Humid X

I woke up this morning as a great ball of fire, literally. The humidity levels in Toronto are out of control and poor little me broke out in hives as a result. Today it was 28 degrees but it "feels like" 37. The humidity levels were at 66 percent. I'm not entirely sure what that means, but it ain't cool that's for sure.

I've only broken out in hives twice in my life. The first time occurred on a really hot day when I was under a lot of stress. The second time, which occurred today, was also heat and stress related. I'm not exactly sure why today was a hive-kinda-day because my room is quite cool..I guess my stress got the best of me. Moral of the story is heat + stress + hives = uncomfortable situation. Once I shot out of bed I immediately spritzed my face and neck with Pure + Simple's chamomile hydrosol. I then put on a cooling cucumber mask, also from Pure + Simple. Ahh cooling. Sure enough, my reaction began to die down almost instantly.

After a good half-hour of calmness and almost forty-minutes of pesky subway delays, I arrived at the office around 10 a.m. So much for my early start to the day, but tis' life. At the office I made it my sole mission to stay cool and hydrated all day long. I drank approx 2.5 litres of water and steered clear of dried fruits, nuts, and anything else that may spark dehydration..or worse, another reaction! Thankfully, I was able to have a productive day, free of unwanted evil bumps.

I decided that this evening called for more coooooling effects.

[freshly washed basil]

For dinner, I turned to my trusty basil plant for a refreshing basil pesto and rice-pasta salad. Yum. It was just what the doctor ordered! I even mixed my leftovers with some organic baby spinach for my lunch tomorrow. 

Pesto Ingredients:

• 1 cup of fresh basil 
• 1/2 cup of raw pine nuts
• 1-2 tablespoon of olive oil
• pepper to taste

Pasta Ingredients:

• 1 cup of rice, whole-wheat or spelt pasta (I used rice!)
• 4-5 organic baby tomatoes, cut
• 6-10 spinach leaves
• pepper and or parsley for garnish 

[Refreshing basil pesto rice-pasta galore!]

Cook the pasta according to it's package directions. While the pasta is cooking, blend all your pesto ingredients together. Mix it all up and viola! You can either warm-up the pesto sauce with the spinach in a small pan or leave it raw. I left mine raw and lightly steamed the spinach. Heavenly. 

[up close and personal]

I then made a small serving of vegan banana soft serve for dessert. My favourite and incredibly cooling ;) As I sip my organic sweet dreams tea, it's safe to say that I feel much better compared to this morning...oh goodness, that was hell. If it happens again I'll have to see my naturopath for an emergency session. Fingers crossed I won't have to!

Goodnight bloggies and keep cool!