2011 – Page 19 – a hippie with a minivan

Cabane à Sucre 2011

On thursday we headed to the Sugar Shack for our anual Sugar rush…

We go in the week when we can get a table left over from a group. There are not always all the activities, but the kids have the playground more to themselves, there are less people in line to eat and there are no crowds…

It was a beautiful Spring day and the Sap is running strong at the moment so keeping the sugar boiling is nearly a 24h/ day task…

(see those barrels of syrup there…. yummmmm)

(Sap boiling with a wood stove and the steam rises through a hole in the roof)

Every year the meal stays the same… so you can see the older pics here…

After the meal we head outside for some playing, seeing the animals and the anticipated “Tire sur Neige” or maple taffy, which is made from hot syrup being poured onto clean snow….

(That stuff is seriously dangerous… I know you can make it at home, but I would rather remain ignorant to that fact)

What a fun day and it is definitely something we all look forward to every year!

Ankles…

Week 2 of running brought on sore ankles… It started near the end of one session and then two days later I went out again not thinking much of it and after doing one walk/run interval my body shouted NO MORE. and I limped home… It was one ankle that was hurting the most and I put Ice on it and put my legs up and wished it away… my wish didn’t come true…

Over the next days I decided to ignore it, and hope that it would go away that way….it didn’t… and it didn’t even get better but actually worsened and both ankles were in pain, same problem, both sides.

I read a few things, iced it and tried to stay off my feet, but I have things to do, meals to make, kids to corral and a 14 month old that gets into everything. I tried taking some ibuprofen and it just made me feel very loopy and didn’t help with the pain much. Last tuesday, more than a week after the pain started, I had enough and called the family doc. I got in because of a cancelation yesterday and so I headed into Montreal yesterday morning.

The doctor was not very happy that I hadn’t been there in nearly 6 years and it was actually a fluke that my file hadn’t been thrown out. However, the fact that I had not seen anyone else in those in those 6 years, gave me the advantage and he will be keeping me as a patient as long as I go in for a check up in the fall…

He said that if it would have been only one of my ankles, with the amount of swelling and pain, he would have thought it was fractured, but because it was both, it is most likely either the tendons of the ligaments that are giving me problems and his suggestions are basically what I have been doing (or trying to do)… restand ice, oh and stronger anti-inflammatory’s and he also gave me a referral for physiotherapy.

(It’s hard to take a pic of swelling, but I think you can see it there… it the same on both sides)

*sigh*

So… I am in pain… and the minute I seem a bit better I get a bit too ahead of myself and tend to overdo things and then I am in more pain…

I think running is going to have to wait a while… my Vibrams will be great for walking… and I think I am going to get back into the pool routine again…

double *sigh*

Choco-coconut date bars…

yumm…

that was my first impression of these bars…

These are “Lara” type bars… great for energy and full of good for you things without the preservatives or the high price.

The following recipe is just a guideline and you can add or substitute anything you wish, that is a great thing….

How about dried apples and cinnamon, cranberries and dark chocolate chips, pumpkin and spices… so many options!

Also, my food processor can handle the 4 cups of dates, but my old one couldn’t have, so you might want to start by halving the recipe to see what your food processor can handle.

This makes 18 good sized bars… and here is what you need:

4 cups of pitted dates
1/3 cup cashews (I also used puffed millet for a nut free version)
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
1/3 cup pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
3 tbsp cocoa powder (unsweetened)
1 tsp Vanilla (I use my homemade extract)

Put 2 cups of dates into the food processor and pulse it until it breaks them up a bit.

Add the nuts, puffet millet, seeds, cocoa powder and coconut or whatever dry ingredients you are using

and process until grainy…. add the vanilla…

Add the rest of the dates a handfull at a time and then process until it starts coming together…

Pour the mixture into a pan (I use a 9X9)

and flatten…

Put in the Fridge until cooled and hardened and then using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut into 8 bars (6 rows X 3 rows)

Store in a container in the fridge or wrap individually…

If you are counting calories, as is these bars are about 166 cal each, which makes them a great snack…

Have fun making your own!

Weirded out…

Last night I was in bed, on my ipod touch and wanted to come to my blog to check something out. The easiest way was to write “paxye” in the search engine.

The first link was my blog but then on a whim I decided to scroll down and see what else there was.. to my surprise I found this…

This is NOT me… yet there is my Khéna, my information and my blog link…

OK… I am not naive, I know that putting yourself out on the internet opens the way for people to use your information. Or maybe I am naive in thinking that it probably wouldn’t happen to me.

Whatever the case… It is creepy…

Needless to say… if you are friends with this person on Facebook, it is not me. My Facebook link is under my real name and I now put up a fan page for this blog under “a hippie with a minivan” and once I get 25 fans I will have the link to share…

It makes you think twice to put yourself out there…

UPDATE:

The page has been taken down from Facebook. I received a lot of support from friends and many people reported it. I am so glad and hopefully it will be the end of that…