Year Two, Day 362: Happier!

I found food heaven.

I stumbled upon a new deli in my hood. Run by a lovely couple from Ukraine.

I had stopped off at Starbucks after my church job for my new drink of choice (Iced Passionfruit/White Tea no sweetener).

I lingered a bit too long and realized I needed to eat lunch before I started teaching.  I had planned on pho, but there was no time for that. So I decided I would stop at Taco del Mar and get a taco. I had packed an apple for a snack later.  But then, I noticed the new deli next door. 

I had been curious.  So I decided to step inside. I'm so glad I did!

This food is incredible. The wife makes everything from scratch. Everything, except for the homemade chicken sausage. Her husband makes that. 

The husband was standing behind the deli case smiling when I came in. I was so happy to see traditional Ukrainian dishes. You see, when my children were young, I worked full time. Single mother.  I put them in a home daycare. The family was from Ukraine. Believe me, my kids ate well!  Sometimes they would feed me when I came to pick them up. I still dream about her borscht and pelmeni!

I told the man that I was familiar with Ukrainian food.  I told him about my kids daycare. I also told him that it had some similarities to Czech food. My grandma was from Prague.  That old country way of cooking from scratch, recipes that had been handed down from generation to generation...it is the feeling of family tradition that is blended into this whole food that gives it a flavor you cannot find anywhere else.

As I asked him questions about the selections under the glass, he would swoop down and bring up spoonfuls for me to sample.  He even let me try one of his wife's "half sour pickles".  I sampled spicy eggplant, eggplant spread, half sour pickles and homemade chicken sausage.

I ordered a small portion of the beet salad (beets, saurkraut, peas and dressing), a half sour pickle and the "herring under a fur blanket" (herring covered with beets and potatoes).

I sat at the bus stop, inhaling my food. And probably making embarrassing animal noises. It was so good!

Note:  I think the probiotic effect the sour food real helped my gut. I have been a bit stressed out with all the changes in my life and worries about the future. I have been wondering lately if my cough is related more to acid from my stomach then allergies.

I will go back to this deli. It is called "Plenty Food & Deli". 9972 SE 82nd Ave,

Happy Valley, Oregon

 

 

On that note, here is my food and mood log for today.  My mood was pretty high all day. (Well except for the morning, that is. Still working on the morning depression. Getting rid of the cough and losing more weight is bound to help!)

I think part of my happy mood was seeing "D" last night. It was such an unexpected, sweet surprise!  And my cough was a little better last night. I've been mincing fresh garlic and putting it in my tea.  A remedy suggested by one of my wonderful piano student's mothers. She is from Vietnam. She said she cured her son's asthma with daily doses of fresh garlic.  Sometimes she puts it with honey, but I'm trying to cut out sugar at the moment.

Also, it was sunny and over 70 degrees today. I started my morning with prayer and journaling under my prayer day. It is a lovely start to my day. I decided to focus on "gentleness" today. Gentleness with myself and with others.

I also found a lovely bench last night.  I was early for my last students of the evening. It was still light and warm out.  I walked through the playground at the nearby school. And found the perfect bench. I sat for awhile, read and pondered.  Most refreshing! 

The icing on the cake of my day, was returning home to find that the Greek New Testament Bible I had ordered had arrived!  Most excited am I!


So, overall Mood today: 7 (Scale of 1 to 10, 1 being severely depressed, and 10 being ecstatic).

FOOD LOG May 9, 2017

• 9:30 a.m. Black tea and Tulsi Rose tea, no sugar 0 cals
• 1 serving "Umpqua Oats Insane Grains  - Oatmeal with Quinoa & Chia" with 1 teaspoon butter 240 cals., 137 mg sodium, 11 g sugar.
• 11:30 a.m. 1/2 cup canned peaches (33 cals, 7 g sugar), 1/4 cup low fat cottage cheese 45 cals, 160 mg sodium, 2 g sugar.
• 2:00 Starbucks Passionfruit /Green Iced Tea. No sweetener. 0 cals!
• 2:15 "Plenty Food & Deli" 1/2 lb. beet salad, (68 cals, 300 mg sodium, 4g sugar), 1/4 lb. herring under fur blanket, (150 cals, 250 mg sodium, 1 g sugar), one half sour pickle (1.3 cals, 89 mg sodium), 1 small bite of chicken sausage (about 20 cals).
• 3:45  Watermelon and mint juice (one of my lovely piano student's mom made it just for me!) 71 cals, 15 g sugar
• 5:45 Trader Joe's Mango Jicama Slaw with Lime Mango Vinaigrette, 240 cals, 150 mg sodium, 27 g sugar, about 30 raw almonds 215 cals, 0 mg sodium, 1 g sugar
• 7:00 One bottle "Brew Doctor Clear Mind Kombucha" (60 cals, 48 mg sodium, 10 g sugar)

Grand Total:  1,071.30 cals (Note...this is an estimate. I do not know how many calories were in the Ukrainian food. And I don't care. It was delicious and wholesome!) 1,134 mg sodium (under my limit of 1,500 mg a day, but again, not sure how much was in the Ukrainian food, so it is an estimate). 
 74 g sugar = 34 teaspoons sugar.  This is where I went astray.  The Trader Joe's salad had 27 grams of sugar. I pretty sure it was mostly in the dressing.  The American Heart Association recommends no more than 6 teaspoons of sugar a day for women.

I am a work in progress! I'm glad I am logging my calories and sodium and sugar intake. It will be interesting to see how much difference this will make if I can keep the sugar and salt levels down. In retrospect, I could have just left the dressing off of the Mango Jicama Slaw. It was a little too sweet.  And I probably did not really need the Kombucha.

But tomorrow is a new day!

And on that note, I wish you a Happy Tuesday Evening!

I will talk to you tomorrow!

Love,

Zita