School concluded for the semester on Wednesday and work gave employees an 11 day holiday starting today. First full day of freedom. It was beautiful. I slept till 10AM (unheard of!) and took my dog for a two-hour walk/run to the reservoir. Along the way we met two very angry geese, two deer, one of which was eating a huge hunk of pumpkin, and a whole bunch of dogs out for a midday stroll.
Breakfast: Before I left for my walk, I made a quick strawberry and banana smoothie with coconut milk. Delicious and refreshing. It is always great to start the day with fruit.
Lunch: A delicious salad of mixed baby greens and baby kale, chopped cucumber, golden beets and pear, raw pecans (“candied” with a little maple syrup and cinnamon). The dressing was made with a teaspoon of raw honey, about 3 tablespoons of apple sauce, dash of cinnamon, about two tablespoons apple cider vinegar and a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. It came out a little thick so I added a splash of water to thin it out.
Dinner: I made the mistake of not preparing a dinner for myself. Instead I ended up munching a bit. I began with a kiwi before moving on to a few rye Triscuits, all the while making a coconut flan for my family. It can be difficult to make a delicious dessert that I know I should not be eating. I did manage to resist. All except for one little taste test at the end.
Avventura 
This salad looks amazing. Anyway you can share your method for candying the walnuts. YUM.
Thanks! I simply put about a handful of pecans in a bowl, pour in enough maple syrup to just coat them (about 2 tablespoons), add a dash of cinnamon. Mix it all together and I let it sit for a bit before adding it into the salad. Since it isn’t cooked into the nuts, it will wash off. Toss the salad with your favorite vinaigrette before adding the nuts on top. That will keep the coating. If you prefer toasted, do the same process but in a small pan and toast them up.