Thoughts on tweaking (and magical beans)

First things first: thanks for the feedback on the last post. Your collective comments reflected what I know to be true: I’m a multi-faceted person and IBD is just one of many colors in the rainbow of my life. Since the C-word is here to stay, there’s no need to start over from a “clean slate”. It may just be time to tweak a few things. Isn’t that what life is for, tweaking?

On to the fun stuff. I showed up yesterday morning for an intense cardio conditioning session at Coconut Island. Our instructor, Whittney, really stepped it up, earning from me the title Whip-Ass Whitt! She had an evil little gleam in her eyes as she drove us through bench hops, bridge sprints, mountain climbers, lunges, wall sits, burpees, frog hops, jumping jacks and planks. All at 6:30 am. It’s kind of hard to complain though when this is the view:

Lunch was a combination of an old favorite ( the veggie avocado summer roll):

and a new favorite (green papaya salad with veggies from the salad bar tossed on top).

Don’t be fooled, it tastes nothing like a juicy fruity papaya. It’s shredded into strips that remind me a little of shredded raw potato. The texture is crunchy and firm-ish with a so yummy (sweet chili?) sauce and crushed mac nuts poured over it and mixed in. Texture and flavor are the biggest reasons why these foods are the current top two!

For dinner, we enjoyed the spoils
of a neighbor’s garden. Check out these crazy beans!! They’re purple when they’re raw:

and they turn green as they cook:

Here’s the final product: seasoned with a bit of salt, pepper, garlic and olive oil, stir fried with tomatoes (also from the garden) and a few chunks of sweet Italian sausage. It was simple and super tasty.

Vea and I often end up eating different versions of the same basic meal. Hers was served over leftover wild rice, and I ate mine with a salad.

Just curious, have you ever seen beans like these before? Do you know what kind they are?