On Lemon Loving and a Peaceful Day
[photo by chotda]
Lately I am obsessed with lemons. I go through these serial infatuations with different fruits - recently, it was apples. Before that, cold oranges - you know, straight from the fridge. Anyway, I just never realized how much I really enjoy lemons and just how essential they are. Life just wouldn’t be the same without them. Think about how many recipes call for lemon juice, how they add that je ne sais quois … zing. I have always loved sour tastes, so it makes it easier for me to enjoy them. I used to eat them whole and raw when I was younger. In the recent raw food detox I went on I learned to drink them first thing in the morning - lemon juice and water. When you added a dash of cayenne pepper, it became ‘fire water.’
Lemon juice may seem very acidic but is actually alkalizing to the body (which is great for preventing and/or treating cancer), it also has other powerful health benefits such as cleansing the liver, keepin’ ya regular, giving you enough vitamin C to protect the body against many illnesses, etc. I’ve come to love having lemon juice in my water, and since I’ve gotten my new juicer I’ve learned to juice the entire lemon, skin and all. Adding the juice of the skin actually seems to make the lemon juice a little more mild, and it makes my water a much more opaque light yellow instead of remaining transparent. When we recently tried to make a beet, carrot and ginger juice, it was totally undrinkable until we added just a touch of lemon juice. And don’t forget what it does to avocadoes to make the magical guacamole.
Anyway, enough about lemons. Today, the weather stopped hurtling towards winter to give us one day of rest: mild, cool, breezy clarity. I really enjoyed taking the time for myself today. I got up at 5 am, which sounds terrible. But I’ve found I actually really like the calm, quiet and dark morning - especially when it’s cool (but not too cold) and breezy, like it was this morning. When you first wake up that early it’s nice to take a calm walk in that cool, empty air.
After the quick bus ride, I then immersed myself into the warm energizing yoga room. After an hour of intense movement, attempting to breathe as consistently and deeply as possible, I left yoga feeling amazing… cleaned out somehow, having new and fresh space inside my body. At the end of an exhausting day at work, I picked up a book I ordered from Abebooks at the post office, ate a delicious sandwich at a local vegetarian restaurant (spelt bread, pesto, tahini sauce, roasted tofu, etc.), then relaxed in a local Bridgehead cafe (free wireless access!) to drink some tea - one was lemon/rooibos, and the other was lemon/peppermint (I especially love lemon in my herbal teas). I also snacked on a delicious date square for dessert. I think I am well on my way to learning to let go - being a perfectionist like I am can be exhausting! Just ask J.!
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One more tidbit since I need to head to bed:
Kris over at Squirrel’s Vegan Kitchen posted a belated Halloween recipe inspired by a non-vegan blog Baking Bites and of course easily veganized:
It even comes complete with a red jelly filling! I definitely need to have a Halloween party next year - I’ve been so inspired by other vegan bloggers who’ve made such hilarious treats.
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