Update: Nearing the celebration, facing the final challenges

"Going to Mordor!” Cried Pippin. "I hope it won’t come to that!" 

- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

This past month, I've been trying hard to stay healthy and continue on my journey... however, the fires of Mt. Doom had another plan for me. In case you didn't know, Washington has been either surrounded by or on fire for the past month or so now. I wrote about it a bit in my last update, but the fires and smoke has continued. On September 5th, ash literally rained from the sky, the shadows all looked orange, and the sun looked blood red through the smoke. As a priest at a nearby parish actually mentioned: "...it looks like Mordor out there."

Looks about right...

This little hobbit can meal plan!

I'm back to my normal fall work schedule, which means temptation has been everywhere. The work kitchen has been full of donuts, muffins, cookies, and pizza! After today going disastrously in the willpower department, I decided I need to have a better plan for food during the work week. So, let the great meal planning begin!

Update: So close, yet so far...

 We're near the end of August, one week left until the month's end, and I'm both shocked at how much progress I've made and a bit disappointed at how much I still have left undone. I have walked 295.5 miles, meaning there's about 100 miles remaining on my journey.

Recipe Inspiration: Bilbo's Back of the Pantry Tea Cake

" 'What on earth did I ask him to tea for!' [Bilbo] said to himself, as he went to the pantry. He had only just had breakfast, but he thought a cake or two and a drink of something would do... He rushed and put on the kettle, and put out another cup and saucer and an extra cake or two, and ran to the door. "I am so sorry to keep you waiting!" he was going to say, when he saw that it was not Gandalf at all. It was a dwarf... [Bilbo] liked visitors, but he liked to know them before they arrived, and he preferred to ask them himself. He had a horrible thought that the cakes might run short, and then he (as the host: he knew his duty and stuck to it however painful) he might have to go without." 

- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

As I mentioned in my previous post, I recently went to Portland, and while I was there a friend and I went to a tea festival. It was lovely, but one side-effect of that festival was that I returned home with an intense craving for starting my morning with tea and some sort of scone or tea cake. 

However, I am trying to be healthy, and (as one demonstration at the tea festival reminded me) such treats are usually full of sugar, flour, and butter. Plus, I had just been gone for several days and my options for ingredients was... let's say "limited." 

Oh good, an old banana I forgot to eat before I left... that'll help.

However, after some brainstorming and checking my pantries, I realized that I had just the right ingredients to make, well, something tasty.

Update: Halfway on the Journey to Rivendell!

The walk to Rivendell is 397 miles, making the halfway point a little over 198 miles. As of this morning, I hit 204 miles in my journey!

Home is Behind, The World Ahead

Discovery Park in Seattle

"Home is behind, the world ahead,
And there are many paths to tread
Through shadows to the edge of night,
Until the stars are all alight.
Then world behind and home ahead,
We'll wander back to home and bed."
- J.R.R. Tolkien, "A Walking Song" from The Lord of the Rings

This month has not gone as planned thus far. I knew that July was the month where I would have to push the hardest to make progress and I have discovered one truth that I wasn't quite planning for: walking takes a lot of time.

Recipe Inspiration: Wizard's Firework Bowl

"Good gracious me! Not the wandering wizard...! Not the man that used to make such particularly excellent fireworks! I remember those! Old Took used to have them on Midsummer’s Eve. Splendid! They used to go up like great lilies and snapdragons and laburnums of fire and hang in the twilight all evening!"  
- Bilbo Baggins, from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit 

A part of being healthy is trying not just to stay active on my Journey to Rivendell, but also to eat well. Occasionally I'll be posting recipes that I've tried and that keep me inspired to move and be healthy, but also that I still really enjoy eating. After all, what's the point of taking the time to make a good meal if you don't enjoy it? Today's recipe, since it's so close to the Fourth of July, is a Wizard's fireworks inspired recipe, based on a vegetarian "Buddha Bowl."

This recipe includes lots of colorful vegetables decorating a "night sky" of Forbidden Black Rice. 

For this meal, you'll need:

• A one-half cup serving of cooked black rice: 160 calories 
• A one-half cup serving of sliced grape tomatoes: 16 calories
• A quarter cup serving of sliced carrots: 8 calories
• One-quarter small avocado: 80 calories
• One-third of a red, orange, or yellow bell pepper: 8 calories
• Two tablespoons chopped green onions: 2 calories

Chop all ingredients, place in your favorite bowl, and add a dressing of your choice! I chose Annie's Goddess dressing, just a half-tablespoon stirred throughout (30 calories).

It's really tasty, and only 274 calories (before adding dressing) for a delicious, colorful, filling, and healthy meal! (Vegan, whole food) 

"The feast was merry and the food all that his hunger could desire." 
- J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring