Cracking the code

A couple of weeks ago I was in the grocery store and saw such a pretty little plant.  It wasn't expensive and I was alone and overcome.  I bought it and put it in the middle of the dining room table.  G is not happy.  I think its days are numbered, which will make me enjoy it all the more while I still can.

Mwahahahahahahaha!

Also, I think I'm *starting* to crack the code concerning my personal relationship with caffeine.  Or should I say love affair?  We're very on-and-off, caffeine and me.  I survived on it in college; coffee is my favorite, favorite thing.  In fact, if given the choice between a cup of coffee and a meal, 9 times out of 10, I would take the coffee.  It's that important to me.

But for managing stress?  Yeah, it's not so great.  A year and a half ago, I eliminated all caffeine from my diet in order to crawl down from the ceiling and join the other earthlings on the ground. And boy did that work.  None of the infamous headaches from withdrawal...just sweet, sweet calm.  I gradually worked my way up to one cup of coffee in the mornings and that has worked for me until recently.  I find that after my hellish commute home (read: sitting in the car for over an hour), I'm just zonked.  This is not effective for my whole going-to-the-gym-and-trying-to-lose-weight plan.  So lately I've been wondering...what if I have a small cup of coffee in the afternoon?  Would that work to keep my energy up after work, during "my" time?

I tried it yesterday - success!  I think I've found a winner!  For this season, anyway.

In the sweet potato area, not so much with the winning.  More with the total failure.  Turns out that I cannot bake a potato to save my life.  Like, any kind of potato.  I put them in the oven (wrapped in foil, not wrapped in foil, holes poked in them, no holes poked in them) and they come out rock solid.  So hard I can barely stick a knife in them.  I've tried 350, 325, for 30 minutes, for an hour...what's the deal?  I've never successfully baked a potato.

So I boiled some sweet potatoes for snacks this week.  This is what it has come to.  I hope that boiling doesn't suck all the nutrients right out of them, but...it is what it is.

Tips?

A couple of food goals for next week:  fresh kale salad & healthy blueberry muffins...wish me luck.