First post-season meal! :)

Well, I did it!!!! I made it through my entire 2009-2010 concert season without illness! This is a huge feat! I am so happy, and I have a feeling my first year of Delicious Bytes had something to do with it! I have been working as a freelance classical singer for 5 years, and until now I've always worn myself out to the point of either singing very poorly in a concert due to bronchitis or having to completely cancel an appearance. They're both bad, of course. It's a huge accomplishment for me, and although I know it has a little something to do with luck, I think regularly eating a nutritious diet has a lot to do with it!

I thought I was coming down with something a few days ago, but it was gone in the morning, and I made it through my final 3 performances of Joan of Arc without a hitch!! This doesn't mean I am on vacation, though. I continue to sing throughout most of the summer, but with actual days off in between, and without my usual rigorous teaching and educational/church performance schedule. Yay!

Today I came home from teaching and DID NOT drive to a rehearsal! :) Instead.... I pressed a block of tofu for 30 minutes, made asparagus quinoa with vegetable broth, and a fresh kale salad. :) It was AMAZING!!!! This is the best tofu I've ever made- I pressed it by weighing it down with cans on a casserole dish, then sliced it, sprinkled it with garlic salt and Emeril Essence, and baked it for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.I think the lighting in my new place is going to be better... I love my current apartment, but the lighting is HORRIBLE! LOL

Breakfast has also been awesome! Organic scrambled eggs, blackberries, and a fiber-filled English muffin. Over the weekend I was still running around like crazy down in Rhode Island. On Sunday I had a little break between our matinee and evening performance so my Mom and I drove around looking for dinner. We didn't have a lot of time, so we hurried into a Chinese restaurant and I hoped for the best. I'm sorry to say that Golden Palace in Cumberland, RI is probably the worst Chinese I've ever eaten! Not only was my vegetable moo shi drowned in an awful stinky sauce, it was over-cooked and soggy, and served with really really gross pancakes. The moo shi pancakes are supposed to be the best part, not taste like paper! The ambiance was also really pathetic- I'm all for supporting family businesses, but not if the inside looks like a day care center. The bathroom was also not in the best shape. My Mom is nuts and ordered a completely fried meal of egg foo young with pork fried rice and an egg roll. Maybe the fried food was the way to go though, because she didn't complain about hers as much... Oh well.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to make another yummy meal using up some pantry items. We have a big can of crushed tomatoes and a container of red lentils, and I still have fresh okra and an eggplant to cook. Sounds like I could throw it all together and make something decent, right??

I'm in total denial that I have to have this whole apartment packed up in the next 5 days. WHAT??? LOL How is that going to happen on top of teaching? Mmmmm. Eloise has to go to CT to stay with my parents for a while, too. I think it would be way to traumatic for her to watch all her things packed up in boxes, and to this little kitty there's nothing scarier than moving furniture and loud noises!!

Wish me luck! I'll try to get another post in before leaving Brookline for Belmont! I'll miss being able to walk to Fenway Park and the Museum of Fine Arts in 30 minutes, but now I'll be close to Harvard Square, which is a part of Greater Boston I've never really become completely familiar with. Change might be good! :)