Musings on a Marvelous Monday Morning

Happy Monday Morning :)

I have been seeing the "Marvelous Monday" link-up in the blog world for some time now, so I thought I would join in. I mean, there are so many marvelous things around that we don't properly acknowledge.

So, without further ado, it's Monday morning and it's time to wake up and smell the marvelous!

1. Cupcakes are Marvelous

Oh, yes I did! There is a bakery in my city called Sweet Temptations that always has a booth at our farmers market. I walk past every week, diligently eye-devour every unique flavour and keep walking.

Well, this weekend I took the plunge! I knew I was going to be having coffee with a friend of mine on Sunday, who I hadn't seen in a while, so in the spirit of holiday giving, I thought it would be nice to add some sweets to the mix. Deciding on just 2 flavours was almost impossible, but I eventually got it down to Gingerbread Joy and Peanut Butter Chocolate (Yes Sam, it was everything you could possibly hope for).

In the box, just waiting to be eaten...

Chelsie has been tempting me with her cupcake escapades for a while now; I like to call her my cupcakespiration :) I also get to check another item off of my Food Challenge list! Woot!

These babies deserve another close-up. Mmm...

Things are better when shared...

They were heavenly :)

2. Yoga is Marvelous

I have been trying to approach exercise differently lately. I am trying to see it as an activity that gives me strength and energy, not something I do to burn calories. However, with my history, it is easy to fall into the "exercise as punishment" trap and start seeing your body as some blob that needs to be "whipped into shape".

I've used this picture before, but it is me on the beach in
India. Hence the oufit :)

Yoga, however, always makes me feel at peace. For some reason, no matter how I have been feeling about my body on any given day, I can walk into a yoga class and see my body for the powerful vehicle that it is. It is the one time in my busy life when I actually slow down, breath and focus on the present. I need more of that in my life, as well as a greater appreciation for what my body can do, rather than what it looks like.

3. Switching it up is Marvelous

Even doing little things - like switching up the kind of oatmeal I eat in the morning - makes me a little happier. The last couple of days I have made two new flavours, Zucchini Bread (which the lovely Heather gave me the idea for) and Kiwi Ginger! For both of them, I just used my base oat bran and then added a few things to each.

Zucchini Bread
To my base oat bran I added: 1 small grated zucchini,
a pinch of nutmeg, a pinch of ground ginger and lots of cinnamon.

Kiwi Ginger
To my base I added: 2 mashed golden kiwis, 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
and a few pinches of ground ginger.

I know that making different oatmeal isn't exactly a drastic change that takes me way out of my comfort zone, but I love that blogging has made me want to try new things - however insignificant - just so I have something different to show my readers. Don't worry, I'm expecting the next few months to bring many changes and exciting new things, so stay tuned :)

4. Not sweating the small stuff is Marvelous

I have always been a perfectionist, an overachiever when it came to... well, everything. School for me has always been a competition with myself and others to be the best student. You know that annoying kid who sat beside you in every class and whined when she got an 85 instead of a 90? Well, you're reading her!

Lately though, I have started to see that there are so many bigger things in life to worry about than getting outstanding grades. Things like: health, family, love, helping others, leading a fulfilling life and enjoying it! At a certain point I realized that if I get 5% lower on an assignment or exam than I had hoped, it is really not going to have a huge effect on my life. So, this exam season I am working hard, but I'm not stressing out or worrying about everything that could go wrong, and it's marvelous! My first exam is actually this morning and instead of being nervous, I am hoping to walk in with a level head and do my best!

5. Family is Marvelous

Sometimes you have to take a moment and really appreciate how much your family means to you. My parents are endlessly supportive and always have been. I have a close relationship with my brother and extended family that I love too. On Friday, I was so lucky just to spend a nice day with my mum, have a great meal and have fun at the craft show. It's so easy to take that kind of thing for granted these days, but it is really special.

Oh and this wasn't too bad either...

Healthy, delicious food rocks my socks off.

I also have an aunt who has been an endlessly supportive friend to me. This [super-jacked, personal trainer] aunt of mine has always advocated to me that being strong is better than being skinny, or whatever ideal I held myself up against. She has been someone I could talk about my ED struggles without ever feeling judged, and I'm not kidding about how strong she is either; that's why I don't piss her off ;) Once again, you can't take supportive family for granted.

6. Edible body butter is Marvelous

Remember this gem that Giddy Yoyo sent me for review?

Well, I have been using it nonstop! It is soooo smooth and smells soooo good! Since it has gotten cold, I have had a lot of dry skin. The skin around my eyes has been suffering the most for some reason. I am always wary of eye creams, because well, eyes are important. That skin is also really delicate, so I don't like using chemical-y stuff on it. However, since this stuff only has 4 ingredients (which are all edible), I have no qualms about it. A wise woman once said to me, "If you wouldn't put it in your mouth, don't put it on your face", and I am starting to take that to heart. I have been using it as an eye cream and an eye-makeup remover and my eyes have never smelled felt better!

7. Kale chips are Marvelous

Remember the purple kale I picked up last weekend at the Farmers Market?

Well, I finally put it to good use; I made phenomenal kale chips!

And I will give you my recipe right now...

Cheezy Garlic Kale Chips

Ingredients:

- 1 bunch of kale
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 2 tbs nutritional yeast
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp salt

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Wash kale and pat dry. In a large bowl, drizzle kale with olive oil and toss to cover evenly. Then add nutritional yeast, garlic powder and salt and stir to coat kale. Lay out kale on baking sheets with as little overlap as possible. Bake for 25 minutes total, flipping chips after 10 and 20 minutes. Kale chips should come out crispy and DEEEE-LICIOUS!

Served with some Tofurkey brand coconut curry tempeh. Very filling :)

Well, that's it for today folks, I'm off to my exam so wish me luck!

Hope your Monday is Marvelous!

Tell me something Marvelous about your life lately.

Have you ever made kale chips?