Quinoa, raw corn, sunflower seeds, chopped carrots, black olives, tamari, olive oil, lemon juice.

Protein bars

Mashed banana, chopped dates, oats, peanut butter, hemp protein powder, sesame seeds, maple syrup.

Dog food

Ground raw chicken legs and thighs — bones, fat and all.

Hemp protein powder

Yes, there is one that is super-powdery and melts easily in liquid. Now I don’t have to worry about wearing hemp grit in my teeth to afternoon meetings.

Snake(s)

The one I found: it’s either a lyre or a night snake, according to Russ at the Phoenix Herpetological Society. He responded to my email and pictures within 10 minutes. It was kinda getting to me, watching the dogs play out in the yard and not knowing whether there was a rattlesnake living in the grass.

Saturday night, The Cop and I were in the back yard. I saw a movement, the thrashy sidewinding way snakes move when they’re in a hurry.

“Look! A snake!” I said.

It was a tiny one, much smaller than the one I saw on Thursday.

Not sure what’s going on out there, reptile-wise. Lots of ‘em, and they all seem especially bold. On the other hand, I haven’t seen or heard a coyote in ages.

Fly

Yesterday’s delightful holiday nap was marred by an enormous divebombing fly in the bedroom. His mission, apparently, was to cavort on human skin and buzz more loudly than any fly has ever buzzed before. I fell asleep with the sheet pulled up over my head.

Last night, as I was falling asleep, The Cop announced, “I may have to terminate this.” I fell asleep, so I’m not sure how it turned out.

Daisy

You’d think since she went to bed late, after spending the afternoon and evening patrolling the perimeter, barking at neighbors who dared celebrate the holiday outdoors, tormenting Waylon, jumping up trying to bite The Cop’s wrapped hand, attacking the lawnmower, the weed whacker, me, my shoes, the curtains, and the fence that keeps her out of the yoga room, she’d sleep in a little. Not so. 4 AM is wake-up time. If I carefully ignore the progressively more frantic scratching, whining and crate-biting for 10 minutes, it’s like hitting the snooze button: she crashes for another 10-20 minutes. Three rounds of ignoring bought me 40 extra minutes of sleep this morning, in three micro-bursts.

Love

this picture of a beautiful kapotasana, along with a post
by someone who clearly thinks about more
than what it looks like.

Today I’m making Crispy Kale! It’s as yummy as potato chips (I have a potato chip problem…).

Crispy Kale

A bunch of kale, torn into bite-sized pieces and tough stems removed
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
sea salt or kosher salt

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Rinse and salad spin the kale. Use a towel to blot any extra water on the leaves. Place the kale on the baking sheet.

3. Drizzle olive oil over the kale leaves and use your hands to toss and coat the leaves. Bake in the oven for 12-20 minutes until leaves are crisp. Check the kale at the 12 minute mark. If the leaves are paper-thin crackly, it’s done. If the leaves are still a bit soft, leave them in for another 2 minutes. Do not let the leaves turn brown. Remove from oven, sprinkle with salt and serve.

Dana: I suspect that, much like the last post, you may be disappointed with this.

And I’m not sure how I got interested in this, but I also managed to find a recipe for making seitan from scratch. It’s super easy, particularly with the KitchenAid mixer.

Quick Homemade Gluten
(Makes 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 pounds or 2 to 2-1/2 cups)

2 cups gluten flour
1-1/4 cups water or vegetable stock
3 Tablespoons Tamari

Add liquids to flour mixture all at once. Knead with KitchenAid bread hook for 5 minutes.
Let dough rest 15 minutes before proceeding.
Cut gluten into 8 pieces and stretch into thin cutlets. Simmer in broth for 50 minutes.

Broth:
4 cups water
1/4 cup tamari or soy sauce

Bring broth to a boil. Add cutlets one at a time. Reduce heat to barely simmer when saucepan is covered.