Well Team Training Day has ended and the Training Teams have headed off to their three locations. The 6-weeks of Day Camps madness has now officially begun!!
Despite our small numbers, everyone arrived this morning pumped and full of energy and excitement for the week ahead. Several of the Day Camp Committee members were also present to help out in various capacities so all in all there were about 15 of us and with plenty of laughter, songs and general chaos, the atmosphere was not at all gloomy.
I had feared that with only 9 of the Travelling Team Members able to arrive in time for the whole of this first important week (we now have a total of 12 but 3 coming from Ontario will be late joining due to final exams) the others would feel discouraged but instead they all jumped into the Training Day with ample enthusiasm. I would have liked to get a few more photos but it is really hard to step back and be the photographer while also leading things and keeping the schedule on track, so I’m afraid you will need to wait for my next post for more pics!
The 3 Training Teams Leaders have been instructed to send plenty of photos and next week I’ll be inaugurating the annual “Postcards from..” series, which runs throughout our 6–week “season”.
In other news it has been an insanely busy week with so many messages flying back and forth. Our June Committee meeting took place last Monday, there were other meetings with various Team Members and committee people everyday, the final packing of Supply bags, printing of various documents (of course the printer ran out of ink on Monday ARGHH!!!) and a ton of bits and pieces including the need to commission one of the Training Leders here at home last evening as she had to work today and could not be with us.
Unfortunately I also managed to catch some sort of virus and lost my voice for several days (no doubt a blessing to some of the people I was trying to badger 😊). Now it is more like a head cold and since I have not had a fever or other symptoms I’m sure I will survive! Of course the coming week will be equally insane as we gear up for the Training Retreat, the culmination of our year’s work and a truly memorable week for all of us. Every year the Retreat Evaluation forms consistently rate the week as the highlight of the Team Members’ summer and in some ways for me at least it seems as if the other 51 weeks of the year are spent in preparation for it. All the empty slots for workshop leaders, speakers etc. have now been filled and the last of the fresh groceries will be ready for pick up next Friday. Yesterday Jillian and I hauled over to Isaiah 40 all the frozen food I had prepared at home over the past few months, completely filling their small chest freezer and overflowing into the fridge freezer. EEK!! Quite a lot of food, but I know from experience that there will be precious little if any leftovers 😊.
Well that was quite a neat segue into the topic of food and since it has been a crazy day and I would like to get busy making my own dinner, I will insert the weekly recipe here and then end off.
At present I’m rather into “Bowls”. They usually contain a grain, veggies, some type of protein and an interesting sauce or dressing.
One evening this week I made a Sweet Potato/Quinoa Bowl, which was really tasty. The quantities listed make 2-3 generous bowls and can be easily multiplied or divided.
Sweet Potato/Quinoa Bowl
- 2 medium sweet potatoes
- 1 cup quinoa
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 2 Tbsps. olive oil
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 2 tsps. ground turmeric
- 8 oz. fresh baby spinach
- 2-3 large eggs
- Dressing
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 Tbsps. lemon juice
- 1 clove minced garlic
- ¼ cup chopped parsley
- pinch of coarse salt
Scrub the sweet potatoes and cut them in chunks. Toss the pieces with the olive oil and place in a deep frying pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and turmeric and sauté for 5 minutes. Pour the broth over the potatoes and simmer for about 20 minutes or until they are soft and almost all the liquid has evaporated. Mash the sweet potatoes and set aside to keep warm.
Meanwhile cook the quinoa in 2 cups of water for approximately 25 minutes, or until all the water has been absorbed. Fluff with a fork and set aside in a warm place.
While everything is cooking, place all the dressing ingredients in the bowl of a food processor or blender and process.
Just before serving, poach or scramble the eggs. Assemble each serving in large individual bowls and drizzle with the dressing.