Barefoot and on the Mat: December 2021

[JustSandra]

Merry Christmas!

Have spent the day cuddled in my recliner, reading and watching the rain. However, the rain has hit "pause" for a bit so I'm sneaking in a short outdoor walk before I go over to my brother's house for our family celebration. I plan to get back on the workout wagon tomorrow.

Waving to all!

[Paine]

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! It was soooo adorable to watch our 2 grandsons open their gifts from Santa this morning. They were so excited.
We had a wonderful dinner last night with our family. It was a lot of work but I'm relaxing today.

Pat, I'm laughing at your description of your pumpkin bread, LOL! Who cares what it looks like as long as it tastes great.

Cyana, I hope your dinner turns out good! I enjoyed hearing about your memories of Christmas lunch with your father's family.

[cyana]

Thank goodness, I didn't have to bury the London Broil in the back yard. I hadn't done a London Broil in years and decided I'd give it a try in the Instant Pot. Here's the recipe if anyone is interested: https://disheswithdad.com/instant-pot-london-broil/ I'd been searching for recipes for days and came across this one. I made a few modifications - 1:1 substitution of Tamari for soy sauce in the marinade (coconut aminos would also work), 2 onions instead of onions and mushrooms for the gravy (DH never passes up the opportunity to disparage mushrooms, so I knew that was a no-go), and DH decided to pressure for 4 minutes stead of 3 since the recipe calls for a 2 lb. London Broil and ours was 2.5 pounds. I had to split it to fit in my 6 qt IP, so I think 3 minutes would've been fine. Another FYI - I roasted some frozen Brussels sprouts that I'd picked up at Trader Joe's some time ago, and they were quite decent, should anyone want to get a bag to toss in their freezer as a quick and easy side. Purchasing the Brussels sprouts was a tip that came from one of my young, single male co-workers who likes to eat healthy.

In about 30 minutes, I'm going to go make myself a yoga nest surrounded by the flickering LED candles and do a couple of practices from MFML - Dan's Breath and Peace, which is largely breathwork designed to help people deal with the overwhelm of the holiday (no overwhelm here, thank goodness) and his Yoga Nidra practice. Norman Blair has a practice named Peace and Breath - perhaps I should do both.

Pat - I'm glad you didn't think my post sounded preachy, since that wasn't the intent. The last couple of years have been difficult and soul-sucking for everyone on so many levels - including changing our family get-together routines and loss of loved ones. Big (((hug)) to you. I'm glad your bread tasted good!

Time to go get my yoga nest ready. Sweet dreams to all!

[Garrie A.]

Popping in to wish all of my Barefoot Buddies a...

[Margot]

Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas Day. We're celebrating Boxing Day today but it doesn't have too much significance these days; just another Holiday.

Yesterday morning, I manged to squeeze in a workout:
- Body Groove Wild & Free
- MFML - Pilates for Shoulder Stability
- Karin's Daily Practise - Advanced Balanced Toning & Hip Opening

Today I wasn't feeling so energetic, so did a mix of Somatics, HealthBarre Legs & Hips & Abs & Waist and Karin's Anatomy 101 for Hands, Arm Lines and Rib Mobility.

Pat - LOL about your pumpkin bread. As Paine says, as long as it tastes good, then it's a success. I only bake GF these days. GF flours are a different beast to regular white and can make everything heavy and dense. I get some rise in my bakes by adding an acid medium to activate the baking soda or baking powder, by using a teaspoon of vinegar or a couple of tablespoons of yoghurt. Eggs also help things to rise, if you use eggs. Whipping up egg whites helps even more. I also substitute some of the flour for ground almonds or ground cashews, which also lightens up the bread/cake or whatever.

Cyana - I'm glad your London Broil turned out well. I had to go look it up, as I didn't know what it was! Your yoga nest sounds nice and cosy. Yes to hot chocolate for dessert or any time of the day. I always do that meditation of Dan's at Christmas, which reminds me that I have to decide in the next day or two whether to continue with my subscription.

Waves Garrie. Hope you had a great time with your SO and family yesterday.

DH is waiting to go for a walk, so will check back later.

A big wave and hugs to all. Wishing everyone a happy day.

[Pat58]

Happy Boxing Day! It is also St. Stephen's Day in Ireland. We had a very nice time, having DS home this year was special. The family got together via Zoom so that was nice. With any luck, we'll see more family in person next year. I am looking forward to tidying up and getting back in a regular pattern again though, and it's time to replace sugar with kale and brown rice.

I squeezed in a yoga for my sadhana - High Desert Yogi, Evening Yoga Stretch with Christmas Music. I liked her, her channel seems to have offerings in the styles of yoga I use these days.

Cyana, thank you for the recipe, that looks very good for a Christmas dinner. I would halve the onion amount and increase the mushrooms for our tweaks. Brussels sprouts

Paine, it must have been so much fun watching your grandsons.

Margot, exactly! It is dense for sure. Thank you for sharing your tips. I did not know about the acid element and like the idea of yogurt for that. I think subbing some almond or cashew flour would also enhance the taste, too. I received a jug of Maine maple syrup and plan to find a maple quick bread recipe soon.

Sandra, I hope you had a Merry Christmas at your brother's home.

Waves all!

[yogapam]

Happy Boxing Day!

We are literally snowed in, lol. The last time we had a significant amount of snow was three years ago. We have DS1, DIL, her dad, & the girls with us. The girls are ecstatic of course. Yesterday we all went for a walk & the girls did some tobogganing down our street. We came home to a power failure and of course Christmas dinner cooking was in full swing. DS started our generator which runs a few outlets, lights, the furnace, & the fridge. We were in major improvise mode when it finally came back on. It was fun though, we all had a good laugh. The feast was delicious!

Aside from our family walk, I managed a yin stretch at bedtime.

Waves to all!

[yogapam]

Cyana - Thanks for the link, it looks delicious! I did a ham in my 8 quart IP Duo yesterday, 10 min on pressure and then a glaze & broil with the air fryer lid. DH sous vide turkey breasts, & DS pressure cooked the turkey thighs in stock.

Paine - The kids make it all so much more fun!

Pat - I’m so glad you have your DS with you for for Christmas!

Margot - I love Boxing Day because it means another feast with the leftovers!

Waves to all!

[luvcritters]

Thanks to everyone for the well wishes. The pain was lessening but I've developed an allergy to the muscle relaxers. I still have bruising on my back where the muscles tore, two weeks after the fact. I had a lot of soreness and pain in my armpit, too. My SO thinks my repaired shoulder couldn't handle the weight while I was doing overhead triceps extensions so the shoulder called on the back muscles for help and they weren't ready. That's his theory anyway. I didn't feel it when it happened or if I did it was just an ouch moment and I didn't think about it. This is the second time I've hurt my back doing weights but at least this time it isn't my spine.

cyana - between ortho docs, chiropractors and physical therapy, I've had enough electrical stimulation to last a lifetime. I don't see where it helps but I haven't worn a tens unit all day like you did. My blind chiropractor stopped using ES, ultrasound, and his other toys because he gets better results with his hands. PT's usually ask if I want ES because they say if it works it only lasts a few hours. They're really asking if I want to stay an extra 15 minutes and have another charge added to the bill.

It sounds like you all had a good meal yesterday. I had my usual but I cooked a potato in the air fryer for my treat. It comes out better than baked that way.

Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend. I gotta get through Jerry's birthday tomorrow and New Year's alone again, naturally.

I'll be with Sherry in spirit tomorrow.

[JustSandra]

Hello!

Today's Workout: I did Core Control from Jessica Smith's Build Balance + Inner Strength.

Linda: Glad you are doing a bit better. I think your SO is probably right re your shoulder. It is sometimes so hard to know what causes an injury. I have never figured out what I did to my right knee, and I'm still dealing with the consequences many months later. I love baked potatos in the air fryer, too.

Garrie: Hi there! I like that fuzzy cutie in your avatar.

Paine: It was fun watching my grandniece open presents, but she also made me laugh. I think her two favorite presents were (1) her new "big girl" scooter, and (2) a little Pez dispenser I picked up at Walmart for a stocking stuffer!

Hope everyone is enjoying the rest of their weekend. A friend told me today she loves to see Christmas come -- and she loves to see Christmas go. Have to agree!

Waving to all!