Author Archives: elizatwist

Slimming Down with Pilates

1 Reply

pilates boost 07-27-13

WEEKLY STATS  Weight: 150   Waist:  33″  Hips:  41″  Thighs:  23″

This past week was a rather quiet introverted one because I got my period.  I have made a practice out of expending less energy and being more introspective in accordance with the natural rhythm of my body.  While I worked out every day, I did milder workouts which focused more on the smooth quality of movement and less on high energy muscle engagement.   We women are lucky in that we have a built in system for honoring the ups and downs of our energy levels.  Long ago, I chose to embrace, rather than work against, the natural ebbs and flows of my hormonal cycles.

My quiet practice has yielded some wonderful results with respect to my ongoing aches and pains. I spent a good deal of time this week sensing my pelvic floor since that is the site of my long-standing injury.  I have Holistic Biomechanics to thank for my particular approach this week.  It has been such a relief to experience less discomfort as a result of my efforts.

I’ve also noticed a diminishing interest in sweets.  While in my mind, I still often consider having a sweet treat, opting not to is much easier than it has been for a while.  I had a feeling that as I started to exercise more my body would shift toward a healthier overall mode of operation.  It seems, at least for now, that my idea was correct.

I do seem to be slimming down, both in how I feel and how I look in the photos.  But the stats don’t necessarily reflect these changes.  This is not an exact science, by any means.  And perhaps the weekly recording is still too frequent.  I’m looking forward to seeing the results after month and further along.  For now though, I’m feeling good.  And that is, perhaps, the most important measure of all.

A Surplus of Cucumbers and Lemons

1 Reply

I realize that this particular situation most probably only happens in certain places.  Here in Oakland, we have lots and lots of lemon trees.  It was one of my first discoveries about this city upon moving here and one of the things that I love most about it.  One small indication of the ways in which the Oakland lifestyle is imbued with practicality.

Our neighbors have a lovely backyard garden and they are frequently sharing its bounty with us.  Last night we came home with cucumbers, lemons, zucchini, and tomatoes.  I’ve been hearing variations on using the whole lemon for tonics lately and so I decided to make one of my own.  Everybody in the house agreed (excepting the cat), that it was a tasty creation.  And it was pretty healthy too!

Lemon-Cucumber Cooler:  Combine the following ingredients in your high powered blender until you have a nice smooth beverage.

  • Equal parts cucumber and Lemon (this will depend on your specimens).  I cut out the seeds of each, but otherwise left them complete with skins.
  • Enough water to make your cooler mostly liquid, rather than a smoothie.
  • Honey or maple syrup for sweetness (local, raw honey will add to the healthy benefits)

Here’s to healthy summer eating and friendly neighbors sharing!

 

Heart’s Afire

Leave a reply

pilates boost 07-20-13

WEEKLY STATS  Weight:  152.5  Waist:  33″  Hips:  40″  Thighs:  23 1/4″

I’m two weeks into my new regimen and feeling pretty good.  It’s amazing to see how my range of motion in my hips is increasing while the usual aches and pains around my sacrum are not really giving way.

I have a very old injury at my tailbone which has been wielding its influence over my hips and low back for the past 23 years.  That’s another story for another day but the contrast between my function and overall experience reveals something interesting for those of us who are interested in physical optimization.  Given my long-standing injury and years of pain, I have always been a proponent,  and frequent recipient, of manual body work.  Along with receiving lots of physical support, I’ve always been doing some sort of demanding practice.  What ever the practice, the effect is always two-fold, relief from pain, and a very real risk of introducing new problems.  The majority of what I have done has never really addressed the root cause of my problems.  My original injury at my tailbone has put a constant layer of tension along my spine, and while I have done all sorts of things to alleviate the more peripheral symptoms of that tension, at base-level it remains.  I have found that my physical practices have enabled me to “fake it”, but I am currently under the impression that the only thing that will really enable me to “make it” is the right dose of manual therapy to the original injury site.  The cool thing is that once the manual therapy is applied, my body is primed for optimization what with all the work I’ve put into it.

I write this because I don’t think that I’m alone in this experience.  Most of us are hampered by old injuries from which we have never completely recovered.  Without intervention, the passage of time affords the injury more power over the body.  In essence, Pilates works in contrast to this natural process of degeneration.  But Pilates alone may not entirely reverse an injury, it depends on the injury and the person.  Pilates improves the physical experience and outward performance for sure, but some injuries are in hard-to-reach places and no amount of balanced and careful movement can address the deep entanglements left in their wake.  With respect to my injury and my current regimen, I’ve got a game plan and it is keeping me moving (rather than on the floor with another immobilizing back spasm).  I have some other ideas up my sleeve that will hopefully come to fruition.  For now though, my task is to keep the injury at bay so that I can keep the rest of my body in good order despite my compromised state.  It’s not ideal, but it is a very real scenario.

One of the premises of my current plan is the idea that my Pilates workouts have to be vigorous enough to yield the desired results.  I have enough knowledge, skill, and facility to move through my Pilates sequence in a way that gets me sweating and my heart pumping every time.  To arrive at this level of skill requires a developed balance of various abilities.  While I am able to perform a fast-paced Pilates sequence while maintaining good form, most people are able to do one or the other.  Either a person is fast and sloppy, or slow and orderly.  Both options will yield satisfying results, but of course, the best results come from putting it all together.  I suppose that’s obvious.  Maybe it’s the Pilates instructor in me that feels compelled to make the point, because I’m the one who keeps tabs on a person’s progress (and my impact on that progress).

All that was to say that I’m pretty sure an important component to the weight-loss benefits of Pilates is an increase in heart rate.  Which begs the question, does Pilates exercise your heart?  I’ve heard stories.  And I’ve been the person encouraging folks to forego types of exercise that create more muscle bulk and tension in exchange for more honest-to-goodness Pilates workouts.  The kind that I’ve had with Romana.  The kind that I’ve heard people talk of when Joe Pilates was their teacher.  Afterall, Pilates is a workout.

First of all, we know that Joe Pilates designed his system with the heart in mind.  He wanted to exercise the heart in an effective but non-strenuous way.  Soon enough we’ll know if Pilates is indeed enough of a change to my daily routines to trim me down.  In the meantime, I gathered some data this past week.  I took my heart rate while just puttering around for 25 minutes to get an idea of what it is normally.  And then I took my heart rate during 5 of my vigorous workouts to see what Pilates is doing to exercise my heart.

Average Heart Rate over 25 minutes of regular domestic activities:  87.  Maximum during that period:  117.

Here are my workout numbers:

Duration Average Maximum
23 min 124 160
27 min 100 149
19 min 124 153
28 min 107 148
30 min 120 159

I must confess that heart rate is one of those things that doesn’t capture my interest enough to motivate me toward understanding.  Suffice it to say that my Pilates workouts seem to do a consistently effective job of raising my heart rate.  That seems like a good thing to me.  I’m consoled with the idea that perhaps my lack of hilly walks these days has not left my heart completely un-exercised. And I’m hoping that these 20-30 minute workouts of mine, will help me flatten out my tummy and fit into more of the clothes in my closet.  Time will tell….

What a Difference a Week Makes

Leave a reply

pilates boost 07-13-13

WEEKLY STATS  Weight:  153  Waist:  33″  Hips:  41″  Thighs:  23 1/2″

I did it!  I am underway and feeling a sense of accomplishment for that simple fact.  While I did experience a touch of weariness in the midst of my last workout for the week (starting a new exercise regimen is a different sort of endeavor when one is sleep deprived and overloaded with adult responsibilities), but I’m so glad to be doing this because already I feel a shift in my body.

Overall, my body feels good.  I’m being more proactive about addressing my ongoing physical ailments with this regimen and the benefits are already apparent.

I feel more slender, although it’s difficult to know if its simply a result of improved posture from doing more challenging workouts, or if my body has already started to shed unnecessary weight.  But the experience of feeling slimmer and more attractive is compelling and one of the cool things about Pilates.  The form is so lovely that it infuses how we move in every moment.  I love this about the work.  Good Pilates means looking good.  And that’s all around good!

Martha Graham (a frequent client in the Pilates’ studio) is on record as saying:  “It takes ten years, usually, to make a dancer. It takes ten years of handling the instrument, handling the material with which you are dealing, for you to know it completely.”

More recently Malcolm Gladwell thoroughly explored the idea.  One of my teachers makes the point with respect to Pilates.  It’s a good thing to keep in mind because we tend to be focused on much shorter term projects, at least that’s what we’re telling ourselves all the time.  But those of us who are involved in any sort of ongoing endeavor – and I’d be willing to venture that almost everyone is doing something that fits the bill – know that to feel a real sense of knowledge coupled with demonstrable confidence takes time.  About 10,000 hours, or ten years.  With Pilates, we are not only learning something new, we are unlearning and undoing the movement patterns and muscle coordinations that are not optimal.  This takes time.  Things like injuries, childbearing, and life changes of all kinds, all bring something to bear on the slow and steady process of building a Pilates body.  If we think of it as a long-haul venture, we can not only weather the changes that life deals us, but make the most of them.  Every experience provides us with an opportunity to deepen our practice.

While my size is bigger than it once was, I can say with complete certainty that I am further along in the process of building my Pilates body than when I was a slender young thing.  This is a good thing to remember when I’m feeling downtrodden because I have exactly one pair of pants that actually fits me.  Sometimes, the most important work is happening on the inside and the outside form doesn’t always reflect all of what that work entails.  In looking at my first set of exercise frames, I see that my form is actually pretty good.  I’ll take that as a sign that in the midst of caring for another, I’ve been doing a good job of caring for myself.  Of course improvements are always there to be made and I’m sure that were my teachers to analyze my form, they’d have plenty to correct.  That is the beauty of having a lifelong practice, and having really good teachers.  But for now, I’m my own teacher.  At present I’m staying close to home and my baby boy.  The work of these days is most decidedly inward.  And there is plenty to keep myself busy.

Now that this inward journey has begun, I’m eager to see what is waiting to be revealed as the “exterior extras” melt away.

My Pilates Body Boost

Leave a reply

eliza_and_romana

If you will faithfully perform your Contrology exercises regularly only four times a week for just three months as outlined in Return To Life, you will find your body development approaching the ideal, accompanied by renewed menial vigor and spiritual enhancement.  Contrology is designed to give you suppleness, natural grace, and skill that will be unmistakably reflected in the way you walk, in the way you play, and in the way you work.  You will develop muscular power with corresponding endurance, ability to perform arduous duties, to play strenuous games, to walk run or travel for long distances without undue body fatigue or mental strain.  And this by no means is the end.  -Joseph Pilates, Return To Life Through Contrology

This quotation is up on my studio wall.  In an idle moment recently, I was reading it.  An idea was sparked:  why not accept Joe Pilates’ challenge and put myself to work?  That same day, I proposed to a client that we do the work out from Return To Life Through Contrology.  We did, in proper time (about twenty minutes).  But something didn’t feel right in my back when we were done, so I did a bit of stretching hoping to alleviate the symptoms.  I ended up with a gnarly back spasm that took a few days to unwind despite my rapid response – I was at my chiropractor’s office within a few hours.  With my crushed sense of confidence, the idea was tabled.  About a month has passed and the idea is still rolling around in my head.  I gave it some more consideration and came up with an action plan.  I could use a little boost right about now.

I’ve got four collections of clothing for different sized bodies.  And I barely fit into the largest sizes right now.  While I have managed to hold off the rapid expansion that happened last fall, I am treading water these days, definitely not getting any slimmer.  Since I never followed up on my diet plan of a few months ago and because it fits perfectly with this new project, here’s the simple story:  I read Fallon and Prentice in preparation for this post.  And I was persuaded that since I’m still nursing and hoping to have a second baby in the next year or two, that raw milk, butter, and raw milk cheese ought to remain on my daily list of foods consumed.  As far as the white flour goes, well….I started with the best intentions by consuming only whole-sprouted grains.  But little by little, white flour has crept back into my diet.  And the sugar, well sort of the same thing.  I’m still mostly consuming only whole sweeteners (palm sugar, honey, and maple syrup), but I don’t do well without a daily dose of chocolate (usually when I partake, I remind myself of Deb’s assertion and console myself that at least I’m not eating white flour too).  What’s more is that I’m really not a dieter by nature.  I never have been.  I love to eat healthfully and have continually improved my dietary intake since I was a teenager.  But I’m not keen to adopt a diet that includes deprivation.  I like to eat and I like to do it in the company of others.  And I really like ice cream.  While I understand that a case could easily be made for avoiding it, I never seem to be able to hold on to the idea for very long.  Eventually I end up thinking something along these lines, “this life that I’m living, here in the land of plenty, includes ice cream, why fight it?”  And then I happily partake.

So if I’m not going to lose weight by dramatically altering my food intake, perhaps exercise will do the trick.  I figure that with exercise, not only do I burn calories, I also help myself feel better physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  Pilates is such an incredibly complete and effective exercise system, I really should reap the benefits of what I know by putting myself through its paces, yes?  YES!  And here’s where I have to remind myself of two things.  When it comes to Pilates, I know what I’m doing.  Sure I occasionally throw my back out, but for the most part, when I really put my mind to it, I’m pretty good at the stuff.  And perhaps a bit more importantly, I’ve done this before….

Back when I was a working 6-7 days a week as a certified Pilates instructor and preparing to enter my apprenticeship with Romana, I had an idea.  I was working long hours so as to fund my upcoming training, and I needed to keep myself in the game, body, mind, and spirit.  So I decided to start out each day with a Pilates mat workout.  I’d genie-sit to lay down on my floor (it was nicely padded carpet which made it all quite simple) and perform the “intermediate mat series” at the prescribed rhythm (this would take me 8-12 minutes depending on the day).  The series ends with a genie-stand and I’d go directly to the shower to start my day.  As I walked those ten paces or so, I’d revel in how I was breathless and sweaty.  And soon enough I experience a completely unexpected result, my clothes were falling off me.  Those morning workouts did something for me that nothing else had or has ever done.   Since then my body has gone through a wide variety of changes.  In those days, I’d naively thought that my body would stay the same since I was dedicated to maintaining my Pilates practice.  While I have indeed maintained my practice through thick and thin, and while I have made all sorts of improvements to my knowledge base and physical execution of my exercises, I have never repeated this rigorous morning routine.  I know that the rhythm and enthusiasm with which I consistently performed my workout was a key component to my weight loss.  I’m now wondering if the time of day also had something to do with it.  Perhaps a quick morning workout gave my metabolism (whatever that is), a booster start.  Or maybe not.  The reason, I even consider the possibility is because it’s pretty unlikely that I’m going to be able to workout at the same time regularly given my life as a mom.

Which brings me back around to the topic of self-doubt.  I’m not really sure that I can do this (lose weight by simply amping up my Pilates practice and being a wee bit more careful with what I eat).  It’s a test, a challenge, an experiment.  But I do want to do it.  So, having taken a cue from this lovely lady, I’m going to do it like this:

Starting the on the new moon (July 8th) and continuing till the full moon on October 18  (this makes a little over fourteen weeks total), I’m going to follow Joe Pilates’ prescription with four workouts per week.  Given my line of work, I may indeed end up doing more.  As far as my sensitive low back and abs go, I’m omitting the exercises that are riskiest for me and will supplement with some apparatus work (cadillac, reformer, wunda chair, and spine corrector depending on the day).  I may also do some other more gentle exercises which I call “Human Mechanics” on an as need basis.

To keep myself inspired and honest, I’m going to video-record myself in minimal clothing once a week and share it online.  I’ll also post a weekly update with my reflections and insights from the week, a photo to document progress, and key measurements (weight, waist, hips, and thighs).

I’m super excited for this challenge, it is coming at a good time for me.  Heeeeerrre I go!

Celebration Time, Come On!

Leave a reply

We just finished up celebrating our son’s second trip around the sun and given how many party attendees requested recipes from our food offerings, I thought that a little sharing for posterity’s sake was in order.

Homemade Birthday Banner

garden view garland P1010701 leafy garland

I completed our set of birthday garlands for last year’s first birthday celebration.  Much to my surprise, I made many more yards than I’d intended.  My husband assured me that this was a good thing since we are partial to parties in parks.  Now that our neighborhood tot lot is the ideal setting for our son’s enjoyment, we are armed with plenty of decorations (thankfully this relieves me of the sense of obligation to make more).  Our adornments made our favorite park a little more special in honor of our little guy and his favorite friends.

Menu

I was determined to provide healthy snacks that I’d be more than happy to feed my kid for our party.  Considering, my limited time, the constraints of an outdoor party in the heat, and the variety of dietary constraints that many live with, I put together a menu with the hopes that each person in attendance could enjoy at least one thing.  The combination of food allergies is tricky to navigate, but I think that I at least achieved part of what I set out to.

Here are the recipes and links (in italics) to the originals when applicable.

Mango Cashew Sunshine Bites  – my changes are recorded here

  • 2/3 cup cashews
  • 1 cup dried mango
  • 1/2 cup coconut (plus more for garnish)
  • 1 cup Harmless Harvest coconut water (the best tasting that I’ve ever had, this coconut water is raw and delicious)
  • 1/4 cup raw coconut butter
  • 2 tsp honey
  • seeds of one vanilla bean
  • orange zest
  • pinch of red salt
  • pinch of turmeric 
  1. Soak Cashews in salted water for six hours.  Drain and Rinse.
  2. Soak mango and coconut in coconut water for 30 minutes.  Retain any excess liquid.
  3. Place all contents in food processor and process until a silky smooth paste is al that is left of the ingredients.
  4. In preparation for rolling the balls, coat hands with coconut oil.  Spoon out 1/2 teaspoons of the mixture at a time, roll into a ball and coat with coconut flakes.
  5. Store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Chewy Granola Bites – again, my changes are recorded here

  • 2 Tbsp chia seeds in 6 Tbsp of water (could use Harmless Harvest, this is only occurring to me now)
  • 2 cups rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup raw buckwheat groats
  • 3/4 pecans
  • 1 cup dried white figs
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup
  • scraped seeds of 1 vanilla bean
  • 2 ripe bananas
  • 1/2 tsp red salt 

(Before preparing this, I soaked the oats, groats, and pecans according to the specifications of Sally Fallon and dehydrated them.)

  1. Combine chia seeds and water.  Set aside.  A gel will soon form.
  2. Toast oats, groats, and nuts in a 300 degree oven for 15 minutes.  Check and stir every 5 minutes to prevent burning.
  3. Mix coconut oil, syrup, and vanilla.  Add a little heat if necessary to turn the oil to liquid form.
  4. Use a food processor to blend the bananas and the oil mixture until it is smooth.  Then add the chia gel with only a quick pulse to incorporate.
  5. In a large bowl combine the toasted oats, groats, and nuts, the liquid mixture, and the figs.
  6. Chose a pan based on how thick or thin you’d like your bars to be.  Line with parchment paper.
  7. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes (but do bear in mind the thickness of your bars when choosing the length of time before checking in to prevent any burning.)
  8. Allow to cool in pan for at least 30 minutes.
  9. Make use of the parchment for removing from pan.  Cut or crumble as you like.  (The cooler and thicker the bars, the more likely that they will actually be bars.  Mine were too warm and too thin to be bars when I started to cut.  So they became tasty granola bites instead.)
  10. Store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.  The coolness helps to ensure that they hold their shape.

Quinoa Salad
The original recipe comes from a little cookbook that my mom gave me years ago when I was a vegetarian in college.  The little book is long gone, but this one favorite recipe has remained something of a staple for me.

  • 2 cups cooked quinoa (I soaked mine first and then added too much cooking water so it was sort of mushy, but definitely nutritious)
  • 1 bunch of Italian parsley’s leaves chopped very finely
  • 1 box of mini tomatoes, halved
  • 1 cucumber, quartered lengthwise and sliced
  • 1 lemon, juiced (I learned this method from my Cypriot friend:  halve the lemon, then put a fork in the sections of each halve.  Squeeze while moving the fork up and down until you are satisfied with the amount of juice extracted.  Simple.  And do take advantage of the oils from the peel as they naturally come off on your hand in the process, they make a lovely salve.)
  • Olive oil and red salt to your taste.

Sachertorte – From The Frog Commissary Cookbook
CAKE INGREDIENTS

  • 8 oz semisweet chocolate (the good stuff.  Valrhona, for example.)
  • 8 oz unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup coconut palm sugar
  • 3/4 tsp red salt
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract (in our house we always put a bit more for good measure)
  • 1/3 cup buckwheat flour
  • 8 oz crispy walnuts ground to a fine powder in a nut mill.
  • 8 egg yolks
  • 8 egg whites

ICING INGREDIENTS

  • 2/3 cup apricot jam (I found an all organic variety sweetened with apple juice, score!)
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 6 oz semisweet chocolate (the same stuff you used in the cake), chopped
  1. Butter and flour a 9″ by 2 1/2″ springform pan.
  2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  3. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler.  Cool to lukewarm.
  4. Cream the butter with the salt, vanilla, and sugar.
  5. Toss the walnuts and flour.
  6. Add the egg yolks one by one to the butter-sugar mixture.
  7. Stir in the chocolate and nuts.
  8. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.
  9. Stir 1/4 of the whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it up.
  10. Fold in the remaining egg whites.
  11. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.  Bake 1 hour.
  12. Cool in pan for 20 minutes.  Then flip onto a cooling rack and remove the bottom.  Cool completely.

(The Frog describes how to properly ice the cake.  I chose not to put time into such things, so I take a simpler approach, which ends in a rather funny looking cake that is just as tasty as its prettier counterpart.)

  1. Place the cake on your serving plate of choice.
  2. Spread jam over top and down the sides of the cake.  Place in the refrigerator to set the jam.
  3. Carefully heat the cream so that it will be sufficiently warm to melt the chocolate.  (Don’t let it boil or burn).
  4. Stir chocolate and cream together until the mixture is completely smooth.
  5. Allow to cool till just warm enough for spreading.
  6. Pour the chocolate over the cake taking care to distribute evenly on the top and down the sides.
  7. Chocolate will pool up around base of the cake.  (Clearly the thing to do is use a spatula to wipe it up and then use your mouth to enjoy the evidence of your lack of skill in cake decorating.  Depending on how long you wait to serve the cake, you may have to repeat this step.)
  8. You can carefully freeze this cake.  First on a plate, then wrap carefully and extensively once frozen.
  9. Or you can refrigerate for a couple days before serving if you are doing a lot of cooking, say for a birthday party.

Banana Cupcakes with Maple-Coconut Cream Cheese frosting – adapted from an adaptation of The Silver Palate Cookbook

The truth is that my husband made this cake and frosting.  I provided him with a recipe and then he did more research.  I don’t really know what he did.  I’ll leave you with the links and the changes that I know were made.

  • Yogurt was substituted for buttermilk
  • 1/2 cup coconut palm sugar and 1/2 cup of maple sugar was used in place of the sugar (which is missing from Helen Jane’s recipe all together.)
  • In the frosting, maple syrup was the only sweetener used.  A little less butter was used, and shredded coconut was added on account of the liquid sweetener form.  Cupcakes were topped with coconut and an umbrella for tropical whimsy.

Cucumber / Lemon Water
This is simple and yet, surprisingly satisfying.  I washed and cut up three little cucumbers and an entire lemon (skins on, seeds out) and plopped them in our five gallon water bottle which we put on the crock at the park.  While we had a couple gallons left at party’s end, I was happy to see that so much had been consumed on such a hot day.  And happier still to know that I avoided sugary juices and drinks all together.

 

There may very well be errors here.  Use your best judgement and let me know.  A little editing is all it takes to make most things right.

Twists’ Tasty Tuna Melts: Our Family Recipe

Leave a reply

tuna melts

My husband’s mom bears the credit for this tasty meal.  It is probably his most common response to the not so often asked question, “what shall we have for dinner?”  (I usually just figure it out.)  And it may possibly be the most commonly shared recipe by request.  Since I just texted a version today, I thought that putting it down for posterity’s sake may be enjoyable for others and serve as a future time savings account for myself.

A big part of what I enjoy about food is texture.  For example, I’ve always loved salad, but until I learned how to slice lettuce super thinly from my Cypriot friend, I was always put off by chewing on big cumbersome leaves once I’d managed to get them in my mouth while leaving a trail of dressing all over my face.  The first time I watched him prepare the salad, I was intrigued, but when I partook:  I was in heaven.  (I believe that he offered up some combination of red leaf, mint, tomato, olive oil, and salt.  And since I’m on the topic, I’ve still found nothing to beat green cabbage which is left to soften in a simple dressing of lemon juice and salt.  Delicious and Nutritious!).  There I went digressing…

The point of the texture diversion is that these tuna melts are the perfect embodiment of texture done well.  Each bite includes a tasty balance of all the flavors, none over taking another.  And there’s no big slab of greasy cheese to navigate and get sort of grossed out over.

Now, I realize that tuna is one of those edibles to be consumed with caution.  And we do.  We opt for Vital Choice tuna because it has all sorts of great qualities.

I realize that this blog is sparse on photos in sharp contrast to lots of others out there.  But I’m confident that readers will be able to sort this all out with just the above visual aide.  And while your enthusiasm may not be as heightened without some beautiful photos to drool over, hopefully your imagination will fill in the blanks till you have the real thing on your dinner plate.  Enjoy!

Twist’s Tasty Tuna Melts

  • Tuna
  • Shredded cheese of your choice (we use cheddar)
  • Finely chopped red onion
  • Finely chopped celery
  • Finely chopped greens (we use blanched kale or chard)
  • Cayenne pepper (optional)
  • Just enough mayonnaise to hold it all together (this is what my husband told me many moons ago.  The truth is that the binding really comes from the melted cheese which will happen in the oven.  Which is all to say that you really don’t need too much mayo at all.)
  • Light, fluffy buns which are mostly air (my husband’s explanation for why he can consume so many).  Alternately, brioche buns work well.  And if you’ve never had either of the two listed, you’d probably be perfectly happy with your family’s bread of choice for toast, it’s just that once you’ve tried either of the first two options, you may experience a shift in standards.

I leave it to you to sort out the balance of ingredients.  Should you make too much, have no fear.  Store in the fridge for lunch the next day.  I do not recommend making too little, resentments may result.

Mix the topping together.

Use a fork to press the topping onto your pieces of bread (Buns halved if that’s what you are using.  Press on to the inner side, sorry if that was obvious.  I certainly didn’t mean to insult your intelligence, maybe I should just have pictures…..)  This takes a little practice, as you don’t want so much topping that it doesn’t cook all the way through.  Nor do you want so little that you have mostly bread.  The fork is important because you use it to sort of press it onto the bread and (maybe this is where the mayo comes in) in that way it all sort of stays put.

Place under a broiler and watch carefully.  When the tops are golden brown you are ready to tuck in and enjoy.

Come Out Come Out Where Ever You Are!

Leave a reply

It’s June in Oakland and I’ve been noticing some rainbows in our neighborhood which reminds me the it’s about the time of year when I used to go to Pride with my friends back when we were in our twenties.  For the most part, they were lesbians, which is why Pride was an important event to attend.  I went to support my friends, it was not a particularly magical excursion for me since most of what I remember is hanging out on the street amidst lots and lots of people, although to be fair, I usually spent a relatively short amount of time at the event since my weekend calendars usually had multiple activities (ah to be young and un-obliged).  In one sense, just the mass of people was enough to make it special.  But I’m sure for folks who are much more involved in the community, it’s a more significant event.

Now I catch a glimpse of the rainbow flag flying from my neighbor’s window and the rainbow eyeglasses display laid out over a giant pink triangle while I’m out for a bike/walk with my nearly two year old.  And I think with a smile of fondness, “oh it must be Pride season”.  And I think about Harvey Milk and what a service he did us all by just being openly who he was and encouraging each and every one of us to do the same.  (I absolutely loved MILK).

Mostly I’m grateful to live in a place that welcomes anybody and everybody.  While I have been very minimally involved in any aspect of the gay-rights movement, at any and every point in my life, there is one story about the movement from which I always derive inspiration:  let love.  Celebrate love.  Welcome love,  Be love.  Love.  Love.  Love!  From there I go on to say a little prayer for every person who is present on this planet:  love yourself, be who you are!  This world of ours will certainly be the better for it!

Have a Love-filled day!

Introducing…Everything I need to know, I learn from my kid

Leave a reply

As I was rinsing cloth diapers for the wash, I found myself considering my posture.  This is a very common occurrence for me since I spend a fair amount of time bending over a wash basin of some kind and then noticing the sad effect such a position has on my back.

Today I felt the implications in my shoulders.  My first improving action was to retract my shoulders onto my back rather that maintaining their very forward position on my ribcage.  But this only served to remind me that my back was in a strained position.  The real solution was to bend my knees and fold my hips so that my entire torso adjusted to a better angle and level for achieving the task at hand.

For many years, I’ve wondered just what is the ideal position for lowering oneself to the desired level over a sink or other such work surface.  Within a week of taking a class with Dana Davis at TSH, I had the good fortune to observe my toddler addressing that very question.  I’ve been thinking of what I saw him do over and over again since then.  Nearly every time that I’m tasked with washing or rinsing something.  Which, as any in-home mom knows, is a very frequent occurrence.

First a little background (you know me, at least a little by now, there is always a background story).  I’ve been studying movement for around twenty years now.  And I’ve been a mom for almost two.  So for something like eighteen years I’ve been catching wind of an intriguing idea:  that the youngest among us demonstrate all sorts of interesting things about our bodies.  And for the past two, I’ve been watching carefully and truly enjoying the show.  It is amazing to watch the development of movement patterns, the nuances of position, and the pure expression of humanity that are simply a matter of course for each of us in the fist couple years of life.

For me, it has been important to be in the presence of my son consistently on a daily basis to make these observations.  I can think of it in terms of learning body language.  Just as with spoken language, immersion proves to be an important factor.  Now, having spent 2 years in the nearly constant company of a baby, I can recognize the body language of his contemporaries easily.  Whereas, before I was a mom, when I was incredibly curious about the expression of our basic movement patterns in the very young, and also often in the company of the very young, I was blind to it.  It was right there before my eyes, and yet I didn’t see it.  In the past two years I’ve very much appreciated this book for helping me to see and understand certain patterns.

In the case of working over a surface, the key to proper positioning is to use the main torso positioning mechanisms:  the legs and hips.  Rather than bending the spine at the waist and rounding the upper back forward to the detriment of the position of the ribs and the shoulders, the key is to simply fold at the knees and the hips to the move the arms to the desired level.

One day, my kid was standing on his high chair next to me at the sink.  We were having some fun with bubbles and at a certain point he was really getting into it, rather than simply observing me.  This was when he got serious with his position and did precisely what I just described.  The outward effect may look a little odd at first, or perfectly natural depending on your framework of analysis.  It looks odd because it’s not what most adults do.  But for those of us who have been diligently working at reclaiming proper use of our human body, it looks absolutely perfect.  (Sort of like some movie scene where the characters arrive at just the right moment on just the right day of the year to see some mystical truth revealed by a sunbeam – you know what I mean, right?)

So, today I was once again reminded of the very important posture lesson that my little guy granted me.  And a new category for this blog was born.  Not all the lessons are this easy or fun, for sure.  But they are lessons all the same.  And I’d argue that they are some of the most important lessons we have the opportunity to learn (second perhaps to those that we learn from our parents).  So it seems to me that the more frequently we are able to remind ourselves that we are here to learn and that our children are excellent teachers, the better primed we are to actually “get it”.  And likewise, the less likely we are to stage a dramatic protest in the face of some lesson which we are not too pleased with.  So for today it’s posture, who knows what I’ll realize about my little teacher in the days and years to come.  For certain, I am looking forward to each and every moment.  Even the ones that initially seem quite unpleasant.  I’m pretty sure that those will turn out to be the best ones…..

Links for Mamajoy

Leave a reply

Here’s a quickie post with some links that I’m grateful to have enjoyed in the past week thanks to bloggers and friends.  Little tidbits of mirth and inspiration are always good to share, yes?  Indeed!

The Wholehearted Parenting Manifesto

22 Alternatives to Punishment

It’s allright to cry!

Worry about yourself!

Give yourself Two Minutes

Happy Mothers’ Day to Mamas everywhere!!!  I’ve been saying it for years and will continue for years to come:  parents have the most important job on the planet.  Hug a mama today, if not with your actual arms, then at least with your heart.