it was time for drinks. I had a glass of wine – Murphy Goode’s Fume – and dad had more beers. I cooked up a quick and easy frittata for dinner using 6 eggs, zucchini, red pepper, red onion, and goat + parmesan cheeses.

On the side I made broiled tomatoes (idea from Whole Foods) – tomatoes cut in half, topped with olive oil, salt + pepper, oregano, and parmesan; bake at 400F for 10 minutes; broil for another 5.

And because I can’t go another night without kabocha, I made a big batch and ate it all myself.

I’m now munching on grapes and cursing Qumana for deleting the post that I just wrote (it looked pretty much the same as this one – I hope, anyway). Now I have to study like a mad woman for my anthropology midterm tomorrow.

Are you good at studying/preparing in advance for tests/whatever? Or do you procrastinate? For me it all depends on my other time commitments, my mood, and the class/work itself.

Tuesday’s exercise: the Get Fit with Catra workout (went with Jill) consisted of…

• 10 standing lunges
• 10 walking lungues
• 10 pushups
• 1 lap around the park (< quarter mile?)

Repeat 3 times.

We also walked to and from the park, so I’d add at least another quarter mile to that. It took about 40 minutes total. I think my time for the 3 cycles was about 10 minutes, but we did stretching before and I’m also counting the walking time. During the day I walked a lot (shopping) and I think I did some of the DVF exercises in the morning.

Wednesday I did the Diane von Furstenburg exercises again. I love these. They are so simple. I did most of them while watching “Faces of Culture“, a video series that I have to watch for one of my anthropology classes. I also walked 2 miles – 1 mile each way to and from the grocery store.

Here are some foods I’ve been meaning to share. Kabocha with goat cheese (why not? It works with parm).

A “grilled” (waffle iron grill) sandwich with a chicken burger from Trader Joe’s, alfalfa sprouts (alfa-alfa is what Bobby calls these), and some cheddar. Lightly buttered on the outside for crispiness.

A classic bowl of oat bran. Oat bran, ground flax, coconut flakes, protein powder, cinnamon, vanilla, salt (always). Topped (post-picture) with real maple syrup. Real maple syrup appears on all of my oat bran bowls now. It is a staple. This bowl was put in the freezer for 10+ minutes after cooking.

Do you have a “staple” food? Mine is certainly kabocha, all the darn time. Others that make frequent appearances include oat bran, homemade ketchup, and stir-frys. Nut butters go in and out, depending on how I feel. Recently I have been rather obsessed with burdock as well.

I can only think of two things that were lazier than Bobby and I were today.

Our two fats cats. (Cous and Bo = Couscous and Kabocha.) Oops, look at those dirty socks on the floor.

I did actually manage to give Bobby a haircut, so maybe the day wasn’t so unproductive after all. He’s playing some xbox game here. It has something to do with Japan. Sometimes I "help" him play by watching out for the red dots (those are the enemies) and pointing excitedly. I think I did a good job on the hair; this was my second time cutting it for him.

I also did an easy walk on the treadmill tonight (1.8 miles, 3% incline) while Bobby ran and lifted. When we came back inside I did some nice stretching exercises inspired by Diane von Furstenberg (more on that later).

For dinner I had my two favorite foods: fluffy waffles with butter and real maple syrup, and kabocha. The recipe for the waffles is HERE. I made it fattier by using egg yolks instead of applesauce and kefir instead of milk. Bobby did his own thing and went for rice and chicken. I like breakfast for dinner.

I just steamed the kabocha and stuck it in the freezer to cool. All together now.

With these goodies, I had a bit of fluffy bread that Bobby bought yesterday. There were several unnecessary persimmons afterwards. Who am I kidding, persimmons are always necessary. This afternoon I discovered that they are especially delicious with almond butter. You should try it.

Did you have a lazy Sunday?