Roasted Roots

Parsnips, rutabaga, sweet potatoes, turnips: 3 servings

Peel all but sweet potatoes. Slice. Roast in a 350 degree oven for about a half hour. Test for doneness with a fork.
Drizzle 1 teaspoon of oil per person over vegetables and turn over slices. (Olive and/or grape seed oil)
Return the vegetables to the oven for 5-10 minutes. Serve. Maybe with left-over rice? Pecans? Mango slices? Eat.

Cooking for 1 person? Works fine in a toaster oven.
So? Wonderful healthful vegetables.
Gluten-free!

Appreciating January

January: all sorts of new beginnings! The New Year, another birthday (flowers below), first anniversary of starting to blog, 9th anniversary of our first visit to Weight Watchers (a total of over 100 pounds ago, altogether, for the 3 of us), time for a fresh running season and mapping out training schedules for races and the next marathon.
And new hope for managing myeloma with supplements and diet and activity, without super-drugs.
Appreciating January: with icicles. Running tracks, with their tight corners that can crunch knees but also inviting straightaways, boring dreadmills but with calculators that can clock speed and distance, getting back to strength training because strong muscles make strong bones, venturing outdoors to freeze the bones but gracing us with the promise of warm spring running.
Discovery: Many people may be healthier without gluten.
One of the secrets of gluten-free baking (besides commitment to the life-saving aspect of it for some folks) is not trying to replicate gluten-laden (unhealthy) foods. Once I gave up using white rice flour and nutrition-stripped potato flour, we found new delights in ancient whole grains: teff, millet, amaranth.
Click on pictures to enlarge; hover to read captions.
This January I celebrate my first year (2007) of having my own lap top computer, a year of learning to make photo albums with 8X6 inch prints of digital pictures... with captions! Because my computer expertise is spotty, I decided to record the steps for editing pictures... with my digital camera... see below. Appreciating January memories:
**the gift of being snowed in,
**standing in snow posing for Dad to take my annual birthday picture of me holding the cake Mom had made and decorated,
**the January I began teaching 4th grade in Minneapolis,
**the 3 Januarys that I was pregnant and stayed cozy indoors,
**the January day the butter hardened on the kitchen counter because the movers had the doors open while they were in and out loading our furniture and belongings,
**taking pictures of our kids out sledding and shoveling in the snow,
**braving the Minnesota winters on my journey through 3 years of seminary and a year of internship,
**running 5K races in January weather

And now, appreciating the rhythm of the changing seasons and eagerly anticipating the first spring run out on the Gateway Trail.