Forgive me for the irregular posts.

I am working hard to bring you a new and improved Order Matters.

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Every Friday, I share some thoughts of gratitude, mostly through photos I have taken during the week with the help of my iPhone and the lovely little app called Instagram.

Lately I have been parking several blocks away from my office.  This way I get free parking and an opportunity to fit in a bit of a walk on the way to and from work.  If you read my blog regularly you might have noticed I require a lot quiet time.  I am so grateful for the quiet solitude of these walks, the clarity they provide, and a chance to take in the surroundings.

The glittering sun…

The stunning yellows…

Almost unreal shades of red…

The peaceful rain…

What are your grateful for this week?

Every Friday, I share some thoughts of gratitude, mostly through photos I have taken during the week with the help of my iPhone and the lovely little app called Instagram.

This week, I was desperately trying to retain my sanity.  A few of these lovely things helped!

On the way to my spinning class early one day this week, I noticed that Charlotte had spun an intricate web in my front yard.  The rain drops made the web look as though it has been lined with miniature light bulbs.

A perfect latte from Blenz coffee bar helped me perk up and stay awake one very early morning.  Not only did it taste great, it was SO pretty to look at too.  It made me want to enroll in barista training

This beautiful arrangement has graced our dining room table for over a week now.  With frequent water changes, some flowers just keep going and going and going.  Love looking at these blooms early in the morning at breakfast time and then being greeted by them again at dinner.

On Wednesday, I was feeling under the weather and a bit blue.  I stayed home and allowed myself to do almost nothing.  I watched Sarah’s House (thank goodness for Sarah Richardson, Tommy and their design genius), Real Housewives of NY (those housewives are outrageously entertaining), and when I got hungry, I enjoyed a hot bowl of steaming butternut squash and sweet potato soup.

Another week.  I made it and I am grateful.  TGIF!

What are you grateful for this week?

For the Jewish New Year of 5772, which we celebrated in late September, I resolved to dedicate more time to expressing gratitude.  I feel as though I spend my days in a haze of responsibilities and occasional challenges.  I am always on the run.  There is always another list of things to accomplish.  It is often hard to find time to live in the moment. While I really cannot imagine my life any other way, I see the need to pause and observe the positive, the simple, the beautiful, the kind, and the spiritual.  Moreover, I must dedicate time to expressing my gratitude for those things, people or experiences that make my life meaningful and complete.  I have decided to do so by joining a tradition of Insta-Friday, which I recently discovered at a blog called “Life Rearranged.”

Every Friday, I will share a few grateful thoughts, mostly through photos I have taken during the week with the help of my iPhone and the lovely little app called Instagram.  It will be my gratitude journal, if you will.

This week, I am grateful for the simple things.

My little one wearing a costume generously passed on to her by her cousins.  She enjoyed several hours of fun wearing it and playing in it.  She kept calling it her “Mexican costume.”  :)

Fall in all of its stunning colours.

My mom’s delicious beef dumplings, the Russian “Pelmeni.”  My mom was visiting with us for a while.  My family arrived home every day during her visit to a delicious dinner.  Thank you, mama.

Every time I walk into my absolute favourite flower shop, “Garlands” in Vancouver, I am truly inspired by the talents of the people working there.  Look at the creativity of the arrangements they make!  I want to take them all home.

The persimmons will soon start turning yellow and then orange in one of the backyards in my neighborhood.  I love sneaking a peak at them every week.

What are you grateful for this week?  Have a terrific weekend!

As I shared with you recently, I am working on losing some weight.  In order to succeed, I need to eat healthily throughout the day.  That means, preparing “clean” lunches for work every day.  When you juggle work, family, meetings, household responsibilities, and so many other things in between, it is hard to make clean lunches a priority.  However, I have committed to a self-prescribed regimen and am desperately trying to stick with it.

I have decided to automate my lunch preparation by focusing on:

1. A handful of recipes that will be high in fiber and include healthy proteins and fats and lots of veggies.  These recipes will not sacrifice flavour or taste.

2. Preparing meals for a couple of days in advance.

3.  Supplementing lunches with a couple of healthy snacks.

4.  Stocking up on healthy pre-packaged lunch options for those days when, no matter how well I plan and organize, I will not be able to prepare home cooked meals.

Some of the recipes from my automated repertoire:

Lentil soup gets better with age.  Let it sit for a day in the fridge and the flavour will intensify.

I add flax meal to many different recipes now.  Each tablespoon of flax meal contains 3 g of fiber.  I love flax for its nutritional value and its delish nutty flavour.  Try it in breads, muffins, hot cereal; whisk it into pancake or waffle batter, or add it to your yogurt.

Quinoa is considered to be a super grain. Rich in protein and fiber, quinoa has a fluffy, creamy, and slightly crunchy texture. One cup of quinoa has 5 1/2 g of protein and 3 g of fiber.

In addition to the lunch, I try to bring at least two snacks to work.  Some of my favorites:

Cut-up veggies, brown rice cake with a teaspoon of peanut butter and sliced apples, unsalted roasted almonds.

For the unavoidable days, when I will not have the time or the energy to prepare lunches, I have some Amy’s Kitchen organic frozen meals on hand.  Most of them are about 250-400 calories each and all are quite tasty.

Now I am curious to learn about your clean lunches.  What delicious and nutritious items do you pack for work?  What organizing routines do you have in place to make lunch preparation less of a hassle?