Favourite Bread

It has been a weird week. I tweaked my back on the weekend, which actually meant that my hips were acting up again and not rotating properly. Then my body crashed – oh the joys of being a woman!! – worse than usual and I spent a day on the couch sleeping and drinking tea. A woman I know gave me a bag of Earl Grey tea that has little bits of lavender and vanilla and it helped me not want to jump in front of a bus. Tuesday I went for a short walk and got my back and hips worked on at a neighbourhood clinic. It was painful, but my body felt so good afterward. My posture was straight; I could twist and turn, and bend over without a problem. After seeing how rough I was for a few days The Honey now thinks I should go for a massage monthly as a preventative measure. I partly agree, but the cost does add up. I’m sure my RMT was able to take a little holiday last year because of me. Tuesday was great then I wake up Wednesday morning so sick to my stomach; another day on the couch and with some tea and honey. By evening I was feeling better but was stumped as to the cause. I had been in pretty decent shape the last few months so I guess it was bound to happen that I would have an off week. Unfortunately, nothing much has gotten done this week as a result – dishes piled up, laundry sat wet in the washing machine or hung on the drying rack a few extra days, my business plan sat on the floor collecting cat hair (oh, summer), and board meeting minutes didn’t get sent out. Thankfully I was back to normal yesterday and a whole pile of catching up happened.

This morning is another day and the weather is just perfect. I went for my usual morning walk (no problems with the bosy), got a coffee for the walk home, and am feeling pretty unmotivated to do any real work. My TESL books are slowly getting summarized and packed away. There are about two shelves left; the stuff I didn’t really use. Other projects have come up and they can wait until these books get put away. The Honey and I have been talking about what to do with the shelves now that they are half empty. One may find its way to the curb or on Kijiji.

This seems to be the summer of sandwiches for us. The Honey got so sick of salads in the spring that he actually begged not to have any more. It was getting a little too much. Our salad pot finally bid us adieu two weekends ago, scorched by the heat and then drowned by a massive rainstorm. The Parkdale Market has been keeping us going with our usual vegetables and lettuce. Udi’s bread has been one of my favourites because it doesn’t need to be toasted. I still like it, but I’ve had to cut back more on my ingestion of potatoes as those little guys are affecting me even more (I think the starch is more potent than the potatoes, actually).

On a trip to Perth, we stopped in at FoodSmith’s. It’s a tiny grocery store with a lot packed into it, and fabulous quality too. They even had some gluten-free items I hadn’t seen at our stores here in Ottawa. We didn’t need any groceries, but we ended up picking up some things because they were too hard to resist. Silver Hills makes a bunch of healthy breads that can be found at some of the health food stores. I’d heard there was a gf one, but never found it. Walking around to the freezer section I saw two; a flaxseed and a chia seed. I like flax so that one came home with us and it is good. It’s actually healthy, tastes healthy, but also tastes good. Whether it’s toasted or not it does the job. I was beginning to think I’d have to go without because I still hadn’t found it around town, but luck would have it that Farm Boy now carries it. Yea!!

New to the market is All But Gluten, a gluten-free line made by Westons. The plain bread doesn’t really do anything for me, but the focaccia is quite nice. I was lucky enough to get some freebies of it at the CCA conference, and with my little Metro carrying it I can pick it up whenever I like. Apparently, Walmart and other grocery stores carry it as well. It’s nice dipped in oil and a nice vinegar, toasted for a snack, and sliced in half for a sandwich. The Honey had no idea it was gf.

Udi’s is still on my favourite’s list, but now I have two more options to add. And on a gf diet, options are always nice to have.