I want to have pink hair, sparkling eyes, and play a violin in a band!! Argghh!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W50zP8K04-E
Dinner tonight!
O. M. G.
- Plantpower Way Fettuccine Alfredo
- No Meat Athlete Tempeh Nuggets
I put the Fettuccine on sautéed kale and we had green beans on the side. Don’t even consider not making the suggested dip for the nuggets.
Dreams, SWELL 3.
I have the best Dad.
Somehow, my parents were able to achieve both pushing us to try new things, to persevere at whatever we did, and to never consider quitting an option while also making us feel fully supported and confident as if we could never fail, even when we did.
One of my Dad’s favourite sayings / card inscriptions for as long as I can remember has been “Dream Big”. And I truly believe he has always felt that, if only I dreamed it, it damn well was going to come to fruition.
Here’s the thing though, when someone tells you to “Dream Big” your next thought is “okay, cool, now what is my dream?”. For years, I can now admit, I had no dreams. Zero, zilch, nada, zip. Seriously, I felt like a major loser. Who the hell doesn’t have dreams? Everyone seemed to! How hard could it be? I was always involved in sports, I was pretty darn motivated and driven, I did well in some, but did I ever “dream” of the Olympics? Nope. I did great in school, it came easily, but did I ever “dream” of a NASA, curing cancer, or even becoming a doctor, or journalist, or … anything?! Nope. I’ve found lots of success, but it never started with a dream. What the heck?!
Whenever I saw this “Dream Big”, I would think and think and think – what is my dream? The only answer to that question that I ever consistently came up with through the years was simply – happiness. However, even “happiness” was never defined in my mind. Happiness didn’t equal a certain job, a certain level of success, a certain number of kids, a certain achievement, there was no vision associated with it. It was just a mere feeling really, a feeling of looking out on life with sun on my face and loving people behind me. Now if I were a beautiful free spirit who danced through life this would be AOK. But let’s be clear, I’m a first born, Type A, overachiever here people. I needed a damn dream!
All those years I thought I was “boring” or “unadventurous” or “uncreative” but now, NOW, I’m starting to wonder if maybe I wasn’t just utterly brilliant. How can one truly know their dream before they traipse around through life a little bit? Maybe it is right that your dream isn’t concrete but more of a desire for a feeling or state of mind?
I recently turned 40 – ha! Can you tell?!
In the last year or so I’ve gradually transitioned to a plant powered diet, I rarely drink coffee or alcohol anymore, I’ve upped my yoga and meditation game and said no to administrative meetings and business ventures, I’ve started a blog with the sole goal of giving more to others, I’ve started training for an endurance race and I’m considering Ironman. Could this be my mid-life crisis the peanut gallery asks? Hahahaha, well duh!! Totally. But I’m wearing it with pride and make no apologies, because, fuck it, it feels pretty damn rad. Potential athletic advantages of the latter aside, I’m feeling this decade and don’t lament not being able to revisit previous ones (except for the day I met you beloved, of course, mwah!). There were far too many fucks given in the wrong direction in those years. However, now I’ve put in the work, I am comfortable zagging far left of the status quo, there will be no more inertia, and I am far more aware of who deserves fucks and who doesn’t. It’s glorious. It feels all sparkly and warm, like glowing light on my face with a powerful, energetic force behind me. Hey … wait ….
So as I raise a glass of ‘booch to myself and celebrate my brilliance and laugh at thinking I was inept all those years walking around dream-less, I also raise one to you and whatever decade you are rockin’. I really hope that you have no dreams but wake up one day and feel that glow on your face and the power behind you. If you need help finding these things, your kin are here to help. If you feel you are freaking rocking that shit already, share away. We want to hear about it.
And in honour of all our current and future awesomeness, let’s create some waves. Let’s send some love to those who have a little less. I guarantee it will change how you feel and good things will happen if you do. I don’t know what or how, but trust me.
So click here and see what you think (paypal seems to work better than credit):
https://my.charitywater.org/jenn-tranmer/kindredswell
These guys are great. Completely transparent. You can give directly to a project (i.e. none of your money goes to administration) or you can give directly to their infrastructure (i.e. ALL of your money goes towards allowing them to do what they do). They have real time GPS maps of their wells working.
I chose the goal amount as that will give 40 people clean water who previously DID NOT HAVE IT!
If you want to learn more about them, have a listen here:
http://www.richroll.com/podcast/scott-harrison/
If you want to do your own thing, or maybe your kids are inspired, try this:
https://my.charitywater.org/get-involved/pledge-birthday
I hope you join me, make some waves, wrap your arms around someone and feel them hug back. Put your fucks where they are deserved and then get back out there and do what it is you love.
You can always find it.
Love and beauty.
Today, as I was running back to the car after a glorious jaunt with my hubby we came across an elderly man. He had to have been in his nineties. He was shuffling about the neighbourhood with his walker. On his walker he had a basket which was filled with veggies, specifically a ton of jalapeños and a cucumber. This was a city street, there was no garden near by. There was no plant stand near by. He waved a jalapeño at me so I crossed the street. He said I should really take one as his garden overproduced this year. I took two. It occurred to me he just might have been wandering around the sunny streets offering vegetables to whoever wanted any. Because, why wouldn’t you, if you could.
You can always find it if you look – love, beauty, humanity, and jalapeños! Get out there and give.
Can anyone say “salsa time”?!
Seriously, GET ON THIS NOW.
Do you long to taste Hawaii?
Do you want instant Zen?
Do you want to feed your body all the things it craves on these beautiful sun filled days?
Well then, GET ON THIS NOW!
Adapted from “The Plantpower Way” by Rich Roll and Julie Piatt (which by the way is a book you should also get on right now).
MONK BLEND
1/4 cup dried goji berries and 1/4 cup almonds (sprouted if you can) soaked in just enough water to cover them for at least 30mins
1 inch piece of fresh turmeric root, peeled
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled
1 large orange, peeled
1 cup of frozen mango
1 cup of frozen pineapple
2 squares of frozen wheatgrass (optional)
1-2cups of coconut water depending on desired thickness
Optional dusts: maca, schisandra, pearl, tocos
Throw everything into a high powered, Vitamix like, blender for a minute-ish
And then SIP, HEAL, SMILE, FLOURISH
Find YOU.
When both my mom and my mother in law come to visit, as with all our visitors, my hubby and I take pride in showcasing some of our favourite recipes for them. They mostly come in the fall and winter months, so we will often create a deeply nourishing plant based curry or stew and proceed to cup our hands around the bowls keeping warm and inhaling the divine scents (well, that’s what I do anyway. I’m pretty sure my beloved just ‘eats’.).
Now, since I was as young as I can remember I have always been harassed by my loving family members for the way I prep / plate my meals. For some reason they found hilarity in the fact that when I buttered my bread that I ensured all aspects of the bread had butter on them. Or when I made a sandwich that I ensured that each and every bit had as much goodness to offer as the next. I obviously never understood the humour in the situation, nor do I to this day. Who wants to bite into bland bread when your entire meal could melt in your damn mouth?! Life is too short people!
Anyway, this personality feature (yes, this is a feature people, not a flaw) lives strong. So when I have a bowl of curry I don’t just put the curry in the bowl. I might put some crispy sautéed kale on the bottom of the bowl first, maybe dust that shit with some extra goodness, then on goes the curry, then there’s usually a sliced avocado or some sultry sauce and maybe some sprouts or herb on there as well just to make it as pleasing to the eye as it is about to be to the mouth. Usually when all this freaking magic is happening, most people are already most of the way through their meal, but not my mom and mother in law. They are lingering, empty bowls hovering in air with a nervous look on their face, until my husband delicately points out that we’re not getting any younger here and they utter the famous words – “I’m just waiting to see what Jenn does.” And this, for some utterly inane reason drives me mad. Why? WHY? This is supposed to be my whole essence of being. I want others to see the wonderful ways of plants and health and joy and dusts and beauty and dive in head first squealing with delight! This is why I started this blog isn’t it? To show what I do and attract others, create a tribe and then use all our mad skills and energy to do great things! So why does this drive me nuts? Why?
Maybe because it’s been a long trek and at times a tough slog to figure out ME and that there is a dis-ease with someone just so easily jumping on board? Maybe because it feels like it dilutes ME? Maybe I’m worried I don’t actually have any of this figured out and it may be a real mistake to follow any damn thing I do?
Maybe. But I think (and HOPE) that mostly it’s because I want them to make the bowl that THEY love, that turns THEM on, that makes THEM happy. These are two of the strongest and most awesome women I know, perhaps it shakes me a bit to think that they are uncertain.
Now obviously I’m talking about more then a frickin’ bowl of curry.
And as stated straight off the line here, I have no idea what I’m doing writing a blog.
Also, I’m a woman.
So we’re going to take this opportunity to make a little course correction here folks. True, one of my goals here is to put on display all the things that bring me joy. And if you are out there finding joy in the same things, then I hope I find you. True, I hope then that this brings us “together” to consider ways of bringing joy to more people and more parts of this earth. But I want to now clarify something else – I want to share ME not because I want you to necessarily do all that I do. I share ME here because for me that’s a big deal; I’m not really a pro-star “share-er”. Truth be told, I hate sharing. Nachos, desserts, feelings, words – I like to keep them all to myself. But I think I’m here doing it because it’s going to do great things. I hope that maybe that inspires YOU to share more of YOU.
If you happen to be my kindred spirit and when you put a spread on a cracker you better believe every damn particle of that cracker is going to have spread on it, then fab. But I take some of my first words here back, I’m not looking for a tribe of MEs. Holy crap, that would be a little much. The world already has one of us, surely that is plenty. I want YOU. I want you to find YOU and be the most amazing, most dazzling YOU. Because then I can learn from YOU. Then I can connect with YOU. Then I can sit back and let YOU share while I listen. Then the world has YOU AND ME.
So I will continue to put all of ME out here and you go get busy being YOU. I’m not sure I have all of ME figured out, but we’re certainly getting there. There are many things that help the process: running, family, relationships, successes, failures, loves, losses, books, people, plants and over the past year or so, meditation. I started out dabbling in the Headspace App but I’ve found more of what suits ME in the Insight Timer App.
Some of my current favourites are:
https://insighttimer.com/andyhobson/guided-meditations/mountain-meditation
https://insighttimer.com/jonathanlehmann/guided-meditations/morning-meditation-ammas-beach
https://insighttimer.com/welcomeearth/guided-meditations/kundalini-gong-breath-meditation
https://insighttimer.com/joshuacanter/guided-meditations/om-mani-padme-hum-2
But, even better, don’t use mine … go find YOURS.
Go sit.
Preferably outside.
Even better if it is at dawn or dusk.
FIND YOU.
And once you do, please, tell us all about it.
bowls, bowls, bowls, layer, layer, layer
My husband will tell you, I can eat. I like many plants, a good sauce, and as many nutrients crammed in there as I can. And it has to taste delicious, like I’m-back-from-a-long-run-and-I-have-two-kids-to-entertain-all-day-now-and-I’m-not-sure-when-they-will-let-me-eat-again, delicious!!
Here’s an example of my favourite option to fulfill all of the above requirements this summer:
From the bottom up …
- a big bowl that feels good in your hands
- quinoa
- kale sautéed with coconut oil and salt and some dried mustard on top
- sautéed tofu or tempeh in the above pan or a bean/legume of your liking
- sweet potatoes, sliced into 1/4-ish inch rings, brushed with coconut oil, sprinkled with turmeric and pepper. If you want to get fancy, melt some coconut oil and then stir in some of this and brush it on: https://lairdsuperfood.com/collections/all-products/products/laird-superfood-turmeric-creamer-16oz-new-product
- roasted veggie of your liking, do it beside the sweet potatoes in the oven. I did cauliflower with the sauce in #7 brushed on it
- dressing (adapted from thefullhelping.com): 1/2c tahini, 1/2c water, 1/4c lemon juice, 2 cloves garlic, 1 tsp paprika, salt to taste and I added 1 tbsp of maca (mucuma also works) for extra dusting love. Throw it all in the blender/food processor et voila!
- top with hemp seeds and sprouts
- let the good times roll
XO
Absolute beauty.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxJhYpTIrl8
Heard it first in the absolutely awe inspiring and beautiful movie, MERU. Among many, many other things this is a stunning documentary that illustrates what it means to persevere and try again after failure, what it means to know and listen to your limits, and what true trust and love looks like. If you knew what the human mind and body could do, think again.
There are no shortcuts. And that’s a good thing.
I think everyone knows this. But I felt compelled to say it again, here, this week.
Although I will share new potions, new pants, new apps, new whatever I found that has brought some joy to me and thus, I hope you, these are just accents. Like that little bit of cilantro you put on top of an already fabulous stew. If you don’t take the time to find the stew that’s going to nourish you, gather it’s ingredients, chop ’em all up and wait patiently while they simmer, well then you are just going to drop some cilantro in your bowl for dinner and that’s not going to do anything for you!
I have an amazing family. I get to work at places I love. I’m happy, relatively sane most days, and have a strong body that mostly does what I ask of it. But there have been no shortcuts to having any of these. It’s been a journey.
Our family spends a lot of time talking about, forging for and making our meals. It’s what we have chosen to prioritize. I’m not sure we could do it if my husband and I worked conventional hours. Scratch that, I’m not sure we WOULD do it if my husband and I worked conventional hours. So we had to find a way around that and that was/is not easy.
My husband and I also spend a lot of time talking about, researching and executing exercise. At times this can feel selfish depending on what lens you look at the situation through. But, physical activity has always been a big part of each of our lives, has benefited us immensely and it makes us happier people. So, yep, often I will get up and within not too short a time exit the house for a while while the others are left at home in what they proclaim is “extreme boredom moooom!”. And, yep, we don’t go away a lot of weekends because we have races, or group rides, or because we are just too damn tired to fathom it. I’m not entirely certain that this is the right way to do it, but I’m also pretty sure no one is certain about that. I can only hope that we are setting great examples for our kids, that maybe one day it inspires them to go out there and do something big, and that it keeps their parents happy, sane and strong for a long, long, time to come.
So here’s what I did today. No short cuts. And that’s the way we like it.
Now, go get out there and tell all those short cuts to SUCK IT!!
PS: A pro pros the aforementioned accents, I am in love with what got me over the hills today:
https://www.nathansports.com/vaporhowe-4l-race-vest
https://www.monsterproducts.com/iSport-Achieve-In-Ear-Wireless-Bluetooth-Headphones
Feelin’ groovy …. SWELL 2.
It’s Saturday, the sun is out, the universe allowed me to sleep last night, I am about to go for a beautiful trail run, I have a body that allows me to do so and a mind that allows me to do THIS, and everyone in my universe is happy and healthy for another day. Gratitude.
So let’s give back, or pay it forward, or extend a hand to karma, or just do what is right. Whatever floats your boat, let’s just do something!
This time I choose:
http://socialplastic.org/donate/
Learn more here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8pI6H5mzw0
So come join me! Create a swell of goodness. Post a comment if you do.