wow - day five already...

The flab is losing its sag! I can feel it, even if no-one can notice. Got up at 6 a.m. again, and shuffled downstairs to do the GAG routine (I LOVE the fact that Bums, Tums and Thighs turns into GAG in Italian - Glutei, Abdome e some other large muscle group which starts with G...gambe? maybe...) Anyhoo...did it. Took 30 minutes. Felt good...but not enough. Uh-oh...addiction kicks in around Day Five maybe?

I taught at the pre-school - much better today (relatively speaking...). Lots of Wiggles, including their favourite song. Rockabye Your Bear - it never gets old. Love the dance. I'm thinking end-of-year recital with all my little cherubs...even though I know it is NEVER going to happen!

So after that, I decided it was time to try out the vegan sponge cake with "butter-cream" icing. I used margarine (vegan) in the icing. I've never cared for margarine, and being vegan isn't enough to make me like it. However, the fact that it tastes more or less like Italian butter (which always smells and tastes rancid to me) makes the whole icing thing acceptable to all those in this family. In fact, as I write, at 9.15 p.m., there is one small, sad slice of cake left on the plate in the fridge. That's a good result in my book!

Dinner was also a success. My first try with TVP , and it turned out very well. Tasty, chewy, wonderful food for a cold evening. I boiled it for 15 minutes, then let it drain (I had a few hours. Usually you just squeeze the extra moisture out). I sautéed an onion and a leek, then added the TVP, let that sizzle for four minutes, added garlic, diced potatoes and carrots, some shoyu (1 tbsp), and a tbsp of tomato paste, then covered the lot with enough boiling water to cook the vegies...left it until they were down. Turned into a really comforting stew. I'm impressed! Served with broccoli and mushrooms, and my work here is done. Which is good, because I'm in the throes of planning for tomorrow's seven hours of teaching children of various ages...

Oh yes....after lunch and before afternoon lessons, I ALSO fitted in a 30 minute walk/run around my village. 3.13km of uphill/downhill. On the off-chance that I don't feel like the orbital trainer tomorrow evening after all that teaching, I'm going to consider that I'm one-up.