My Secret = Tenacity

I couldn’t wait to dig into my Navitas Naturals goodie-samples they gave me…

…so I promptly cooked up a small bowl of oatmeal this AM to serve as a base for my raw chocolate nibs.

I didn’t really know what to expect from the Cacao Power. Would it be chewy? Soft? Sweet? They reminded me a lot of coffee beans in texture and slightly similar in taste, but with a more mocha-y flavor. I especially liked when the almost melted into my oatmeal and became ever-so-slightly tender. I thought they made for an awesome addition to my bowl of oats and hope to come up with some more creative concoctions.

I’ve been feeling slightly blah yet inspired after my “down time” yesterday.

To keep the positive vibes flowing, I decided to post some inspirational quotes in my cube at work.

I posted some from yesterday’s blog post and a couple new ones:

“Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal: my strength lies solely in my tenacity.” ~Louis Pasteur

“Some give up their designs when they have almost reach the goal; while others, on the contrary, obtain a victory by exerting, at the last moment, more vigorous efforts than ever before.” ~Herodotus

After a long day including 5 hours of conference calls, I decided to head over to our local farmers market.

I ended up buying almost everything for the trip from the first table. This guy had so many lovely greens, I had a hard time deciding on what to buy.

I almost got some of this beautiful bok choy.

I did end up getting some of this fresh basil – some of the last of the season. I’ve got to get my basil while the getting’s good!

My goodies: spinach, kohlrabi, arugula (got this 1/4 bag for free from the vendor since he didn’t have a full bag’s worth to sell), basil, and a chocolate chip cookie to split with hubby.

Ahh…I love going to this farmer’s market. It’s so nice to meet the people who grow and create the food I’m eating, plus it’s nice to support our local farmers.

I came home with my freshly picked veggies AND to a box at my front door with an Organic Food Bar label.

Inside – the box of Raw Organic Food Bars in Chocolate Coconut I won on Twitter!

I wanted to dig into one of these immediately, but I knew I needed to save room for dinner (and that cookie). I probably won’t be able to resist tomorrow! I love these bars!

Check out @organicfoodbar on twitter

I decided to use my freshly picked basil and spinach to make a spinach-quasi-pesto-shrimp dish.

I didn’t have most of the ingredients I needed to make a “true pesto” so I just used my basil, some organic garlic, some extra virgin olive oil, and cashews. Yup…I totally forgot to buy pine nuts at the grocery store, but I did have some cashews in the freezer, so I decided they’d do. If I had just had some hard parmesan cheese, I think I could call tonight’s sauce “pesto”, but instead, I’ll call it “quasi pesto.”

spinach-quasi-pesto-shrimp dish

Great Harvest Bread Company Honey Whole Wheat toast with real butter (Hubby picked this freshly baked loaf up today) – so fresh, so good!

Round #1 (1/2 the toast is for hubby)

Round #2 (1/2 toast for hubby encore)

Hubby and I split the cookie for dessert, and I had some skim milk to go with my half.

Check out Mr. Happy Face!

Having a hard time lately with a goal or aspiration? Remember, when you feel defeated and like quitting, go harder than you went before! Never give up! I’m going to work on a post about dealing with “down times” and feeling defeated…hopefully the things that work for me will help you out, too!

I leave you with one last inspirational quote:

“Life’s real failure is when you do not realize how close you were to success when you gave up.” ~Unknown

Need more inspiration? Dr Weil says playing outside will help you re-gain focus! Click for article. Hmm…maybe it’s time I took a nature walk?