calming down

Joe & I have had a busy week. We've been sleeping plenty, eating lots and relaxing when we're not scrambling to get something done for work. Somehow, this week has still left us a looking a bit rough around the edges. We're tired earlier, having stomach aches and caving in to some not-so-solid food choices (like chorizo and polenta for dinner three nights this week).

It's time to clean ourselves up. My summer to-do list hasn't progressed much, and statistics is taking more of my mental strength than expected. Joe still has another month of work to do, and he's working extra hours to fit in all of his students' exams. Luckily, the exams don't require any out-of-class grading time (at least not yet).

Our goal for our return to the States is to immediately get back into a whole, fresh food diet. Buying as few things in boxes as possible (not that we do hear, but we miss making oatmeal instead of eating fiber crackers for breakfast). Eating even more vegetables. Growing some of our own. Having more protein and fiber options (more beans, more whole-grains, more healthy options). Indulging in meat substitutes.

France has loads of fresh vegetable options, and it's easy to eat "locally" here. What's not-so-easy is finding things to round out meals–whole grain-based breads and pastas or even just whole grains in general. The carbohydrates aisle is, well, rather bleached.

For the rest of our time here, we're going to try balancing our baguettes with more grain-based meals, starting today with fried rice. Rice is what we've got until we can venture out to a different, more "exotic" grocery.

Hopefully, the dietary change will inspire me to change my habits in the morning (exercising and writing instead of sleeping and watching movies). Hopefully, it will smooth out the stomach pooch that we've both gained here. Hopefully, it will help us both get up earlier and rely a little bit less on coffee, getting us down to one pot a day again.

Hopefully, it will get my brain going so that I can write more interesting blog posts. If you have any energy-packed recipes, I'd love to see them. In France, energy-packed means a hard boiled egg wrapped in a piece of ham, wrapped in a butterflied chicken breast, then cooked in olive oil. I pick up a magazine with recipes inside each week at the grocery, and I was shocked to see that on the cover. If THAT isn't the most American-seeming meal (even more than the hamburger sandwich topped with French fries that they have named "the American"), I don't know what is.

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