Life According to Mrs. LC

Sound Eats

2009-10-01T07:37:00.002-04:00

Today is the day! My new and improved site, Sound Eats, is up and running! Head on over to www.soundeats.com to see where all my free time has gone recently. :) I'm really excited and hope you all join me over at the new site! Thanks for coming along with me on this journey!

xo,

Embracing Fall

2009-09-30T21:46:00.004-04:00

Good evening friends! I must make this snappy because I'm nervously double-checking everything for tomorrow's new site debut! So excited!!!

Lunch today was good in theory but meh in taste. It was supposed to be a vegan burrito with a shmear of nonfat refried beans, avocado, salsa, lettuce and some tofu that I pressed and scrambled/ seasoned with Emeril's Essence. It was alright, but wasn't really what I wanted (I wanted more simple foods, but was trying to use up other foods before they went bad).

Now dinner on the other hand...dinner MORE than made up for it! Butternut Squash Creamy Brown Rice. Vegan of course. The flavors completely embraced fall.

This was so delicious. I'm already thinking of making it in Alabama for Thanksgiving. But you know what? I'm going to be a complete brat and not give you the recipe right now. Trust me, it's worth it, but you'll have to check it out on the recipe page of the new site tomorrow. :D

Besides an awesome fall-esque dinner and a super awesome new site debuting tomorrow, want to know what else is awesome? The fact that I *think* I may have my chocolate chip cookie recipe (based of the Whole Foods vegan chocolate chip cookies) down. I think I figured out what the problem was...final taste test will determine!

Have a beautiful, cool, calm fall night! See you tomorrow from S.E.! (new blog name initials...you'll see tomorrow!)

xo,

Six Great Fruits

2009-09-30T14:26:00.009-04:00

Hey friends! I'll be back later tonight but I encourage you all to check out this article by Wendy, a author with a positive health focus. Leave your thoughts in the comments and I'll see you all tonight!

************

Six Great Fruits to Eat Regularly

We all know that getting in plenty of fruits and vegetables is the smartest thing we can do for our health on a regular basis. Sadly though, many of us do not take this information to heart. Instead we pack our diet with ‘fruit and vegetable replacements’ such as fruit juice, V8 juice, fruit flavoured bars, fruit cups, and so on.

While these will provide some nutrition, you’re really missing out on everything whole fruit has to offer, so you’ll be so much better off if you just go with the decision to have real fruit instead.

Let’s take a quick peek at a list of some of the healthiest fruits you can incorporate regularly into your diet.

Image Source

Blueberries

Blueberries are an antioxidant powerhouse that will help to fend off disease and keep you healthy. Each day your body is going to come into contact with a variety of substances called free radicals, all which could potentially cause harm.

By eating foods rich in these antioxidants, you help to protect the body so no harm is done. Blueberries only contain about 50 calories per half a cup, so they are a great addition to any diet.

Image Source

Blackberries

If you’re trying to increase the fiber content of your diet, blackberries should be your fruit of choice. A one cup serving provides a whopping 7.6 grams of fiber. This will help to keep you feeling full and prevent snacking later on throughout the day.

Image Source

Apples

The great thing about apples is first, they contain a high amount of dietary fiber, and second, the pectin that’s found in apples will go a long way towards keeping your insulin levels under control.

This is very helpful for those who tend to have sensitive blood sugar levels and experience energy crashes throughout the day. At about 80 calories per apple, you really can’t go wrong with this choice.

Image Source

Papaya

If you commonly stick with the more traditional fruits such as apples, oranges, and bananas, it might just be time to branch out and try something else. Papaya’s are a great source of B vitamins, as well as provide you with vitamin E, folate, and fiber.

Image Source

Avocado

One fruit that many people forget about entirely because often they don’t really even consider it a fruit is avocado. This is a big mistake because this is a form of fruit you should be including in your diet and it will be a great source of healthy monounsaturated fat.

In addition to this, another fact that most people don’t realize is that avocado actually contains more potassium than a banana, which is the fruit commonly eaten for potassium purposes.

Image Source

Pineapple

Finally, don’t forget to add some pineapple to your week as well. This fruit contains an enzyme known as bromelain, which has been shown to help prevent cancer development. Pineapple is also going to help support the immune system, keeping you free from illness.

So don’t just rely on the classic standbys. Increase the variety of fruits you’re consuming in your typically daily diet to see better results and add more flavour to your day at the same time.

About the Author: Wendy is currently writing a book about moderate health strategies to achieve maximum weight loss. She also currently writes frequently for the Colon Cleanse Zone.

************

Out of these fruits which is your favorite? I am a fan of all, but I sure love me some avocado! :) See you later, and thanks for sharing your knowledge with us Wendy!

Double Mugs

2009-09-30T08:14:00.005-04:00

This morning has been beautiful, especially earlier with the cool, dark morning air and everything so still and peaceful. Everything seems to just come alive with the crisp cool of Fall! I know the temps aren't going to stay as cool as the sun keeps rising, so I made the most of my early morning. Cue hot breakfast:

Mug of hot chai green tea? Check.

Mug of oatmeal? Check.

That last mug is having identity issues. I need to find a mug labeled "oatmeal. cereal. ice cream." Those are my most popular mug uses.

My oatmeal contained 1/2 cup oatmeal, water, 1/2 a mashed pear stirred into the oatmeal, and topped with almond butter, goji berries and pepitas.

Time to get crackin'! Can you believe the new site is up and running tomorrow!? So excited. :) I need your consultation for one last thing - do you have any particularly memorable or favorite posts from my almost one year of blogging? I'm putting together a "top posts" page and don't want to miss any. Thanks!

Have a great Wednesday and a great last day of September!

Fall Feeling

2009-09-29T21:09:00.004-04:00

Guess what?!? It feels like FALL!!!! I am liking living in northern Florida! It's currently in the fifties. YAY! It won't last long, and we're definitely only this cool at night, but who cares? I've seriously been dancing around tonight, windows open, la la la...ok, I'm done. Still super excited, but done. :)

I think I first noticed the difference in temperature and humidity when I emerged from the gym. Let's just say that after 30 minutes of walk/ run intervals and 15 minutes on the stair master, I had a pretty glisten about me. The air felt SO much cooler than it usually does on my sweaty skin. I freaking loved it.

Now, I was all prepared to have an awesome slew of photos to share with tonight's dinner recipe. Unfortunately, it just wasn't worth it. We used some of Emeril's Essence and I think it was just way too salty for this dish.

The dish included quinoa cooked in water and wine, yellow squash, navy beans, spinach, tomatoes, and mushrooms. It would have been a really tasty, savory dish, minus the annoying saltiness.

So what's a girl to do after a disappointing dinner? Duh, make cookies. :)

These cookies were like an oatmeal raisin spice cookie. Vegan (of course), but they actually weren't quite right. Don't get me wrong, they're quite tasty and not too sweet, but they're a little too chewy and dense. I was hoping to send these to a friend, but I may have to make a new batch to send away. I guess Ross' coworkers get these. :)

Alright well I'm going to go sit on the porch simply because it feels like fall and I'm in love with it. :)

Have a gorgeous night!

It's Almost Time!

2009-09-29T12:45:00.004-04:00

Howdy hey! Busy bee over here. Last night was another one of those sleepless nights for me. I ended up getting a lot of work done on the new recipe page for the new site. It was frustrating getting the kinks worked out/ the right format set, but we're dandy now!

Which leads me to my second-to-last big announcement here about the "new blog"...my new and improved blog makeover/ overhaul will be up and in effect on THURSDAY!!!! (The last announcement will be Thursday morning when I release the new site's name here). Are you excited? I am. I'm sure that's not obvious or anything...

Anyway! Breakfast was an old treat...Quaker Oatmeal Squares (aka CRACK!). I sent Ross to the store last night because we were completely out of oats and Quaker oats were bogo free. Wellll the Oatmeal Squares were bogo free also. Does my man know me well or what?

Lunch was so simple, wholesome and tasty. I sauteed half a tomato, half a cup of navy beans and 1/4 a bag of spinach. I added some seasonings (garlic powder, sprinkle of kosher salt, dried basil and ground pepper) for some extra flavor. With meals like these, how could anyone not Luv Veggies?

I ate it with a whole wheat English Muffin, toasted with Earth Balance. Seriously, I could never go on a low-carb diet. I love me some doughy goodness!

What is one ridiculous diet that you know that you couldn't last a day on? For me it's the Atkins (I think so at least - is that the one where you eat like no carbs but gorge on meat, meat, meat? Yeah, not veg-head friendly LOL). Oh, better yet, what's the most absurd crash diet you've heard of? Seriously, some of the crash diets out there crack. me. up.

Happy afternoon!

Eggplant Rollatini & Product Review

2009-09-28T21:18:00.011-04:00

First things first! You all sure know how to make a girl blush! I was seriously expecting several anon. comments all "your blog sucks!!!" but instead I got serious comments that showed me that I am in fact getting across what I want to share with this blog, but more than that, you all are enjoying itright along with me. So thanks for that. Also - so glad you enjoyed my fairy tale story this afternoon. I had so much fun writing it, and I'm glad it made some of you smile. (P.S. The prince found and disposed of the dead roach, so all is well in our kingdom and we all are living happily ever after...minus the roach, he's not happy being dead).

Moving on! In addition to some un-pictured snacking, I also tried this little gem this afternoon: a medjool date with almond butter and 3 little chocolate chips in it. It was tasty, but would have been better had the AB stuffed date been dipped in chocolate!

Now for dinner - Vegan Eggplant Rollatini! First, coat an 8x8 pan with a thin layer of tomato sauce.

Take your thin slices of eggplant and spread a spoonful of tomato sauce on it.

Next comes a layer of tofu ricotta. For the tofu ricotta I used 2/3 a block of tofu, juice from half a lemon, salt, dried basil, 2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast and about a Tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil.

Carefully roll the eggplant slices and lay in your pan. Top with more tomato sauce, any leftover tofu ricotta, and some breadcrumbs (I was trying to make a "crisp" topping with the breadcrumbs, but I think next time I would need to toast them and add them part-way through the baking/ kick it up to broil a few minutes).

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Voila.

As you can see, I served it on some simple steamed spinach. This was so delicious. There are only two things I would change for next time. I would lightly grill the eggplant slices before layering and rolling and reduce the baking time to 20 minutes, and I would add some vegan mozzarella to the layers and on top for some extra pizazz.

*****

Now, one last thing. Foodbuzz sent me some Nature's Pride bread to try as part of their Tastemaker's program. I was sent a loaf of 12 Grain bread and a loaf of 100% Whole Wheat bread.

12 Grain ingredients:

Whole Wheat ingredients:

Do you see what I see? Milk. Both loaves contain milk ingredients. Now, in my defense - I tried to research on the Nature's Pride website, as well as the general internet for a list of ingredients. The only information they provided was nutritional statistics for each variety. This is great, but ingredients are important, too. However, I know that bread is one of the easiest things to include in a vegan diet. There is honestly no need for milk products in bread. I was very disappointed to see that both of these loaves were de-veganized by the inclusion of milk products.

Now that my vegan rant is over, I will say that my other half is enjoying Nature's Pride bread. He got home from a run tonight and immediately tried a slice of both breads. He commented that while they were both good, he really loved the texture of the 12-Grain (he felt it was "seedy" and he enjoyed that), but he also loved the flavor and the extra sweetness he tasted in the 100% Whole Wheat loaf.

I hope no one thinks I was overly harsh or critical of Nature's Pride bread. If I had been able to find the ingredient information online, I wouldn't have jumped on the offer (bread is usually vegan, anyways). That said, I'm still grateful for the bread, because my husband eats a lot more sandwiches than I do anyway, and now he has plenty of bread for it. :) So thank you Foodbuzz for the opportunity!

Almost time for Castle - good night friends. :)

The Princess and the Roach

2009-09-28T12:32:00.007-04:00

Once upon a time there lived a beautiful princess. Every day she bid goodbye to her prince as he went off to carry out official kingdom and castle business. Most days the princess happily went about her mornings, crossing things off her beloved to do lists.

One particular fall morning, the princess was in the royal kitchen whipping up a batch of tropical granola. She peered into the royal living room, and what did she see but a big, bad ROACH!

The princess shrieked, and not with delight, but because she was startled with such a fright. Praying the stupid bully would stay, she hailed her carriage and was off and away! She tore through the village 'til she reached the royal mart, where she found the one thing she knew would make the roach depart.

Operation Kill was full underway, and the princess hurried home while praying the despised didn't hide away. Our princess was in luck, as when she bolted through the door, the first thing she saw was the roach on the ceiling! (I know, floor would've rhymed but I have to stay legit here!) With a quick re-arrangement of the castle furniture, the princess became armed and poised herself for attack.

Covering her mouth with her princess gown's blouse, the princess attacked with her magic potion spray. She sprayed and she sprayed and she sprayed a bit more, until the nasty old roach fell withering to the floor. The darn thing still moved, and crawled away, so the silly princess kept spraying away. Unfortunately our ending is unsure, as the wily roach crawled behind the royal tv.

With the castle in need of a good fumigating, and herself feeling skeeved, the princess grabbed her necessities and retreated to her tower. She tried to console herself that the villain was dead, while enjoying her lunch on top of her bed.

Still feeling in need of more satisfaction, our princess dashed out to retrieve her reward. A first of the season honey crisp at its finest, with sweet cinnamon and almond butter.

Unfortunately for our princess, she's a weak scaredy cat, so our sweet silly girl shall stay locked in her tower. Lucky for her she has a brave, handsome prince who will later be home to save the castle and his princess. :)

The End.

I want your input!

2009-09-28T08:36:00.003-04:00

Good morning! Let's just make a pact right now to have a kick-butt week! Life is what we make of it, and so many times life is influenced by our daily moods and confidence levels. So let's be confident and make a personal mandate that this week will rock! :)

I started out with more Good Belly in my belly this morning.

Then had a super delicious breakfast - honey wheat english muffin with raw almond butter and low-sugar strawberry jam. All atop my plate from Vietri, Italy. :)

Question for all you fabulous ladies (and gents? me thinks no) out there. If all goes according to plan, there will be big changes in little LC's blogging world this week - very good, big changes. :) I am super excited and definitely have lots of ideas in my mind. However I want your input! What do you like or dislike about my little blog? (Please be honest). What keeps you coming back (or what would make you come back)? Is there anything that you'd like to see more of or less of? Since these are open-ended answers, I won't be posting a poll. However, if you're wanting the anonyminity that polls give, I won't judge if you just post a comment as anonymous.

Thanks for the help, loves! Remember - happy thoughts about the week, it's going to be a great one!

Movie Sunday

2009-09-27T19:11:00.002-04:00

Ross and I are all about the cheap entertainment, and today was just that. Movies! We started out with Wolverine, then watched Ghosts of Girlfriends Past and also caught part of 50 First Dates that was on tv. We were both working on stuff while the movies were going, but it was still fun and relaxing. Perfect too, since I've been so tired today! Part way through Ghosts of Girlfriends Past we snacked on some leftover vegan stuffed mushrooms and vegan spinach "sausage" bread from last night.

Dinner was very low-key since I didn't feel like making what was on the menu (an eggplant "lasagna"/ rollatini). I had some lentil soup with french bread and leftover asparagus.

I know whole grains are superior in nutrition to white flour, and generally I have a huge preference for whole grains. Occasionally though, you just can't beat a good, doughy French or Cuban bread. :)

We'll also be enjoying the dessert from last night that we never got around to sampling. One of my all-time favorites: chocolate covered strawberries!

What I used for the vegan chocolate is Ghiradelli's Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (this is also the chip I use in my vegan chocolate chip cookies). Make sure you get the semi-sweet though, because the 60% Cacao Chips contain milk. Whole Foods also has a vegan chocolate chip, but at least at my grocery store the Ghiradelli's is easily available and also cheaper (around $2.99/bag) compared to WF (around $3.39 I believe).

Overall my weekend has been good, but relatively uneventful. My body has been incredibly tired, which is why I chose to listen to it today and just lay low. What did you do this weekend?

G'night!

Good + Happy Belly

2009-09-27T10:12:00.003-04:00

Don't you think Sunday mornings make for some of the best mornings? I do. :)

I started this morning out with some Cranberry Watermelon Good Belly Probiotic Fruit Drink that I picked up at Fresh Market yesterday. I had seen this on Ryan's blog, and like her I also obviously don't get probiotics from yogurt and such. I know there are tons of healthy bacteria in Kombucha, but why drink Kombucha when Good Belly is cheaper per serving and tastes so much better (and doesn't smell like vinegar)? :)

I really enjoyed the Cranberry Watermelon flavor and would definitely recomend it to anyone needing a probiotic boost to their diets. (You can learn more about the health benefits of Good Belly products and probiotics here). P.S. I promise I bought this on my own free will and my positive review was no way endorsed by Good Belly - although if they want to send samples so I can try more of their products, I wouldn't mind. ;)

I was still crazy tired this morning, so Ross made breakfast! (I love when he makes breakfast for me! Especially when he photographs my plate before he even hands it to me...he's a true spouse of a food blogger). ;) He made pancakes based off this recipe (using whole wheat pastry flour and almond milk). He said that these pancakes were incredibly thick to the point where he had to spread them out on the griddle. They were quite delicious though, but incredibly filling! I could only eat one, plus a few bites.

We topped them with the Pearapple sauce I made last night (to make Pearapple sauce, cook four apples and four pears on low heat, adding a teaspoon of pure vanilla and a teaspoon of cinnamon. Simmer until fruit is tender, then mash!).

Time to watch Wolverine now, since last night I definitely passed out immediately. :)

Vegan Appetizers

2009-09-26T21:45:00.006-04:00

What a whirlwind of a day! We never made it to the park or anything today, but that's ok, we got a lot of errands done. :)

We stopped for lunch at Roly Poly, a wrapped sandwich spot I had seen nearby us in Gainesville and also on Ryan's blog.

I have to say that while I wasn't so impressed with the employees cursing and flicking each other off in front of customers (and I'm pretty sure the guy rolling the wraps may have been rolling something else before his shift...), I was very impressed with my vegan options.

I went with a "roll your own": small (6") wrap on whole wheat tortilla with red pepper hummus, avocado, mushrooms, roasted red peppers, carrots, cucumbers, alfalfa sprouts, baby spinach, plum tomatos, kalamata olives and cashews.

The tortilla was a little stale, but other than that I really enjoyed it. I can't wait to go back again and come up with a more creative wrap (maybe involving the apple butter or mango chutney in some way? yum!).

Before dinner I went to the gym (while Ross ran 5 miles in the rain in 40 minutes!). I have been so tired today and really didn't want to go, but I figured if I just went I'd get motivated once I was there. Usually that's enough to get me going and actually start enjoying the workout but not today. I did 20 minutes on the treadmill (speed 4.0, incline from 4.0-8.0) followed by 2 sets of 10 reps on every machine in the gym. :) Vague, I know, but I'm exhausted right now and don't feel like looking up every machine. I do know I worked practically every muscle in my arms, as well as my back and shoulders.

I was looking forward to dinner all day. A romantic dinner for two! I adore appetizers for dinner. Tonight was no exception! I made some apple-pear sauce, spinach-sausage bread, stuffed mushrooms and roasted asparagus.

I had about 3 mushrooms, 1.5 slices of bread and probably 1/4 of the asparagus. The stuffed mushrooms - Oh. My. Gosh. Soooooo freaking good. Same with the spinach sausage bread. I'll post recipes soon, but know that everything was 100% vegan (and tasted just like the non-vegan versions I've made before) and was fabulous.

We rented Wolverine from the Blockbuster Express (Blockbuster's version of Redbox) tonight and Ross just started it. No clue why I'm so exhausted tonight, but I predict I'll pass out on him within 30 minutes. ;)

Good night!

Carrot Muffins

2009-09-26T09:09:00.002-04:00

First of all, HAPPY 21ST BIRTHDAY ASHLEY!!! And I'll just go ahead and throw a congrats out there to all you racing ladies today: Jenn, Caitlin, Meghann, Megan, Kelly, Ashley, Ryan and a good friend from college (Katy) who gets to meet some of my favorite friends/ bloggers ever today after Miracle Miles! Um, why did I move away from Orlando?

I promised y'all the recipe I made the other day, and here it is!

Carrot Muffins

WET INGREDIENTS

2 cups grated carrots
egg replacer (this time I mixed 1/4 cup flax with 1/4 cup water)
1/2 cup soymilk
1/3 cup applesauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

DRY INGREDIENTS

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients. Divide batter into a greased muffin pan and bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes. (If you want a little more of a "gourmet" look, sprinkle some raw turbinado sugar on top of the muffins before you make them -- it'll stay crystallized and pretty and crunchy). Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack.

*Makes 16 muffins or 1 loaf (bake for 50-60 minutes for a loaf).

Enjoy! As always, let me know if you try them and if you have a blog I'll link to your post with my recipe so we can all see how they turned out for someone else!

Happy Saturday!

Trip Down Memory Lane

2009-09-25T20:54:00.004-04:00

I was experiencing some major flashbacks tonight! For the past hour I've been reading some of my old blog entries. I started at the very beginning (October 15, 2008) and went up through when Christmas decorations were starting to pop up and it was finally starting to get cool in Florida. So much fun and so interesting to see how I've changed and grown! And in some ways, not changed at all. Other things I noticed:

I think the blogging community has changed some. It's gotten a lot bigger and doesn't quite feel as tight-knit as it used to.
It's interesting to see how commenters will phase in and out (as in some commenters would be really apparent one month and then a new round the next...kind of funny).
I still need to get over myself and my fears and seize the day and live today for me and my dreams. It doesn't matter to God so much what I do, but who I am as I do whatever I choose. :)
I can't wait until cooler weather comes in Florida again!!
My first vegan recipe was on the day of the last Presidential Election. :)
I want to run another race again. (Only race so far = first 5k with Meghann and Caitlin)
We carved a really cute pumpkin last year.
My kitchen in our Gainesville apartment is a lot bigger than our old apartment in Winter Haven. (thank goodness!)
It's funny how we can sometimes be an inspiration to ourselves.
I need to get off my BCP. It is absurd (and scary how noticeable it is) how much weight I've gained in 9 months since all my BCP crap started.

Definitely some pros and cons and things to remember and others to improve upon! Blogging has brought such joy to my life, and I can't wait to see what the future brings! (I know the immediate future will be bringing my madeover site to you! If I hear back about one last thing, I'm HOPING October 1st can be the "release date"). :) :) :)

Ross and I decided to be lazy tonight. Basically that means we ditched the gym. :) No worries, we have a pretty active weekend in store (assuming all rain holds off).

I loved some of your pizza topping suggestions earlier, but we ended doing a clean-out-the-fridge pizza pie. :) We topped the entire pie with marinara, spinach, mushrooms and black beans. The Ross put turkey and parmesan on his side. Sprinkle everything with garlic powder and pizza seasoning and bake away! When the pizza was done, I topped my half with avocado, having seen this stone fruit on a pizza Kelly had recently.

I had two slices and loved the addition of the avocado! I love avocado as a cheese substitute on things like sandwiches, so it's really no wonder I enjoyed the smooth texture on the pizza too.

Anyway, do you guys have any fun weekend plans? I know practically every blogger that lives in Orlando PLUS some college friends are running in the Miracle Miles tomorrow (plus it's Ashley's 21st birthday tomorrow!!). While I'd love to come down, I won't be since we were just there last weekend. I'll think of you all! In the meantime we have a pretty full agenda tomorrow:

Gym in AM
Enjoy my carrot muffins (recipe in the AM!)
(Maybe) Helping the sophomore class at Ross' school work on their float for Homecoming next week (he's the sophomore class sponsor)
(If there's no rain) check out a geological state park nearby.
Grocery Shopping (fun for me, chore for Ross lol)
Laundry (boring)
Import/ Configure recipe page on new site
Write another page(s) for new site
Come up with some fun dinner plans!

Time to go kick the weekend off with some R + R with my favorite R! :)

xo!

Coffee Date

2009-09-25T14:42:00.007-04:00

I just got back from the most lovely afternoon coffee date with a sweet friend I haven't seen in years! :)

I was in a rush for lunch so I just munched on a Tropical Fruit Tart Larabar and a gala apple.

Danielle met me over at my apartment (technically the first friend to see our new space -- we need more friends in Gainesville!) and we walked over to the Starbuck's next door where I got a tall soy chai latte.

Thanks for all of your suggestions earlier! From the words of the beautiful, knowledgeable and vegan Ryan: the white chocolate mocha, pumpkin spice and caramel syrup all have milk in them. Thanks Ryan!

Now, I have to tell you all - I thrive on social connections. I truly do. Maybe that's why I love blogging so much? And while significant others/ guys are great, there's nothing like a good girl talk. Danielle and I had some great conversation - mostly wedding related. :) While she's not engaged yet, there's a 99.9% chance she will be soon! So we had a ball talking about wedding ideas on a budget, one of my favorite topics! She asked me at the end: "have you ever considered being a wedding planner?" lol ummm yes. But how to get into it? Anywho.

I just grabbed this half of a carrot muffin when I got back in. Quite tasty - expect the recipe tomorrow morning.

Must skeedaddle and get some more stuff done! See you tonight for my favorite kind of night - Pizza Night!! :)

What are you favorite or most unique additions to pizza, particularly vegan additions? Maybe tonight will be a blogger-inspired pizza. ;)

What Do You Get at Starbucks?

2009-09-25T09:16:00.003-04:00

Good morning world! Happy Friday!

Breakfast this morning was a repeat of yesterday's - flax flakes, Berry Almond Granola and soymilk.

This was actually a silly breakfast, because I was in a baking mood last night and actually made some healthy carrot muffins last night for breakfasts and such. When am I not in a baking mood? Baking is so therapeutic to me. Guess you'll just have to wait to see these delicious little muffins and their recipe later this weekend! ;)

Ok - thoughts on Grey's last night. Definitely full of drama. But ya know? The show has changed so much. I first discovered the show before I went to college and liked it before it was popular. It was simple, it was good tv, it wasn't near as raunchy, and it was enjoyable. Now it's just packed with an absurd amount of unrealistic drama and the show is so different. I stopped watching for awhile, not totally sure why I started watching again, and I'm pretty sure I won't be centering my Thursday evenings around it. It looks like the show is going in a whole new direction, and it's just not what it was years ago. (Such is true with life right? Except this is a tv show and I can just decide not to go along for the ride). :D

*****

Calling all Starbucks lovers! I have a date with an old friend at Starbucks this afternoon. I haven't been in ages, so what are some of your favorite (vegan-friendly) options at Starbucks?

Shepherd's Pie - Plant Style

2009-09-24T20:58:00.005-04:00

I got super hungry this afternoon so I had a quick snack of flax flakes and soymilk.

Dinner tonight was a vegan shepherd's pie. Instead of the traditional ground meat layer, I used a can of kidney beans dusted in whole wheat flour, a splash of soymilk, garlic powder, cumin, paprika, salt and a touch of cinnamon. I bulked up the corn layer with half a package of thawed frozen spinach and seasoned that layer with paprika, garlic powder and salt. I topped it all off with mashed sweet potatoes (a large sweet potato cooked in the microwave and mashed with some soymilk). Dust the top with paprika and cinnamon and bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes.

Sorry so short but Grey's is on and it looks as juicy and drama-filled as ever. Are you a Grey's fan? After the episode's over - what are your thoughts on the episode? I've seen a few spoilers so I'm interested to see how it pans out!

Ciao loves!

Good Girl's Taco Bell

2009-09-24T14:09:00.004-04:00

I have a weird thing for bananas (TWSS). In all seriousness I just don't like plain bananas. They have to be frozen or in banana bread. So this morning I snacked a banana that I sliced and froze (and yes they're on a Christmas snowman/ snowflake plate, no shame).

I started out this morning doing some strength training, but it quickly turned into a long stretch and yoga session. My body just needed it. I kind of just did what felt good and natural, but I know it included some Eagle Pose, Downward Facing Dog, Half Moon Pose, a High Lunge variation, Warrior 2 Pose, and Tree Pose.

Afterwards I headed out for a hot and sweaty gym sesh! 15 minutes on the stair master followed by 30 minutes on the elliptical. Considering I went to the gym around noon, I was famished by the time I got back! While I was finishing up at the gym I dreamed up this "Good Girl's Taco Bell Taco Salad". :)

I took a La Tortilla Factory tortilla, draped it over a small dish and let it get crispy in the oven. Fill with romaine, salsa, avocado, and a mixture of nonfat refried beans and left over black beans. So delicious!

While fast food can be convenient, sometimes you can make something even tastier and way healthier at home. :)

Speaking of convenient fast food, remember that time I had an unwelcome experience at Moe's? I finally heard back from the company. The apologized and sent me a $15 gift card. Sometimes it's good to share your opinions!

Catch ya later!

Dream a Little Dream With Me

2009-09-24T08:05:00.004-04:00

Good morning friends!

No post last night - I got caught up in working on the new site and totally lost track of time! Breakfast this morning was delicious, and I definitely implemented one of those little tricks to assist with portion control. Obviously, measuring out portions is the first step. But remember that bowl of granola and soymilk I had yesterday? Well honestly, it was lacking in volume. So today I doubled the volume of my breakfast, while keeping the calorie count exactly the same (actually a tad less). I used 3/4 cup of a low-calorie "boring" cereal (Publix Greenwise Flax Flakes) with 1/4 cup of my Berry Almond Granola to bring some extra flavor and textures. Top with 3/4 cup soymilk (who can seriously just use 1/2 cup milk in cereal? Not me!).

Now, there's been a lot of discussion and inspiration in our little blog-world in regards to dreams lately. Meghann had a post on dreams yesterday, Rose discussed her dreams, and Caitlin has a great post up today with all the amazing changes/ realization of dreams that have been going on in her life. Of course I can't forget about Jenna, who is living out one of her dreams and moving to San Francisco on Friday.

I found all these posts very interesting and thought-provoking. Where am I in regards to my dreams? Which led me to a more important question - what are my dreams?

We all start dreaming in our childhood. I know for me, my dreams changed every other week. :) "I want to be a librarian!" or "I want to be one of those artists at Disney that sit and draw people all day!" or one of the most amusing, "I want to be a street musician!" (In my defense, that was when I was very young and saw people throwing cash to a man playing his saxophone outside of a subway in Boston).

I know several dreams that I have today:

To do all I can to help others wherever possible.
To have a family and be the best mother, wife, sister, daughter, aunt, etc. that I can be.
To travel the world!
For Ross and I to be able to support our family, not only emotionally and spiritually, but financially as well. If my kids want to take ballet lessons, I want them to be able to take ballet lessons without me having to borrow that money from somewhere else in our budget.
To pay off all of Ross' student loans and live debt-free.
To one day live with my parents and my sister's future family all in the same area/ same town.
To maybe one day write a cookbook?!
To maybe one day run a half marathon?
To be a yogi. :)

Those are all great, exciting dreams, but most of those things are things that will naturally come with time (at least most presumably will according to how Ross and I are setting up and living our lives now).

For me, the "what are my dreams" comes into play more in regards to career dreams. I know that I want to be an educated, respected, knowledgeable and successful woman. I also know that now is a great time for me to be pursuing some of these avenues (i.e. gaining higher education). I have the time, I don't have kids (nor do we plan on it for years), and most importantly, I want to. What's holding me back? Well, finances for one. I really would prefer not to add to the student loan pile we're in the process of paying off. The other (bigger) thing that holds me back? The "what".

I have many areas of interest. There are so many different paths that I could go on with my life. And while I think I *know* what area I want to pursue, there are times where I still wonder. Going back to school for a master's is a big deal, and I don't personally feel it's something you should do if you're not 100% certain the path you want to pursue.

So, I'd like y'all to help me make sure I'm not leaving any options out! Below are areas that I'm interested in/ enjoy/ good at:

Health and Nutrition
Cooking and Baking
Helping Others
Music
Teaching
Event Planning
Creativity in general
Blogging :D
and I'm sure much, much more. Probably even some interests I don't even realize I have yet!

I definitely have a "plan" in mind now. (And ironically it has zero to do with any of the jobs I've been applying for - I've been applying for jobs to increase income to save money to go back to school).

Anyway, what are some paths you think of when you see those interest areas? And most importantly, something I think we can all benefit from - how do you balance your dreams and grown up responsibility?

Some Days You Need a Good Laugh

2009-09-23T11:42:00.004-04:00

Today has just been one of those days - frustrated, a tad down, in need of dreams and ambitions, and just generally needing a positive change in my life. I've found the best cure for days like this: laughing at the expense of others. :) Just a few videos that fit bill:

I have no idea who these peeps are, but please go check out this video. Just wait until around the 35 second mark. Bahahahaha - the flip flops...priceless

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=129056048416&ref=share

I'm totally going to be a mom like this one day...once again, wait until the end:

ahahahhaha.

Check out this kid's moves:

Junior's got some skills.

Anyway, breakfast was some Berry Almond Granola with soymilk - nothing fancy, but mighty tasty!

I'm currently muching on some lunch, which is a small side salad (spinach, salsa, slice of avocado, small dollop of nonfat refried beans) with two Wasa crackers/ crispbreads with hummus on top.

Anyone have any favorite YouTube videos? One's that will make you laugh uncontrollably, and want to keep rewinding over and over? Leave a link in the comments - we could all use some laughter!

Noche Cubana!

2009-09-22T21:18:00.004-04:00

Soon after lunch I decided I was feeling something sweet, so I went for a beautifully ripe Bartlett pear.

Later I snacked on some of my Berry Almond Granola with light vanilla soymilk.

This afternoon at the gym I did 30 minutes on the elliptical followed by abs and arms strength exercises at home. A few of you were asking about the rules on children at the gym: it's the gym in our apartment complex, which while nice for an apartment complex,definitely doesn't have childcare. The rules are children under 12 are supposed to be accompanied by a parent/ other adult. The families/ kids I've had problems with in the past are all accompanied by adults, it's just that the adults don't do anything. Oh well, I'd rather exercise and be/ get in shape than sit around on my bum because I'm annoyed by kids. :)

Dinner was very Cuban-themed! We made yellow rice with black beans, a simple side salad of romaine and carrots, and plantains/ tostones.

I've seen Kelly make these tostones on her blog, and when I saw a plantain over the weekend I grabbed it with these in mind. They were definitely tasty, I just think my plantain was not quite ripe yet. I'll know better next time! The yellow rice was just a small package from Publix, and I just simmered the black beans in the can's liquid with a dash of cayenne, cumin, and garlic powder.

Super simple dinner that allowed us to watch the season premier of NCIS on time. I think NCIS is our number one favorite show to watch together, with Castle as number two. :)

Time to go hang out with Rossy. :)

Thoughts on Cravings

2009-09-22T12:26:00.004-04:00

Instead of boring you all with a lunch exactly the same as last night's salad I changed it up by rolling it up. La Tortilla Factory tortilla, nonfat refried beans, lettuce, salsa and 1/8 avocado.

All rolled up!

I saw this interesting article on cravings. Basically, research is up in the air on whether there is any correlation between our cravings and any nutritional deficiencies.

What do you think? Do you think a random afternoon craving for Cheetos is your body sending you a message about a nutritional need? Or do you not buy that at all?

Personally, I think there is some truth to this. The Cheetos thing is kind of weird, but I know from experience that if I listen to my body it will crave things that are wholesome, balanced, and things my body needs to keep in nutritional balance. For example: remember a week or so ago when I was craving a hamburger or steak and couldn't shake it? I'm pretty positive that because the craving for meat was so strong, my body was trying to convey a need for protein. I've noticed that while following a vegan diet, if I get hungry the first kind of "snack" I'll head for is a whole grain carb. Nothing wrong with that in moderation, except I think my body was just crying out for more balance and more plant-based protein sources.

At the same time, I think some cravings are purely emotional. If you're stressed out and have had a bad day and you get a "random" craving for a Twix in the afternoon, well that's just emotional and you're subconsciously connecting that Twix bar to comfort.

Your thoughts?

Berry Almond Granola

2009-09-22T09:05:00.002-04:00

Breakfast this morning was another meal I've seen floating around on some blogs: Smoothie in a Bowl!

I took my leftover smoothie from lunch yesterday (soymilk, spinach, frozen mango, flax, ice, splash of OJ) and threw it in a bowl. On top I added 1/4 cup of an easy granola I made last night.

Berry Almond Granola

2 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup dried berries (I used a package of Newman's Own Organics dried Berry Blend)
1 cup chopped raw almonds
2 Tablespoons canola oil
2 Tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Mix the ingredients until everything is evenly coated with the wet ingredients. Bake in an oven at 250 degrees Fahrenheit for around 45 minutes (depends on your oven and the type of dish you use. I baked mine in a 9x13 Pyrex dish, so it was s little deeper). Occasionally stir the granola around while its baking. Even if the granola doesn't feel too crunchy right away, leave it be - it'll get a little more crunchy as it cools.

Easy, right? I was amazed at how simple this was to throw together during a commercial break last night.

Speaking of commercial breaks...well, I loved Castle. No disappointments there. :) House on the other hand...hmm. Is it just me or was it kind of weird? I mean, I'm glad he's becoming more human and all, but if he's like this the entire season it's going to be a different show. Plus I think I missed the rest of the cast last night...didn't we only see House and a little bit of Wilson? Just not what I expected. Your thoughts?

Three Cheers for Good TV!

2009-09-21T20:36:00.002-04:00

Anyone else excited about the good shows this week? On tonight's agenda: currently we're watching House (I'm actually not really feeling it so far...kind of boring me actually) and later tonight is Castle! I've been looking forward to the return of Castle for a while now. :)

I gymmed it up this afternoon. Except more annoying children were in there! This time they were playing volleyball and soccer inside a small bit of open space....with a giant stability ball. One man actually had to leave because it bumped into him multiple times (which upset me, because the man was definitely obese and had only been there 5 minutes before getting annoyed and leaving). Had the ball been any smaller it would have gone through the bars of the treadmill, knocking into me. Meanwhile, dad does nothing. Great parenting.

Rant over. I used the frustration to fire me up. I started out with 20 minutes of hill walking (speed around 3.8 the whole time) increasing the incline from 4% to 11%. After that I RAN. It wasn't very much...I jogged slow for 4 minutes, walked 2 until the jogging time equaled a mile. Then I cooled down a few more minutes after that.

I know that doesn't seem like much, but just last week I was incredibly frustrated because I couldn't run a minute/ walk a minute without having severe shin pain. No pain today! It was a little achy once I was done, but I iced when I got home. Yay!

Dinner tonight was one of my absolute favorite salads. Romaine + corn + avocado + salsa + nonfat refried beans + blue corn tortilla chip crumbs. I coudn't decide which pic looked better, thoughts?

Flash:

No flash:

I know everyone's always knocking on the flash, but I kind of prefer the flash, especially when it's so dark in my home.

What tv shows are you looking forward to this week? And please, someone else tell me you're a Castle fan. :)

Good night!

Blogging is a Reward

2009-09-21T14:02:00.004-04:00

After my post on my Smlove Pie makeover this morning, I told myself, "Lindsey - you are not doing anything else, including blogging, until you apply for five jobs!"

Five job apps later, here I am! Applying for jobs can be absolutely mind-numbing and boring, so it's good to have a "treat" waiting. :)

Lunch was the leftover lentil soup from last night. (I had a couple more of those little wheat biscuits too, I just added them after the photo when I wanted some "dippers").

I also made a green smoothie of soymilk, ice, frozen mango, tons of spinach, ground flax, and a splash of OJ. I was only to finish about 1/3 of it before I got full (too much liquid!) so the rest is waiting for me in the freezer.

I'm hoping to knock out a few more job apps this afternoon before I work out. Then tonight I need to really figure out what the heck is going on with the new site/ blog. [I thought things were almost ready, but randomly there are these html coding issues popping up. html code will be the death of me. (Well, that or job apps hehe).]

Check it out: Jordan, my sister-in-law, went to Africa this summer on a mission trip. Check out this beautiful wood serving utensil set she brought back for us. I love it! Thanks, Jo!

I have a huge thing for African culture. I'm really hoping to go on a mission trip to Africa myself one day, I've wanted to for years! (Same with India, I'd love to go on a mission trip there as well!).

Have you ever been on a mission trip or a service/ volunteer trip? Is there anyplace you'd like to go? The only overseas mission trip I've been on so far was a week in Italy, working with Italian college students. It was such a great experience!

Smlove Pie: the Remix

2009-09-21T09:40:00.006-04:00

Over the weekend I made a dessert based on Isa Chandra's Smlove Pie for my brother-in-law's birthday. The original recipe can be found at the above link, or on page 257 of Veganomicon.

That being said, I made a good amount of substitutions/ changes.

For the crust - when Isa said "12 graham crackers" I originally assumed she meant 12 of the long graham crackers (you know, the ones that can be broken in half). Usually I just use 1 sleeve of graham crackers (or 9 long ones) for a crust and find it makes more than enough. So I crushed 1 sleeve of honey graham crackers and added a tiny bit of canola at a time until the crust would form to the pie pan.

The chocolate filling I barely kept the same. Since I was making a vegan dessert for my in-laws for a birthday that wasn't my own, I was really hesitant to use tofu. I had a feeling that would elicit a "forks-down-now" reaction. What I ended up using:

1 can coconut milk (regular, not light, and do NOT get the super sweet coconut cream!)
1/4 cup cornstarch
12 ounces melted bittersweet chocolate
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
approx. 1/2 cup light vanilla soymilk
approx. 1/2 cup sugar (to taste)

This is obviously different than Isa's recipe. She has zero added sugar, just the bittersweet chocolate. Having tasted it (pre-soymilk and sugar) I knew right away no one would touch it. I realize some people love the bitter taste of unsweetened chocolate, but not the crowd I was baking for.

I think overall the filling still came out well. My mother-in-law loved how it wasn't too sweet. My father-in-law on the other hand...based on comments about "ooh it's definitely bittersweet chocolate" and lots of coughing and comments on how it was so thick he broke his plastic fork (it wasn't rock hard, it was like a thick, creamy cheesecake texture), I'm pretty sure he wasn't a fan of the filling. So know your audience (and know you'll never please everyone...)! To keep it easy, if you're baking for a more sweet-palated crowd just use semi-sweet chocolate instead.

For the peanut butter caramel: I kept with Isa's recipe mostly, except I used agave instead of brown rice syrup (it's what I had). I also ended up needing to add more maple syrup until I got the desired consistency (I would say probably double the amount she listed). Just be prepared to make adjustments on the caramel based on consistency.

For the Maple Candied Peanuts: Well, obviously the biggest change is that I used peanuts instead of pecans. I am so allergic to pecans and other tree nuts that not only can I not eat them, I can't cook with them (esp. when toasting them releases oils and such). Everything else for this component I used according to her directions.

For the chocolate ganache: First of all, this will make more ganache that you need! I loaded on the ganache and had at least half left over. Aside from quantity, there's the same issue with bittersweet chocolate. My husband was home with me at this point, and when I told him to see how it tasted, he hated it. Bittersweet chocolate + soymilk = extremely bitter ganache. I had to add sugar and more sugar until it got palatable for a crowd loving their sweets. To eliminate the need for this, just use semi-sweet chocolate and you'll be golden. :)

I know this was really detailed, but I really hope you appreciate it if you're thinking of making this pie. All in all it turned out well. We had a crown of 13 for my brother-in-law's birthday, and everyone seemed to like it. It was very rich, which was ok, because everyone was satisfied with smaller portions. I also personally thought the less-sweet filling balanced perfectly with all the sugary goodness on top (caramel, peanuts, ganache). I was nervous about the vegan aspect, but no one thought it was too big of a deal. Like my brother-in-law said, "All you had to do was tell me it had sugar, and I'll eat it!". (Good thing I added lots of sugar to the bittersweet chocolate!)

Home Sweet Home

2009-09-20T20:30:00.006-04:00

Hi from good ol' Gainesville! This weekend absolutely flew by, but it was such a good weekend. :) Our afternoon errands were mostly a success, except when Ross drove right past the Whole Foods exit. hehe, he was thrilled...

He had a perfectly good excuse - we were having so many great conversations today! I love having deep, stimulating, thought-provoking conversations that make you dig deep in your mind and heart and make you think. Love it!

We weren't too hungry for lunch, so we just split this whole grain avocado cucumber sushi roll from Whole Foods.

I also grabbed a Sublime Mate Honest Tea. Not bad!

And of course, when it Rome, right? The essential WF Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie.

Now, I don't know if these were overcooked this time, or if they'd been out a while or what, but the first thing I said when I tasted this? "Wow, mine taste a lot better!" (In the most humble way possible LOL). Maybe I will be sharing that recipe with y'all sooner than I thought... :)

We've already done our weekly grocery shopping, so we're done with errands for today! Since we got back around dinner time we thought we'd put one of our grocery purchases to good use. I had some lentil soup with some quick whole wheat "biscuits" that I threw together on the side. (Those things are so flat and tiny, I'm pretty sure 3 = a little less than a normal biscuit).

Now, the rest of that Whole Foods cookie is tucked away in my belly and I'm chilling. :) Ross and I are trying a "No Sweets" week, just to make sure that we're in control of cravings. It can only be good for us, yes? I believe Whit is also on the No Sweets page this week, too. :) (This is why I killed off the rest of the cookie tonight - no temptation! haha)

My apologies to those of you who have emailed, FBed, texted, or commented me lately - I'm trying to get caught up!

See you in the morning!

Double Dinners & Dessert

2009-09-20T11:02:00.012-04:00

Get ready for a whirlwind of a post, I have been a busy lady!

Plans got switched around once we arrived in Orlando, so I was left with two dinners to attend last night! I decided instead of skipping one or only eating at one, I would go to both and divide my dinner in parts.

First stop - Mellow Mushroom with some AWESOME bloggers! I met up with Ashley, Ryan, Megan, Meghann and Sarah. Love these girls, and with all the stuff going on in my life right now, I cannot tell you how wonderful and refreshing it is to spend some time with these ladies. :)

Our table split two medium mega-veggie pizzas with no cheese or butter on the crust.

Since I knew I wouldn't want to go to my next dinner and sit there a couple hours not eating anything while everyone else was, I decided to only have one slice (of which I promptly removed all banana peppers and onions0.

I totally stole these pictures from Ryan's blog. :) Ashley, Meghann, Megan:
Me, Ryan and Sarah:

Fun fact: in addition to Megan being my college freshman roomie and going to high school with Ryan (I have to remember to post some old homecoming pictures!) Sarah and I actually have like 30 friends in common from college! Small world!

I jetted off for dinner round 2: brother-in-law's birthday dinner at Chili's.

Roman the birthday boy!

Now, in all honesty - I am so glad I took the approach to dinner that I did. Had I skipped out on Mellow Mushroom I would have been incredibly disappointed with vegan options at Chili's. Had I made only Mellow Mushroom my dinner, I know I still would have ended up munching fries off someone's plate or ordering a drink, mostly out of boredom, which I honestly wouldn't have needed.

We had a fabulous waitress who was SO nice and accommodating when I told her I was a vegan. Word to the wise though - do check out the menu ahead of time. Some of the items she suggested (i.e. the black bean burger) actually have egg and dairy in them. I ended up with a side house salad with no cheese, croutons or dressing, but with some fajita veggies and guacamole.

This worked out great. Next time I'd remember to get the veggies just steamed (they were rather oily) but for what I had to work with, I was content with my choice. My two dinners ended up equaling one pizza + salad dinner. Perfect solution!

We came home to dive into the incredibly rich, vegan dessert I made.

It's based off of Isa Chandra's smlove pie, but I made a TON of substitutions/ additions (I'll have to share that later, I left my recipe note sheet at home).

Basically it had a crazy rich and chocolatey coconut milk based filling, topped with peanut butter caramel, roasted maple peanuts and chocolate ganache. It was so rich we cut the slices really small - I think like 16 slices out of one pie?

So delicious! Afterward the boys headed to a movie and I had some great convo with my sister-in-law Jordan (as well as a failed movie attempt when we arrived too late to see Love Happens, but all's good!).

Breakfast this morning was a cinnamon raising bagel (vegan!) with no pulp/calcium enriched OJ. Delicious!

The rest of the day includes a trip to Ikea to return some curtains, a trip to Whole Foods (obviously) and some more time with the fam before we head back to Gainesville tonight. See you later!

A Walk in the Park

2009-09-19T13:44:00.007-04:00

Hey guys! We got in Orlando super late last night, and had an even later night up with the fam for a bit. (Dinner was just a veg. delight sub from Subway with no cheese - don't worry, Vegan Venture is still in full force!)

We crashed hard last night and slept in. I'm embarrassed to say how late we slept, but let's just say when we woke up the yoga class Ryan and Caitlin went to was almost over. :) Hopefully I'll get to check out that $5 yoga class next time I'm in Orlando!

On our way out the door Ross and I each grabbed an apple and split this PBJ Larabar before heading to the park.

We went to Blue Jacket Park/ Lake Baldwin for a nice, long (crazy hot) walk. I'm guessing our total mileage was around 5 miles? Blue Jacket Park holds a lot of beautiful memories for us - picnic lunch dates after church, long walks, fun rollerblading sessions, late night walks discussing our dreams, our first kiss... :) We even had some engagement pictures taken here, check it out:

Man, I can't believe that was over a year ago. It feels like just a couple months ago! Crazy how time flies.

We were pretty ravenous afterward so we stopped by Moe's. Remember the last time I went to Moe's and had a disappointing vegan experience? Not sure what's up...I complained to the company and never heard anything back (poor customer service), but when I went today the Art Vandelay (vegetarian) junior burrito was cheaper than it was before. Could just be the different location? Whatever!

Junior vegetarian burrito (rice, black beans, guac, lettuce, salsa, black olives, cilantro) with some chips and salsa to split with Ross. (Don't you think these "junior" burritos are totally normal-sized burritos?)

Now I need to go stretch out - my quads and hammies are STILL sore from a bunch of the strength exercises I did the other day. Or maybe it was some of the yoga I did yesterday. Whatev! Stretch city (and shower city) here I come!!

See you later!

Finger Food Friday

2009-09-18T13:18:00.004-04:00

Lunch was destined to be made up of finger food. Why?

1. I'm dirtying up way too many dishes in preparation of my brother-in-law's birthday dessert (read: I'm lazy).

2. All of my clean silverware is in the dishwasher. After this morning's incident, I'm letting Ross unload the dishwasher (it's ok, I unloaded it last time, it's his turn anyway.) ;)

So I made a dipper plate of broccoli, blue corn tortilla chips, a salsa/ corn/ avocado mixture (so good!!), and a dollop of hummus.

Although I suppose I should call it "Hommus" since it was Cedar's brand (Sabra's lovers don't hate, but lately I've been liking Cedar's more!)

Since I've been working my bum off in the kitchen all day (yes I've been paranoid about roaches the whole time) I thought I'd share some pictures of some of the components of the surprise birthday dessert.

Mmm, isn't that swirl just luscious?? I'm nervous about this dessert and really hope it comes out ok. I know it's going to be ridiculously rich, and I'm sure it's going to be tasty, but there's a certain "label" on this dessert that I'm not going to share with the family until after everyone's tasted it. *crosses fingers*

Now for some kitchen cleaning, yoga, and Orlando weekend prep!

I Hate Bugs!!

2009-09-18T09:18:00.004-04:00

I. Hate. Creepy. Crawly. Nasty. Bugs.

Especially when they are in my kitchen.

My morning started out innocently enough (minus the fact of being dead tired because I was up late playing teacher and helping Ross grade papers...I got a LOT more sleep than he did though!). :(

I wandered into the kitchen and decided it'd be the perfect morning to enjoy my Kashi cereal sample I picked up in the mail yesterday: Oat Flakes and Wild Blueberry Clusters.

Well, after a couple bites I go back into the kitchen for a water refill. I set my my mug down on the counter, go by the fridge, get water, etc.. Turn around and there is this roach-like bug crawling around the base of my mug! I may or may not have let out a little expletive (HATE bugs, especially in my kitchen around my FOOD!). As I ran for paper towels to kill the sucker (I'm merciless) he crawls into my clean dishwasher! I just washed those dishes! Well, I opened it and couldn't see him. So I quickly throw some more dishwasher soap in there, lock him in, put it on HOT (usually I don't have the heated dry on to conserve energy) and am currently running the dishwasher in attempts of killing him by drowning, steaming, over-heating, WHATEVER WORKS!

I hate bugs. Can you tell?

What makes matters worse is just the other night Ross killed a similar looking bug in our closet. :( I knew there'd be more than one. Time for Operation Roach Kill.

Needless to say I couldn't finish my cereal, so I've now substitute a slice of my almond spiced banana bread.

What do you think? Will Death by Dishwasher kill this nasty little sucker? :/

P.S. Hahahaha, I think this makes me a bad vegan hippie. I'm sorry, but he was on my FOOD!

Ultimate Lazy Day

2009-09-17T22:09:00.004-04:00

I pulled the ultimate lazy card for dinner tonight. Microwavable Amy's non-dairy burritos - and I didn't even make them. To top that, I was a lazy food blogger and I didn't even take the picture! I casually asked Ross, "Hey honey, think you can handle dinner tonight?" (4 minutes later Ross hands me my plate with a burrito)..."Um honey, you didn't take a picture...". bahaha, do I have some nerve or what? ;)

Back it up a minute - I had a grrrrrreat! workout this afternoon. It started with an awesome strength session at home (guaranteed to be sore tomorrow). One thing I do is write out every strength move I want to do before I start. Then the psycho-list-maker in me has additional motivation to complete each move so I can cross it off. :) As I go, I just write down how many sets/ reps/ lbs I used per exercise.

Unfortunately when I was done and ready to hit the gym for some cardio, it was pouring and lightning like crazy! So since dinner was postponed a while longer, I ate this half of a coconut cream pie Larabar that has been in my purse for probably far too long...

Love that flavor! It's my numero uno. :)

Finally I was able to escape to the gym for 25 minutes on the elliptical. Escape? Gym? Not so much. More like child's playground.

I fully support and encourage families to exercise together. I think that's a great habit to get your children into - time is much better spent on a family walk than in front of the tv in my opinion. To this day, I remember going on long 5 mile walks/ bike rides with my family after dinner when we lived in Kentucky. I remember the fun, the rolling green hills, the horses and the white picket fences. It was great!

Here was my issue: while the mom was trying to work out, she had her child there (probably 5-6 years old?). Her child definitely did not understand the "don't talk to strangers" rule (to the point of going up to a girl on a treadmill and saying, "can I have it now"?). Additionally, the little girl was literally running around, jumping all over equipment, messing with equipment, taking pins out of the weight machines and causing general chaos. She was a joyful little girl, but she was energetic to the extreme.

What would you do? I understand the mother's desire of wanting to workout, and needing to bring her child with her since the child can't be left at home. I do think the child needs to be reprimanded though, and made to understand that most importantly she could get hurt very easily in that environment, and that it is NOT a playground.

I also think that if my child was just too wild (and esp. since the mom was just doing really gentle cardio) I would go for walks with my child instead.

Your thoughts?

P.S. I just saw the new header for my new blog and I LOVE IT!!!

Never Fail Roasted Potatoes

2009-09-17T13:29:00.003-04:00

I was a bad job searcher this morning. I just simply did not feel like looking for a job. So I didn't. :) I blame it on the late night insurance paperwork last night. ;) At least that's done!

Lunch was perfect - exactly what I was craving. I had four tiny red potatoes left on the counter, so I made some roasted red potatoes with some steamed spinach.

While I love sweet potatoes, I love regular potatoes, too. (I actually only started liking sweet potatoes in the past year! I had only had them in nasty, sugary casseroles that were disgusting before that). The key to a crunchy outside and soft on the inside potatoes is to lightly mist with EVOO (not dump olive oil all over it) and bake at 425. They'll actually crisp up pretty early on - just keep them in longer until when a knife inserted meets whatever potato tenderness you desire (mine were probably around 20-25 minutes).

The other key is the seasoning! My never fail roasted potato seasoning blend is lots of herbs de provence, paprika, kosher salt and garlic powder. SO GOOD! Try it, you won't be disappointed. :)

Naturally, after only a few baby potatoes and spinach I was still hungry, so I hit up a baby organic gala with some almond butter and cinnamon. (Just to show how tiny this bag of apples are, the almond butter is a tablespoon or less).

Delicious!

Afternoon plan of attack:

Apply to 2 jobs
Gym (elliptical and strength)
Figure out what to make for dinner with our limited ingredients!
New blog work. :)
Pick up ingredients at store for Roman's birthday dessert.

easy peasy. Catch ya later!

Almond Spiced Banana Bread

2009-09-17T08:51:00.005-04:00

I have to start this Thursday morning out by wishing my brother-in-law a Happy Birthday!!! Roman's turning 17 today. :) Happy birthday and see you this weekend, Roman! :)

Breakfast this morning featured the Almond Spiced Banana Bread I made yesterday afternoon. This bread was one of those things that started out just as a healthy banana bread, but using up some ingredients that I had, it turned into an almond spiced banana bread. And I think it turned out mighty fine. :)

Almond Spiced Banana Bread

Wet Ingredients:

2-3 bananas, mashed
1/4 c. flax + 1/4 c. water (egg substitute)
1/2 cup almond milk (or other milk substitute)
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 cup brown sugar (optional, if your bananas are really ripe)

Dry Ingredients:

1 cup spelt flour (or other flour)
1 cup almond meal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

Swirl/ Topping:

1/4 cup roughly chopped almonds
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 Tablespoon cinnamon

Combine the wet ingredients. Add in your dry ingredients. Pour the mixture into a greased/ non-stick loaf pan. Reserve a Tablespoon of the swirl/ topping. Pour the rest on to the top of the dough. Taking a butter knife, swirl the topping into the dough. Pour the remaining Tablespoon on top as the topper. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack. Enjoy!

It was tasty! Interestingly for me, this was my first real "banana nut" bread. Most banana nut breads contain walnuts, which I'm allergic to, so I've never had banana nut anything before.

Also - I wish I had some rum. No, I'm not a pirate, but how great would a banana rum bread be? I'm thinking a healthy banana bread crosses rum cake...mmmm. I'd take out the almond extract and add a Tablespoon of rum instead.

Time to go make an ingredient list/ see what I need for a birthday dessert surprise I'm making for Roman. See you all later today!

P.S. Keep those questions for me coming! (Anything and everything - working on new About Me and FAQ page).

Pizza-holic

2009-09-16T21:38:00.004-04:00

Thanks for your comment on my humble abode earlier. ;) I by no means claim to have the best decorating skills, or the best apartment (trust me, there things I'd change - my "perfect kitchen" will not be white!), but I do think I have done a fairly good job of doing things on a small budget. :) I'll put together a post in the next few days to share with you guys about decorating/ home-making on a budget.

I really had such a relaxing afternoon. I baked a newly created Almond Spice Banana Bread (recipe to come tomorrow morning).

I cuddled and napped with Ross once he got home. :) (still not sleeping at night...averaging 4 hours off and on throughout the night).

Then I hit the gym! I don't think I've told you all this, but Ross is starting to train for races. He's run for years, it comes naturally to him, and he'd like to one day run a marathon. Obviously I'd like to be out there running with him, but I'm still sticking to low-impact exercise until I have no pain.

So while he was out running, I hit up the elliptical for a hot and sweaty 30 minutes. It was only 30 minutes but man I pushed hard. I love that I can actually push myself on low-impact machines instead of having to keep holding out on myself to prevent further pain. Came back, chugged a little gatorade/ water combo (felt headache coming on), showered and dinner time!

Dinner. Ummm, we have a pizza problem. We love pizza, any way shape or form. :)

Tonight's featured Jenna's Best Pizza Dough (with a hodge podge of whole wheat pastry flour, spelt flour, and whole wheat flour PLUS a ton of dried herbs) and these local, organic baby eggplants I found.

We topped the dough with a sauce of crushed garlic (4 cloves), rosemary, and about a Tablespoon of EVOO. Then layer with thinly sliced tomatoes, baby eggplant and chopped spinach. Bake for 15 minutes and voila!

I love pizza, and honestly when it's just whole grains, moderate healthy fats, and veggies, I really cannot think of pizza as being "bad" for me!

I gotta wrap this up because Man vs. Food is on the Travel Channel right now, and he's in Sarasota!!! (My hometown)! Can't wait to see what this is like and where he goes. :)

Does anyone have any questions for me/ about me? I'm working on FAQs for my new site and wanted to open it up to y'all. Leave a comment or shoot me an email (mrslcblog at gmail dot com).

Welcome to My Home

2009-09-16T12:57:00.013-04:00

Hi friends. :) It's time for a mini photo tour around my apartment! Let's start where the themes of most blog posts begin - the kitchen! (click on photos to enlarge).

It's a lot more roomy than our last kitchen. :) On the unseen side of the little half-wall we have the dishwasher and sink, and behind the Vera Bradley apron, we have the pantry and the laundry closet.

On the right we have the "dining room" featuring my poor man's china cabinet. Let's call it the frugal gal's chic china display, k? ;)

Not much of a view from that window, and I actually keep it closed most of the time (the stairs are right outside of it, so I'm constantly getting startled when people walk by and sometimes look in - creepers!)

The dining room opens up to one huge open area where we also have the desk (against the kitchen half wall) and the living room.

You can see out the back patio we have our own little amazon swamp back there - it's so full of trees you can barely even tell when it's raining!

The double doors at the end/ side of the living room open up to our bedroom - definitely my favorite (and most tranquil!) room of the house.

I love the colors! Things that are also going to be changing - I'm going to get some grey or black and white print fabric to make new throw pillows and a "curtain" to hang over the bookshelf to make it look cleaner. I also HATE that cable to the tv - thinking the tv is coming out (currently provides me entertainment when I just can't fall asleep at 2AM).

Other side of the bedroom:

The bedroom actually opens up to the bathroom/ vanity area.

Hooray for his & hers sinks! Actual bathroom (shower/ toilet) is through the door at the end.

These double mirror doors open up to our HUGE closet. Honestly - I tried to take a picture inside, but it would have taken at least 4 pictures for you to get the scope of it! If we didn't store so much "stuff" in it (music, instruments, luggage, craft/ scrapbooking supplies) we could totally have a little office in there.

There you go! Maybe one day I'll do a video tour, but for now pics will suffice. :) I was a little nervous about moving from a 2/2 apartment to a 1/1 apartment, but we definitely have not felt cramped or missed the space of an additional bedroom/ office at all.

Lunch today was a "Veggie Delight" ala Lindsey. :)

Ezekiel, hummus, avocado, cucumber, carrot, spinach, tomato, sprouts and dijon mustard with the other half of my apple from breakfast. Yum!

When we acquired our furniture and decorated, we did (and are still doing) everything on a very frugal budget. Would you guys be interested in frugal decorating/ home-making tips? I'd love to share, but I don't want to bore y'all if no one cares. :)

See you later!

Oats in a Jar

2009-09-16T09:31:00.004-04:00

Breakfast was one of those blog-world inspired meals - oats in a jar!

Behold, my empty jar of raw almond butter. :*(

The filling: 1/3 cup oats, water, cinnamon, half a gala apple.

Voila!

It was decent... actually a fairly "unsweet" bowl of oats - nothing wrong with that, except I think I'm used to making my oats in half soymilk/ half water, and with the fruit (either banana, apple or pear) cooked in with the oats longer.

Oats in a jar are ok and fun, but I don't think they're my favorite foodie discovery I've made through blogging. (Contenders would include different grains/ grain flours, spaghetti squash, honey crisp apples, sweet potatoes, coconut milk and more!).

I have a question for everyong. I feel like lately I've noticed strength training getting some crap for being boring and feeling like a chore. Tell me - if you don't like strength training, why? What do you do for your strength training? I personally love it. I love finding new exercises to do, I love that I can multi-task while doing it (i.e. squats or side lunges with lateral raises while watching TV), and that you can randomly fill "time voids" with strength training. One example would be doing some counter dips or counter push ups while you're waiting for something on the stove to finish cooking. Make it a game - see how many reps you can do before you need to stir/ take it off the stove. Then try to out do yourself. :)

Sticky Rice Spring Rolls

2009-09-15T21:45:00.003-04:00

Howdy hey - gotta make this fast, Biggest Loser's on!

Dinner tonight were spring rolls - rice paper stuffed with spinach, avocado, cucumber, carrots and sticky rice. Ross and I split the leftover sticky rice on the side.

For the sticky rice I combined 1/2 cup sweet brown rice with 1 cup water, juice from half a lemon, a splash of OJ, a squirt of agave, dash of salt and a generous dash of cinnamon. So good!

This dinner was on the smaller side (I got tired of rolling spring rolls!) so I just enjoyed a small bowl of cereal. I'm pretty sure after I'm done with this box of cereal I'm not buying anymore - I truly do like variety, and the "ease" of grabbing some cereal and soymilk is no excuse!

Gotta go! Can anyone tell me if that orange kid on BL is the same orange kid from last season? Ross said he thought it was, and Allison (that's her name right?) said something about him weighing a lot more the last time they met...any special reason why he's back? (I missed the beginning). Thanks!

P.S. I'll soon be joining the world of twitter! I made myself a twitter account for my new blog this afternoon - I can't tell you my "twitter name" yet (is that what you call it?), because it would totally give away my new domain! Maybe I'll just put a splash screen up until we're ready to rock and roll?

I'm probably going to need some twitter help when the time comes!

Spinach: Cooked, Not Raw

2009-09-15T13:33:00.003-04:00

Hey friends. :) It's been a slow morning. Apparently yesterday's productivity didn't continue over to today. I still have half a day though. :) Is anyone else influenced by weather/ natural light? It's been cloudy today, plus there are lots of trees around our particular apartment so we have hardly any natural light coming in. Some days it definitely makes it harder to stay "on task".

I just realized I never shared any apartment pics with you guys! I'll have to get on that today or tomorrow, eh? ;)

Breakfast was the usual. I was going to make banana bread but apparently somebody last night decided to stick the bananas (peel and all) into the freezer. Sooo they're now thawing and I'll bake it up later. :)

Lunch was mighty tasty! Leftovers from last night's southwestern corn pudding on a bed of sauteed spinach. (To those of you who are interested in making this, it would be great with any kind of vegetable add-in's. Just use whatever you have on hand, that's what I did!).

I was all over that sauteed spinach like it was my job. I could've eaten the whole bag! The rest will definitely be incorporated in dinner.

Did you know that the iron in spinach increases dramatically when it's cooked? One cup cooked spinach has 6.4 mg of iron where as one cup raw spinach has 0.8 mg of iron. Crazy!

Southwestern Corn Pudding

2009-09-14T21:01:00.008-04:00

I did in fact make it to the gym today! I actually broke it up in two parts: at home strength + gym cardio.

At home strength:

Overarm tricep extensions (15 lbs, 3 sets, 15 reps)
Bent Over Row (15 lbs, 3 sets, 10 reps)
Intense East (2, 30 second holds)
Lateral Raises (5 lbs, 3 sets, 12 reps)
Lounging Shoulder Lift (5 lbs, 3 sets, 12 reps)
Stability Ball Crunches (100 -- make sure to extend back and sit all the way up)

Gym Cardio:

15 minutes on the Stair Master (I climbed the equivalent of something around 70 flights of stairs!! Definitely broke a huge sweat)
15 minutes upper-resistance level elliptical/ cross trainer machine (definitely broke a sweat here, too).

I think I'm going to be sticking to the stair master and elliptical for my cardio workouts this week. I may include a couple treadmill hill-walking sessions, but I still am experiencing some pain/ tension in my shins and calves.

Dinner tonight was a new "casserole" (I don't like that word - "one dish wonder" just sounds so much nicer). :)

I think I shall dub this Southwestern Corn Pudding. :)

1 can light coconut milk (could probably substitute 1 1/2-2 cups soymilk)
1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper/ cayenne
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup salsa
1 cup black beans
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup cubed firm tofu
1 small can of chopped green chilies (drained)
1/2 package of frozen, chopped spinach (thawed and drained)
vegan monterey jack cheese and additional cornmeal (optional topping).

Over medium-low heat, whisk the coconut milk and the cornmeal together to thicken. Once thick, turn the heat off and mix in your spices and all of your add-in's. Fill an 8x8-inch, greased baking dish, top with your optional topping and bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Makes 6-8 servings.

Tasty! I wish the below "inside" picture came out a little better, but at least you can see how creamy and bulked up it was! Adding all of the extra vegetables is fantastic - not only do you have more veggies (and nutrients!), but you have added protein (beans and tofu). Plus added flavor, and really - that's what it's all about. ;)

I think by now you guys can tell that I really don't use recipes a lot. There's this fascination that I have with stepping into a kitchen and having endless possibilities in front of you! Add to that the challenge to create a healthy recipe, and I'm there. :) This was definitely a combination of several possibilities that culminated in a culinary (vegan) success.

Something that's been giving me more trouble though? Trying to make an imitation of the Whole Foods Vegan Chocolate Chip cookies. I've been on a mission for a little while. Tonight makes batch 3 (I've been doing tiny test batches). Tonight's batch actually turned out a lot better than I thought it would. The taste is almost spot on, and judge the appearance for yourself:

Not bad! Definitely much closer here at Test 3 than I was at Test 1 (which got trashed LOL). Time to tie things up and turn the computer OFF! Good night!

Productivity Overdrive

2009-09-14T12:56:00.005-04:00

Last night I tried some tea with Valerian in it to try to easy some of my sleepless woes. I don't know if it actually worked or if it was all in my head, but I did feel a little sleepy after drinking the tea! ;)

This morning I was all determined to wake up earlier, go to the gym right away, come back, blog, and be productive, but it hasn't quite happened in that order. I did wake up earlier and I have been incredibly productive, but time's gotten away and I just realized it's the afternoon and I still have to workout! I'll make it happen, don't you worry. ;)

Breakfast is practically not worth mentioning...I think I need to put myself on a no cereal challenge again. :/

Snack was a dinky little slice of that vegetable and fruit bread (no recipe yet, not quite internet-worthy) with some old Barney Butter I found in the cabinet.

Lunch is delicious and green! How I've missed my greens. :)

Spinach salad with black beans, frozen mango and avocado.

And an organic gala (these are tiny little apples!) with raw almond butter and cinnaminnamon. ;)

I need to finish eating my lunch (no "lunch break" for me today!), knock a couple more things off my list and then workout! I still have a couple more jobs to apply for AND I have to call some prospective insurance providers for quotes/ questions, AND clean AND Ross wants me to go with him to some Future Farmers of America BBQ down at his school tonight that his kids want us to go to...umm pretty sure it's not going to be a vegan-friendly BBQ. We'll see!

BBQ or not, I'll be back with a new vegan, non-BBQ meat dinner for myself tonight. :)

Non-Vegan Cravings

2009-09-13T22:35:00.005-04:00

Before I share my eats from the rest of the day, I wanted to share something I've noticed this weekend. As most of you know, I have been on a month-long vegan venture for the month of September (inspired by health reasons, since I don't eat much meat to begin with and I had a feeling dairy was not good for me). And I've been honest with you so far - for the most part everything has been a breeze. However, for some reason this weekend I have been experiencing non-vegan cravings off the charts!

We're talking fried chicken, nachos and cheese, frozen yogurt/ ice cream....definitely not "good" non-vegan cravings. Since yesterday I had a ton of these weird cravings that were meat-centered (i.e. fried chicken and hamburgers...I don't even freaking like hamburgers!!), part of me is thinking that my body was calling for more protein (a need I'll make sure to monitor this week). The other part of me is thinking these cravings were just normal (since it's been two weeks since I've been trying veganism and officially giving up all meat and dairy) and also stress related.

Just wanted to share that and keep it real with you guys. :)

Lunch was a non-dairy Amy's burrito with salsa on top. Yum!! I found these for $2 each..while pricey, it's definitely a faster and cheaper option than say, walking over to Subway.

Dinner tonight was a comfort bowl: roasted red potatoes, roasted mushrooms, steamed green beans, and leftover vegetarian baked beans.

It was truly a delicious, comforting bowl. :) For the potatoes and mushrooms, I roasted them with some EVOO, salt, pepper, herbs de provence, garlic powder and paprika in a 425 degree Fahrenheit oven (until mushrooms were soft and the potatoes were crispy...potatoes take longer, so stick them in first).

Now I'm currently sipping on a new tea my awesome hubby picked up for me. You all had great suggestions for "inducing" sleep, and I was excited to try one of those suggestions out tonight.

Yogi Bedtime Tea:

With Valerian!

I'm off to go scan over a cover letter one last time (Ross and I have been going over it back and forth - THANK YOU honey!), submit it and turn the computer OFF! Can't wait!

Here's hoping for sweet slumber SOON. :)

Sleepytime Suggestions

2009-09-13T10:43:00.006-04:00

Happy Sunday. :) Since we didn't get much done yesterday, we have a ton to do today! Breakfast was fast, since I was already working on stuff - a repeat of cereal and soymilk.

Now, if you'll indulge me, I'd appreciate some tips.

I have a problem. Lately I absolutely cannot fall asleep at night! I try to tire myself out (i.e. work out a little harder, go for an extra walk after dinner, wake up earlier, etc.) but it doesn't work! Even if I feel tired during the day but push through it so I can go to bed at a normal time, it doesn't work. As soon as I get in bed I am wide awake, mind alert and eyes wide open. And it'll be like that for hours! I used to get really tired around 10:00-11:00....now? Falling asleep between 1:00-2:00AM. I prefer my old habits (so does the inner old lady inside of me).

Maybe I should try counting sheep. Do you have any suggestions?

Easy Spelt Biscuits

2009-09-12T22:17:00.004-04:00

Hey friends! Is it just me or has today been a sleepy day? It's been pretty rainy and cloudy skies over here in Gator-land (haha they crushed my sister's school today, totally predictable) so Ross and I have been keepin' it pretty lazy. ;)

Lunch was some of Amy's Roasted Veggie No Cheese pizza. Yum, favorite! Of course, we kept with the lazy theme by breaking out the fine china...

Dinner was ultra gourmet - lentil soup (from a can lol), half a pear and some homemade spelt biscuits I threw together that were actually pretty good!

For the spelt biscuits: Cut 1/4 cup Earth Balance (or other vegan spread) into 1 cup spelt flour, a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of baking powder. Mix in about a 1/4 cup milk substitute (I used light vanilla soymilk) until everything is just moistened. Roll out the dough. It makes around 12 tiny little biscuits. :)

The only foodie highlight of today is that we tried the ever-so-popular health freak lover's Kombucha.

Kombucha is supposed to have all these crazy awesome health benefits, but I've been hearing all sorts of horror stories of how it tastes. I found a Guava Goodness on sale, so Ross and I picked it up. haha, I warned Ross not to chug it!!! But in typical guy fashion...he chugged his first "sip". Freaking hilarious. :)

I will say this - it's not terrible. The vinegar that you hear people talk about is (for me) the smell - it smells straight up like vinegar. The taste is interesting. It's an acidic taste....but not bad. I'd recommend trying it, because hey, why not? The price alone will keep me from buying these regularly, but I may be up for trying other flavors. We'll see. :)

Have you ever tried a Kombucha? What'd you think?

Picture Tutorial: Homemade Almond Milk

2009-09-12T11:22:00.017-04:00

Before I say anything else, I need to give a giant THANK YOU to all of you who stopped by yesterday and participated in our candid discussion on birth control. I read every single comment and email as they came in, and I know that all of the different stories and opinions were not only enlightening to me, but others as well. I think the most important thing that we can all take away is that we all have different bodies, and different things work for different women. At the same time, it is very important for everyone to be aware of their own bodies and what's going on (i.e. realize that if your migraines went away that month you forgot to take your BCP, then there may be a direct correlation). And of course, find a doctor you trust and talk to them about any concerns you have and discuss options for yourself.

I'm not going to post any food from yesterday because there wasn't anything special (last day before going grocery shopping) and I don't want to play "catch up" with my eats. There was something special this morning, though!

Homemade Almond Milk!

It's actually really easy to make, and I have step-by-step pictures to make it even easier for you. :)

Start by soaking 1 cup of almonds (I used raw almonds) over night (picture is post-soak).

Rinse soaked almonds.

Measure out three cups of filtered water (mine was just from the Brita pitcher in our fridge).

Blender + Almonds + Water:

I was a little worried about my blender, because I obviously don't have a super cool VitaMix or Blendtec (although that'd be awesome!). My little guy held up great though. It's a 14-speed Oster blender, and I put it on the fifth speed (labeled "Nuts").

Blend, blend, blend!

To strain, I used a doubled-over piece of cheesecloth set in my colander, which I had draining over my Pyrex container.

To get all of the liquid out, you're going to need to squeeze the cheesecloth (opportunity for some fun husband-wife photography!) :)

The resulting product - pure, unadultereated almond milk!

Now is where you can get creative, if you'd like! The options are up to you - add a little sea salt for a more savory "plain" almond milk, or add cocoa and agave for chocolate almond milk...you get the picture. :) All you have to do is rinse out your blender (it'll still have almond remnants in it) and gently re-blend whatever you add in.

I was feeling the vanilla this morning...

Then after a taste-test thought it could use some sweetener (raw agave, because agave in its raw state actually retains some nutrients).

Blend again, and voila! Almond milk!

I want to do a cost analysis, and see if it would be cheaper to get almond milk at the store or to make your own. At this point, my guess would be it's cheaper to get it at the store (especially when I can find Almond Breeze on sale for $2.50). But we shall see!

The other fun thing about making your own almond milk is that you have all the leftover almond pulp to play with!

I don't have a dehydrator, so my almond remnants are currently on a cookie sheet in my oven on "Warm" - I think it's actually working pretty well as a poor-woman's dehydrator so far!

Naturally I had to enjoy the fruits of my labors for breakfast this morning:

Let me know if you decide to make any homemade nut-milks! I believe this same method would work for all sorts of nut milks. I am allergic to tree nuts, so I'm limited to almond milk, cashew milk and maybe peanut milk (we'll see how that goes!). I also want to try pepita (raw pumpkin seed) milk. I'm just giddy over the endless options. :) If you experiment with any nut milks send me a picture at mrslcblog at gmail dot com and I'll feature it on the blog (someone do me a favor and try macademia nut milk...that's the only nut I wish I could have that I can't. Oooh and pistachio milk..I bet it'd be green! Someone do it, please!).

Time to get crackin' on my to do list, I'll see you all later tonight!

Candid Discussion: BCP

2009-09-11T09:06:00.000-04:00

To preface, I am in no way a doctor. This post is in no way a complete representation of all the types of birth controls out there. This is meant to be more of a springboard for healthy, independent women to discuss their stories and opinions on different types of birth control, and for us to share with each other what works for us. I am writing this because I do believe birth control, especially the most commonly used birth control pill, is a factor in the average woman's health. I encourage you to read, respect the opinions of others you may see here, and to openly participate in discussion in the comments.

Also - to new readers/ readers only interested in the food - I will be back tonight with a full recap! And if you are a male or this doesn't pertain to you, I apologize, but I do believe this is something that women shouldn't be afraid to discuss.

**************

Birth Control. Some women are passionate with their rave reviews of how birth control pills (BCP) have changed their lives for the better. Others can't stop talking about how much they can't stand those tiny little pills.

Women go on the pill for a variety of reasons. Most go on the pill for the most obvious reason - pregnancy prevention. And when used correctly, BCP is a highly effective contraception. There are many more uses and possible benefits though:

Regulating periods (including shorter and reduced pain periods)
Decreased risk of uterine infection and ovarian cancer
Treat PMS mood swings
Assist in clearing up mild to moderate acne

Sounds great, right? Unfortunately, there are a lot of side effects ranging from mild to very severe. Here are some:

Sore or Swollen Breasts
Headaches
Nausea
Decreased Libido
Mood changes
Small amount of blood or spotting between periods
Weight Gain
Blood Clots
Heart Attack
Stroke

Obviously there is a very wide range of pros and cons when it comes to birth control pills. And for as many varieties of BCPs out there, there are thousands of opinions. Here are some stories that some have offered to share.

My Candid Thoughts

I have experienced both the good and the bad of BCP. When I first started the pill, I started with Yaz. I loved it. I had always had very irregular and severe cycles, with severe PMS, headaches and more coming with my cycle. There were a few times that I'd have to cancel whatever was on my agenda because I could not get out of bed. Yaz enabled me to have a regular cycle, and it eased so many of the difficulties I had come to assosciate as "normal" with my cycle. (Plus, believe it or not, I lost weight AND noticed an increase in my breast size!)

However, soon after I got married I had to go on a different insurance. With higher (practically non-existent) co-pays, I could no longer afford Yaz after a few months. Thus began the cycle I've been stuck in for the past nine months. Since then (due to insurance, doctors, pharmacies, and BCP companies stopping production on different pills) I have been on seven different pills in nine months. It usually takes three months for your body to get used to and adjust to a new pill. No wonder I've had so many problems! And problems I've had. Nausea, severe stomach pain, irregular cycles again, mood swings, irritability, depression, decreased libido, irritation in my eyes/ contact lenses, severe headaches and perhaps one of the most frustrating to me - weight gain.

When you try so hard to lead such a healthy life, it is incredibly frustrating that despite working out nearly every day, despite eating healthy and balanced meals you keep gaining weight. This has undoubtedly been the most noticeable change throughout the past nine months. Plus, I can't help but wonder - why are some so concerned about consuming hormone-free meat and dairy, but they don't give a second thought to pumping hormones through their body on a daily basis? (Note to new readers: not myself, because I'm currently eating a vegan-based diet).

Meghann's Thoughts

First of all I HATE taking a pill everyday. I never remember it and I am even worse at remembering to reorder it once I finish the pack. A couple of years ago I discovered NuvaRing and I fell in love. Sure, you have to be really comfortable with yourself to insert it each month, but after that it’s a breeze. Its sort of a leave it and forget it philosophy. Of course then my insurance company started charging a standard of $50 on all prescriptions that did not have a generic alternative (urgghhhh!!) I could not afford to spend $50 a month on birth control, so I stocked up before the policy officially took place and then simply went off of birth control. It was a place in my life where I really didn’t need it anyways, so I didn’t see the point of taking it.

Well fast forward a few months and my period slowly fades away. It was really weak and then completely disappeared for 4 months. I was not with anyone during that time, so I didn’t think much of it. It was actually nice not having my period for a few months. I eventually did see a gyno who diagnosed me with Amenorrhea due to my intense, high mileage running. I thought it was only hard core athletes that would lose their periods, I guess this made me hard core? She made me go on the pill to resume my period if I was going to keep running as I did.

I went back on the pill. I felt bloated, icky and gained a few pounds. I also got my period back. During my marathon training my period was still really light and short, but it was there as long as I took the pill. If I didn’t take the pill there would also be the risk of calcium loss due to low levels of estrogen.

So there’s my story. I have to take the pill to keep my period, but I really do not like doing so. I miss my NuveRing, but until the price goes down, I just can not afford it.

Caitlin's Thoughts (note from Lindsey: I CRACKED UP when I read this direct quote!)

"Lots of hot sex. Never got pregnant. BC Rules."

Ashley's Thoughts

My friends are usually shocked when I tell them on the seasonale birth control- it's the one where you have your period only every 3 months.

My doctor recommended it after a routine pap smear was so painful I had tears streaming down my face and was apparently as white as the dressing paper. I have a history of uterine cysts that are EXTREMELY painful. All the ibuprofen, muscle relaxants and heating pads in the world couldn't help me. I'm pretty sure I tried everything there was to try before going on birth control.

Once I started birth control, the cysts formed much more slowly. Now I can actually function during my period, whereas before, I couldn't. I'm talking extreme cramps, drops in blood pressure...I've passed out from my time of the month more times than I can count. The most embarassing time was before giving a presentation in my AP Environmental Science class my senior year of high school- but at least that time I had a built in excuse- nervousness! Not that anyone who knew me believed that....I was in the theatre productions and debate, haha.

I still get PMS (general witch-yness, bloating, some cramps), but it's a lot less severe. Would regular birth control probably have the same results? Yes, but I've gotten used to the convenience of only having a period, and only picking up a prescription, every 3 months. I've been on it since I was 20, so that is 5 years now!

Lo's Thoughts

I could talk about birth controls pros and cons for hours. I have been using it for about 3 years ever since my weight plummeted due to stress-depression-being away from home yada yada. Although to be honest I should have been on it earlier bc I'm so irregular and could never get my period naturally. I have always been between 17.5-18.5 bmi my whole life. It's just my genes. I was/am very active (softball as a kid, swimteam in high school and now running) so flo just decided to never say "hello" regularly! Since being on Loestra 24 after being on a high estrogen BC pill, my period is now very light and I only experience cramps. I can honestly say that even though I'd love to have it au natural I don't see that happening soon b/c of my history, genes and activity level. What is right for me, may not be right for others. So go by how your body feels. Unlike friends, I have never experienced side effects so I can't hate it. Plus it makes sex safer (not that I engage in that often lol) but it's just extra precaution.

There are many other types of birth controls out there. Anything from natural family planning to sterilization. Since there are many other well-written sources on BC, I am not going to write it all out here and I encourage everyone to check out a list of birth control methods.

Additionally, for the sake of empowering ourselves with knowledge and discussion, here are some articles all relating to birth control that you can check out (there are many more articles out there -- these are just some of the best and/ or most recent that I've found, and also are articles I consulted when putting this together).

Birth Control Pills - Your Guide
Birth Control - Choosing a Birth Control Method
The Morning-After Pill is Birth Control Backup
3 Reasons Why Whitney Chose the IUD for Birth Control
IUDs are the Most Popular Reversible Birth Control in the World
I Ditched Acne and a Libido Problem by Switching Birth Control
I Ditched the Pill Because the Ring is Easier
Birth Control is Safer than Ever (and Sometimes It's Even Good For You)
Pills, Rings, Patches, Shots: What's New in Hormonal Birth Control
How to Deal with 7 of the Most Common Birth Control Side Effects
Be Aware of Rare but Serious Birth Control Side Effects
The Case Against Male Birth Control
Yaz Lawsuits and Yasmin Lawsuits
Yaz Blood Clot Lawsuit Filed in Illinois State Court
Yaz/ Yasmin birth control pills: Serial Killers?
Birth Control Pills Increase Risk of Lupus
Safest Birth Control, Medical Dangers
The Pills' Versatility: Birth control mainstay aids cramps and may stem cancer
Common birth control pill causes abortion
Yasmin/ Yaz Birth Control Pill Linked to Gallbladder Problems

So what do you think? Where do you stand on BCP and BC in general? I know most women here are really looking to gain insight from others about what works and doesn't work for them. I think we all hear about these different forms of birth control besides the standard 28-day pill, and I think we are all interested in first-hand experieneces (i.e. with IUDs, Seasonale, different specific drugs, etc.).

I won't be posting again until later this evening, but I will be around in the comments today. I really hope that we can all keep things interesting, civilized, and bumpin' in the comments. ;)

Please share your advice, thoughts, anecdotes, information, and experience. :)

Mexican Pizza!

2009-09-10T20:30:00.006-04:00

Good evening! I've had a busy afternoon of searching through all sorts of news articles and such on anything and everything about birth control. And to those of you who have sent in your personal stories about birth control, thank you! I'm hoping things get interesting around here tomorrow!

I went to the gym this afternoon (during Ellen, totally my new, unemployed gym time! - sidenote: how cool that Ellen is going to be the new American Idol judge? I've never really watched but I may now, she cracks me up). Gym consisted of 30 minutes of incline hill walking on the treadmill and 15 minutes on the good ol' stairmaster. Lots of sweat and NO bad pain today! Yes!

I had a mid-afternoon snack of a little flax flakes and almond milk.

Dinner combined two of my absolute favorites: pizza and Mexican!!

We had some of Jenna's Best Pizza Dough leftover, so we each made a mini personal pizza.

Ross: nonfat refried beans, queso, tomatoes, corn and mushrooms.

LC: nonfat refried beans, tomatoes, red bell peppers, mushrooms, corn and vegan monterey jack "cheese".

I ate half of my pizza with some watermelon (in a super klassy cup, it's how I roll).

I'm still feeling hungry though, so I may grab something else soon. :)

Don't forget - if you have any stories about birth control and how it's positively or negatively effected you that you'd like to share, please email them to me tonight!

Do You Have Stories?

2009-09-10T12:45:00.004-04:00

Lunch looks like a repeat of a carb-wench meal, but it's not! Hooray for "pasta" that's actually a vegetable!!!

Lunch was a WW Arnold's Thin with Monterey Jack "Cheese" (vegan, no casein or anything) and sprouts, with some leftover spaghetti squash and sauce/ veggies from last night. Such a good lunch, and it was good to get my veggies in some other way than just a side salad or carrot sticks :)

Question for you all - I am working on a piece about birth control that will go up tomorrow. Do you have any stories about birth control and how it has affected you? Whether good stories or bad stories, I'd love to hear it. If you have anything you'd like to contribute, please send it to me in an email to mrslcblog at gmail dot com, and let me know if you're just contributing stories, or if you're ok if I choose to quote from it. Thanks for your help, I am SO excited to see the discussion that results of this tomorrow.

Fruit and Veg Bread

2009-09-10T10:08:00.005-04:00

Good morning friends. :) Thank you to everyone who commented on my post last night. I was indeed frustrated and a little sad, but I appreciate everyone's feedback. As always, it means the world. While opinions do differ, I think the general consensus is that everyone can run, but that doesn't mean everyone should. If you have any more to add, feel free to keep adding to the discussion!

Now for a little background on where I was coming from. I've been trying to get back into running again for a little while. I want to, but I've been feeling like I'm encountering a lot of roadblocks that kind of make me want to throw my hands up and go "arghhh!". :) Over the summer it was something with my foot where it got to the point where I couldn't put weight on it, then my misaligned kneecap started hurting horribly, then my asthma has been a lot more severe in the past month, and finally now my shins have been experiencing a lot of pain. And I have been going slow - up until yesterday I've just been at run a minute/ walk a minute, in order to try to get all of my body on the same page. I've also been doing other types of cardio as cross-training, in order to not over-do it. I do want to run though, and there's even a certain longer-distance race I'd love to participate in in 6 months. I'm just going to have to keep taking it one day at a time to see if it's feasible.

I did have a couple inquiries as to the "hot topic" I was referring to. I'm thinking about writing more on it later, because in my opinion it is part of a healthy lifestyle and it's definitely something not many people talk about. The hot topic? Birth Control.

One final "housekeeping" note: the new blog is still coming!! Everything is waiting, and I'm so anxious to start blogging over there from my own domain and new site. I have an awesome friend who has offered to help with design, and is currently working on some stuff for me. She went to school for illustration and design, so I'm pretty sure it's going to be awesome! So excited. :)
Ok, whew! That was a little much for the morning!

Breakfast!

I was running out of options (thus why I've been turning to cereal day after day) so yesterday I took my running frustrations out in the kitchen. :) I baked an awesome Fruit and Veg Bread! I think the recipe still needs a little work, so I won't post it yet (although let me know if you want to be a recipe tester, and I'll give you the modified recipe that I think will work, although I haven't tested it yet).

I will tell you this though - there are three kinds of fruits and three kinds of vegetables in here (although I'm pretty sure this recipe would be interchangeable with other kinds of fruits and veggies). It's also vegan and the reason it looks so doughy in the below picture is because I need to add more flour to counteract all the moisture in the fruits and veggies.

Breakfast was the above two slices and the below tiny apple with AB.

Alright, this post is long enough! I'll see you later. :)

Can Everyone be a Runner?

2009-09-09T21:41:00.002-04:00

Alternate post title per Ross' suggestion: Veggi-riffic! (You'll see why at the end).

Do you think everyone can be a runner?

I was going to write a lot more here, about my own personal struggles with running, and another big struggle going on in my life right now (relating to a certain "hot topic", physical fitness and physical appearance), but some of it was not suitable to all audiences. If you are interested in more, please leave a comment or shoot me an email at mrslcblog at gmail dot com, and I'd love (and be grateful!) to discuss more with you. :)

In the spirit of this is the internet and you never know who's reading, I thought I'd keep things basic. I would love to hear your thoughts on the following:

Do you think everyone can run?
If no, what are alternatives to running that are just as good of a workout? (And don't say gym classes or yoga studio memberships and stuff - many Americans, and many people everywhere don't have extra finances during this time of job-layoffs and rising unemployment).

I feel like I cheated you all out of a more heart-felt, personal post, but even though I view many of you as my friends, I know there are many other readers out there who have never even commented, and I don't know who you are! Heck, I may know some of you in real life, we may all not be ladies here - I don't know! (delurk, delurk!).

Anyway. After my gym time (20 minutes of run 2 minutes, walk a minute before my shin pain got so severe I couldn't even walk; followed by some stretching then 15 minutes of light cardio on the stationary bike to just keep moving a little more) I came back and iced down my shins.

Dinner was quite veggi-riffic, as my dear husband pointed out. :) I brought back a fall favorite - spaghetti squash! I can't believe that it hasn't even been a year since I first tried spaghetti squash. What a wonderful addition to my life. :) I topped it with some marinara, portabellos, zucchini and red bell pepper. We also had some asparagus (in EVOO, balsamic, S+P) on the side - it was on its last leg!

I loved this dinner! Not sure about Ross though...

L: "What'd you think of dinner, honey?"
R: "Mmmm, it was ok. Could use less red peppers and more sausage". (he doesn't like bell peppers)
L: "Honey there isn't any sausage in here"
R: "I know".

LOL! This is exactly why I told him to save some of his lean ground beef, specifically for this dish. Oh well!

Inspiring Each Other

2009-09-09T13:15:00.004-04:00

Can you believe it's Wednesday already? Mondays off are awesome! I may not have a job (yet!), but I'm selfish and love having my husband all to myself on the weekends. :) Plus it's a special Wednesday today - 09/09/09. I love numbers that come in threes, especially when those numbers are all divisible by three. :) I think it just makes today feel lucky.

Breakfast was flax flakes, almond milk and cinnamon.

Mid-morning I snacked on some sweet and juicy watermelon.

And lunch was one of my favorite homemade lunchtime salads - romaine, frozen corn, salsa, fat free refried beans, avocado and blue tortilla chip bottom-of-the-bag crumbs. :)

I've been loving all the inspiration that's been floating around here lately. Yesterday several of you commented on how my reflections and general pushing-through with my vegan venture was inspiring. This is awesome! Like I've said before - I'm doing this for myself. But if my journey to a healthier lifestyle can inspire anyone else, then it's even better. :)

Let's inspire each other this afternoon. What are some of your favorite things you do to assist you in your quest for a healthy lifestyle?

Newman's Own Organics

2009-09-09T09:20:00.001-04:00

A while back, Newman's Own Organics sent me some products to sample. I wasn't expecting such a large variety of their products to try, but boy is the Newman's Own Organics company generous! Before I get into the specific product reviews, I wanted to give you all a little background info on this company:

Newman's Own Organics began as a division of Newman's Own in 1993, but left and became their own company in late 2001.
Paul Newman has given over $265 million to thousands of international charities since 1982 (told you they were generous!).
There are legends on the back of each package - I found them entertaining and cute. :)
Products are certified organic and kosher.
They use no Genetically Engineered Foods.
You can find some Nell-tested, "Pa"-approved recipes in Nell's Corner.
Many of their products are vegan-friendly. :)

There's a lot more information, and even a bunch of F.A.Q. on the Newman's Own Organics site, and I definitely recommend you check it out.

All of the below reviews are the honest opinions reflected of the peresonal tastes and preferences of myself, my husband and my family. All pictures are from the Newman's Own Organics website.

MINTS

The mints come in boxes and in rolls, and in four varities: Cinnamon, Ginger, Peppermint and Wintergreen.

Cinnamon: usually I am not a fan of cinnamon and think it's too hot. This was actually fairly gentle, and was a true "cinnamon" mint, and not the fiery hot cinnamon mints you can find elsewhere. Two thumbs up!
Ginger: you can definitely smell the ginger right away! You taste it and WHOA! There is a fiery, spicy bite to these! Many have said these help with tummy aches, but I haven't had the chance to test that out myself.
Peppermint: I enjoyed these. They were strong, and to me these are perfect to refresh your breath, and possibly ease some tummy troubles.
Wintergreen: Much gentler! May be my favorite. My family thought these dissolved quickly, though.

CHOCOLATE CUPS

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups & Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups: as much as we were looking forward to these, unfortunately no one was a fan. My husband (the artificial-chemical filled Reese's lover) didn't like them at all. The chocolate was rather waxy, and the peanut butter was grainy and definitely your stereotypical "healthy peanut butter". It wasn't the creamy, sweet peanut butter goodness that I feel would be needed to convert a Reese's lover.
Dark Chocolate Peppermint Cups: Now these were awesome! I was expecting to compare them to your traditional York Peppermint Patty, but that's not what these were like. These were like giant, soft Junior Mints! My gosh, Ross and I loved these. One was a perfect after dinner treat. These get our stamp of approval. :)
Dark Chocolate Caramel Cups & Milk Chocolate Caramel Cups: We had mixed reviews on these. Ross and I liked these a lot. The caramel was a "drippy" caramel, more of the liquid caramel then the solid, chewy caramel. While we liked that, my mom and sister weren't as big of a fan. (I'd still say go try it out!)

SIGNATURE SERIES CHOCOLATE BARS

70% Dark Chocolate: really good. All of my family members are serious dark chocolate fans, and I think we were all surprised by how smoothy and creamy this dark chocolate still tasted, considering the higher percentage of cacao.
54% Dark Chocolate: Let's just say that whenever I went back to these, it was missing another square or two from the last time I'd seen it. ;) My dad really liked this, and we definitely "ditto" the same smooth and creamy sentiments for the 54% cacao as the 70% cacao.
Dark Chocolate Espresso: Good! I actually wasn't overwhelmed by a coffee sensation, which was a pleasant surprise to me. The dark chocolate and espresso definitely complemented each other very well.
Mocha Milk Chocolate: Good, but we felt there was a fairly strong coffee taste (and I think because it was Milk Chocolate and Mocha, we were expecting a more subdued coffee flavor). Still good, especially for you coffee addicts out there!
Orange Dark Chocolate: The orange flavor actually complemented the chocolate nicely! It was subtle and not overbearing.
34% Milk Chocolate: good for a milk chocolate. My husband likes milk chocolate more than dark chocolate. Let's just say after I had sampled a square of the chocolate, when I went back a while later there was only the wrapper left. ;)

DRIED FRUIT

Prunes: Good and moist! I've never been a huge fan of prunes, but apparently my husband has been and he loved them. :)
Apples: These were good and chewy - I thought they were perfect! (If you're expecting a crisp dried apple, these are not for you.)
Berry Blend: This containes raisins, cranberries, blueberries and cherries. They were all delicious, and a perfect sweet and tart combination. I still have some left, and I'm thinking it'll go great in a granola!
Raisins: Good, soft, and I loved how there was no added sugar.
Cranberries: I adored these. There were no artificial colors added and they were sweet (unlike some other, more artificial tasting dried cranberries).
Apricots: Once again, I thought these were SO good! Sweet and soft, perfect. Ross thought the appearance was a bit awkward - not the bright orange you're used to seeing.
General Thoughts on Dried Fruit: I really loved how there were no added sugars and no added preservatives to the dried fruit. It is a huge pet peeve of mine when I'm looking for dried fruit in the store, and all I can find are dried fruits enhanced with sugar, high fructose corn syrup, fruit juices, etc. Loved Newman's Own Oraganics, though! Also good to note - because there are no preservatives, you need to make sure you keep these refrigerated after you open them.

PRETZELS

Pretzel Nuggets: I LOVED these and thought they were the perfect pretzel! I had to be careful to not be around an open back, because I'd definitely go back for more than one handful. Ross thought they were bland though (psh, whatever).
Honey Wheat Minis: really good honey wheat flavor, and surprisingly a crisper texture than other pretzels.
"Mighty Mini" Pretzels: hard, crunchy and salty. As Ross said, "they taste like normal pretzels" (direct quote haha).
Salted Rounds Pretzels: good, crunchy, thick and cute shape! (see below)

SOY CRISPS

Cinnamon Sugar Soy Crisps: Ross' quote surmises these the best: "oh these are good, I like these!"
White Cheddar Soy Crisps: good flavor, although they're a bit heartier than your typical rice cake/ rice crisp (understandably so - soy is heartier than rice). Ross thought these tasted like white cheddar popcorn.
Barbeque Soy Crisps: unfortunately no one in my family is a fan of barbeque flavoring, so that had a big impact on our distaste, but if you like barbeque you'll like these!

Fig Newmans (Low Fat) - these were AMAZING!!! Ross and I loved these, and try as we might, these did not last more than a few days. Seeing them again makes me want to go buy a package. :) Go get some now, please!

Ginger Hermits: these were good and kind of a more hearty, "rustic" cookie. Ross could taste the ginger very well, but I got more of a molasses cinnamon flavor. They're still very good though. :) I know my mom is a fan, too.

Ginger-O's: delicious, with a subtle, sweet ginger flavor. My mom loves these!
Original Newman-O's: very good, just like an oreo! (Hey Nell and Pa - can we get some double-stuffed Newman-O's going on?? I'd be all over it). :)
Chocolate Newman-O's: my favorite, for sure! I love the double stuffed chocolate oreos, and I loved the fact that the Chocolate Newman-O's were full of more recognizable ingredients. :) (Although I have to say it again - double-stuffed, please? Only possible way to improve them). :)

Cinnamon Graham Alphabet Cookies: subtle flavor, crunchy and thick. Not your traditional graham cracker though (but I may make a stretch and say they're better? I've never been a huge fan of normal graham crackers though). The cinnamon flavor was just hinted at.
Arrowroot Alphabet Cookies: these were good, crunchy, thick little cookies, but I'm not sure where the flavor was. What does arrorroot taste like, anyway?

Espresso Chip Champion Chip Cookies: very good espresso flavor (definitely present but not overbearing); crunchy cookies with soft chips; cute and tiny little mini cookies! Ross loved them - another thing that pulled a "disappearing act" (which was surprising because he doesn't like coffee flavored things).
Chocolate Chip Champion Chip Cookies: And I quote, "mmm! Good, really good!". :) Tiny crunchy little chocolate chip cookies.
Double Chocolate Mint Chip Champion Chip Cookies: Ross liked them more than I did. They were good, but I thought the mint was very strong (too strong for my not-usually-too-fond-of-mint tastes). :)

Overall, I am so glad I had the chance to review Newman's Own Organics products. I love the company, love how generous they are with their charities, and I love their belief and pride they take in their all-organic goods. I definitely have been keeping my eye out for N.O.O. sales! ;)

Also, for any of you animal lovers out there, I just saw that Newman's Own Organics has a line of premium pet food that I would definitely recommend checking out for your furry friends. :)

Thanks again to Sally and the other folks over at Newman's Own Organics. I'm so glad I was given the chance to try these products, share them with my family and to now recommend them to others. Great company!

Carb Wench

2009-09-08T21:52:00.003-04:00

So if any of you ever had any doubts that I wasn't "real" and I was too gourmet/ unpractical in making all these dinners all the time, well tonight's your night. :)

I had just finished writing a lengthy product review (you'll see it around noon tomorrow!), Ross wasn't home, and I just did not feel like prepping and cooking the quinoa and veggie stuffed red bell pepper I had planned. Not happening. So I kicked it college style. No, who am I kidding - I cooked way better than this in college. I flat out just didn't cook tonight. :) I present to you the dinner of champions: a carrot, an apple, raw almond butter, and flax flakes with almond milk and cinnamon.

Hey, I got a vegetable, fruit, whole grain, healthy fat, and protein. It's truly not too shabby. Right? Right?!

P.S. Those flax flakes with cinnamon?? Heck yeah, awesome! Those of you with a Publix - it's the Greenwise Flax Flakes for $2.29/ box. Usually boring, but the cinnamon makes it fantastic.

However, when Ross got home we both were craving a snack that we could munch on together. And for once it wasn't a sweet snack I was craving (who am I!?!?). So I quickly sliced some thin, small slices of whole grain baguette, put on some Earth Balance, garlic powder and parsley, toasted them in a nonstick skillet and served with an easy bruschetta topping - tomato, dried basil, a touch of salt. Easy and tasty! We split this plate equally. It's how we roll.

Then Ross called me a carb wench. Psh, whatever.

Ok, so maybe I love carbs. Maybe I have my entire life. But that's what my ever-evolving pursuit of a healthy lifestyle is good for (and apparently, my husband too) - reminding me to keep things in check. :)

Now, I'm going to bed. You can find me in the gym tomorrow morning. I'm hoping to get up before the sun with Ross and either go to the gym or run outside with the deer with him (he saw 7 deer by our apartment this morning).

(Right now in the back of my head: yeah right, you don't have a job - the one pro is that you can workout whenever you want). We'll see. :)

Buona sera!

Out of Town Vegan Reflections

2009-09-08T13:16:00.003-04:00

Yes indeed, I did enjoy a vegan brownie with original almond milk last night. Tasty!! A little dry, but I still owe my gratitude to my baker man. ;)

Breakfast was super boring, but fast this morning - Publix Greenwise flax flakes with almond milk. Hey, it worked!

Usually I begin my days with job searching, and then writing cover letters/ adjusting resumes to different jobs. Also usually, I end up getting really frustrated because applying to jobs can be an all-consuming process, so I don't get much else done. Today I started with other things I needed to get done, and I love being able to tangibly see my progress. :) So far I've organized the living room closet, Ross' desk (which now I can use too, since there isn't crap all over it..), I've hung pictures, a bulletin board, cleaned out the fridge and more. Love it!

Lunch was an at-home "You Pick Two", Panera- style. ;)

My sandwich - a whole wheat Arnold's sandwich thin, avocado, cucumbers, tomatoes, dijon mustard, sprouts and Sabra's artichoke and spinach hummus. The soup was some leftover split pea soup. Tasty!

So last night I was sharing with Ross some of my reflections over my vegan venture and being out of town the past weekend/ not having as much control over my eats. Some reflections:

I really like being in control, esp. when it comes to my kitchen and my eats. It's very easy to eat a vegan-based diet when you are creating the menu.
That being said, as long as you are willing to think for yourself and come up with vegan alternatives/ spend a little bit of time in the kitchen, it's not terribly hard to come up with vegan alternatives for yourself.
There were times where I was tempted - coffee cake in the morning, cheesecake at night, muffins another morning, etc. Plus, it would have been a lot easier to go with the flow and eat what everyone else was eating. That being said, I am really glad that I am sticking to this challenge. While I wanted the taste of coffee cake for breakfast, I knew my whole grain cereal and apple/peanut butter combo was a lot healthier for me. While I wanted the cheesecake, I stuck to a vegan dessert, and had fun creating a new recipe and didn't experience the tummy aches later. Also - during the day when the coffee cake was out, it would have been very easy to walk by and pick at the crumbs. But, since they weren't vegan, I didn't do this. If I needed a snack, I could pick a healthier option - fruit, pita chips, etc. I am learning a lot more self-control and discipline when it comes to my daily eats, and this is always a good thing!
I am also able to foreshadow ahead, and see where a vegan lifestyle will be more challenging. In a couple weekends we'll be heading to Orlando to celebrate my brother-in-law's 17th birthday, and I already know that I am going to need to prepare ahead. I need to bring breakfasts with me, I need to research the Chili's lunch menu because that's the choice for the birthday lunch, and I also need to figure out how my vegan lifestyle will effect what I prepare for others. (More on this in a moment). I can also see ahead to Thanksgiving with my in-laws, and know that I will definitely need to prepare things for myself.
In some weird ways, part of me is relieved that I can say, "I'm a vegan," as a valid excuse for not wanting to eat what everyone else is eating. I've never enjoyed eating ham, burgers, creamed corn, casseroles doused in cream and butter, etc. So it's kind of strange, but I'm kind of relieved that now I don't have to.
I'm realizing the importance of a balance in a vegan diet. When eating with others, sometimes your protein and healthy fat needs aren't going to be met, resulting in decreased energy and never feeling full/ satisfied.

I'm excited to see what else I may learn the rest of this month! :) Time to go keep my productivity going. See you all later for my solo-dinner (Ross won't be home until around 9:00 tonight since they have open house...boooo).

Labor Day Burgers

2009-09-07T20:32:00.004-04:00

Happy Labor Day! I hope those of you who had the day off made the most of it. :)

This morning I had an un-pictured bowl of Kashi Heart to Heart Oats and Wild Blueberry Clusters cereal with soymilk. Un-pictured because I have been so ridiculously beyond exhausted all day today. Thus, I've been a tad lazy. ;)

However, I went on a scavenger hunt after breakfast. Last night when my family went to the park, I somehow lost the lens cap to my Nikon D40!!! Convinced it was a lost cause but I should still try anyway, Ross and I spent an hour (maybe more?) at the park, searching everywhere. I finally found it though - in the middle of the knee high grass, of course.I felt so victorious. At least I got some good walking in. :)

After we wrapped up our time in Sarasota we hit the road - we weren't going to stop for lunch but soon became famished! Subway time! 6 inch (or so they say - smallest 6 inch I've seen) honey oat with lettuce, tomato, black olives, cucumbers and green bell peppers with a touch of honey mustard. Not the best Subway sub ever but it worked.

Not for long though! After I managed to fall asleep for 30 minutes in the middle of the day, I eased my hunger with a handful (err, or two) of blue corn chips. Yum!

Once we got back to Gainesville, Ross and I lived it up on the rest of our Labor Day. We went grocery shopping!!! :D Ward's for local, fresh, cheap produce and Publix for the rest. :)

We did make a pretty awesome dinner though. :)

I will say this - one fun, unforeseen result of my vegan venture is that Ross and I are getting in the kitchen together more. Especially nights like tonight where I go herbivore and he goes carnivore. :) Burger Night - meat and 'shroom. :)

I grilled (on the George Foreman) a large portabello mushroom rubbed in extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, liquid smoke, salt and pepper. When it was done I placed it on a toasted whole wheat Arnold's Sandwich Thin with Trader Joe's roasted red pepper spread, ketcup, mustard, avocado, lettuce, tomato, alfafa sprouts, and vegan monterey jack cheese. This burger was phenomanal. Juice, soooo flavorful - oh gosh, it was good.

We ate out burgers with cassava fries (aka yuca fries) with ketchup and the juiciest, sweetest watermelon (thanks mom and dad! - they gave us the other half a mondo melon).

Well, since I can't stay awake for the life of me today, I'm going to go to bed soon. However, Ross made me vegan brownies tonight (I know, what a winner!?!?), so I'm pretty sure a vegan brownie and a glass of almond milk will be in my picture. I'll take a pic and share in the morning. :)

(P.S. Tiredness, salty snack and chocolatey dessert - wonder what time of the month it is??)

Night all!

Family Dinner + Vegan Chocolate Cream Pie

2009-09-06T21:16:00.013-04:00

Hey friends! Since the blog-world's been rather quiet today, I'm assuming everyone's had a stellar Sunday full of fun. :)

Breakfast (which was so late it was definitely a brunch/ lunch) was unphotographed because I was ravenous! Kashi Oat Flakes & Wild Blueberry Clusters cereal with soymilk, some grapes, and an apple with a tablespoon of peanut butter.

Dinner was a family affair of awesome food!

I prepared a separate vegan "main dish" for myself. I used some Whole Foods vegan baked beans and baked some tofu cubes (Caitlin style!) to add in. (I'm sorry the picture is so unappealing!)

The family had grilled lemon pepper turkey breast as their entree. Sides included grilled asparagus:

Roasted potatoes:

Baked sweet potato fries (special request from my sister's boyfriend):

And some water rolls for the fam and multigrain bread for me (the water rolls had an egg wash so I couldn't eat them):

My plate (plus some unpictured multigrain bread and watermelon).

Dinner was delicious! After dinner the fam went to a local park to try to see if any deer were out. They weren't, but we still had fun walking around. :)

Now. Dessert.

Everyone else enjoyed my mom's delicious chocolate truffle cheesecake - it is amazing. And I'm going to be honest with you. I really wanted a slice. Even knowing I would have awful tummy pains later and be a mess - I still wanted it. I knew that if I just tried to say no without a vegan option of my own, I would be cranky and resent the situation. So I made my own vegan dessert.

I was trying for a vegan chocolate cheesecake, but that has some work that needs to be done. This turned out more as a vegan chocolate cream pie. :)

CRUST:

1 sleeve graham crackers
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup canola oil

Process the graham crackers and cocoa powder in a food processor. Add the canola oil to get a crumbly texture and pat into an 8 or 9 inch pie pan.

FILLING:

1 can coconut milk
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
1, 8-oz. container of Tofutti non-dairy cream cheese

Whisk together a small amount of the coconut milk and the cornstarch. Whisk all ingredients except the Tofutti cream cheese together. Slowly bring the mixture to a simmer over a medium-low heat. You want the mixture to thicken up. When the coconut mixture is thickened, use a hand mixer to whip it with the Tofutti cream cheese. Pour into the pie crust and let chill until set (mine was good after 4-5 hours).

I want to experiment with this a little more (i.e. try using agave instead of sugar, maybe use less agave) but it was incredibly tasty, and it was definitely a dessert that will not leave vegans or lactose-intolerants wanting more. Even the "regular eaters" of the household liked it. :)

Ok, well I am off to finish watching Mr. and Mrs. Smith on tv with the fam. :) See you all tomorrow! (I may not blog until tomorrow night after we're back in Gainesville). See you then!

Vegan Calzones

2009-09-05T21:28:00.006-04:00

Hey friends! Since I last saw you, I had a fabulous workout! I adore the treadmill my parents have. It has shocks so it feels awesome! Plus it has a number pad so you can change pace with the press of one button. And it has a fan that blows on your face. I love that thing. :)

I also love when every workout you have, you can feel yourself getting stronger. That's how I've been feeling lately. I've been trying to get back into running (slowly - I have asthma and a misaligned kneecap), and even just starting back at run a minute then walk a minute for 30 minutes has been awesome, in terms of seeing improvement every day. I run every other day and do some other form of cross training on days in between. I also try to do some form of strength training and stretching every day. (With one rest day a week, unless my body is calling for something different).

So I felt awesome when I was done with my treadmill time today, tomato face and all. ;)

Post-shower my aunt, nannie, and Suzi Q had arrived for a family dinner! Meet Suzi Q:

Tonight calzones were on the family agenda. I told my mom that I was totally fine with filling mine with just veggies and sauce. One of my biggest things throughout my vegan challenge has been to make sure the food is easily accessible, and not a budget-buster, as so many "specialty" items can be.

However, when we were at Whole Foods we found this dairy-free, gluten-free, casein-free vegan soy cheese and my mom offered to pick it up. I'm really glad I did because this stuff was awesome! It has a different texture than real cheese (closer to the texture of fat free cheese), but it had a good flavor and was definitely not bad at all.

I loaded my calzone with vegan cheese, spinach, roasted bell peppers, roasted garlic, and mushrooms.

Post-baking:

Inside shot - check out the MELTY cheesy goodness!

It was quite delicious. Ashley and Ryan - this was pretty close (if not the same?) as the kind of soy cheese Pizza Fusion uses on their pizza. Same kind of creamy taste. I'm so glad I have a lot of this left to use in other forms. :)

P.S. - I totally devoured this whole calzone, with some marinara on the side. :)

While my fam noshed on chocolate cake for dessert, I noshed on half a vegan chocolate chip cookie from Whole Foods. Yum.

My night is now complete.

I do need to think of some sort of "special" vegan dessert that I can make tomorrow night. My mom has made a chocolate truffle cheesecake for dessert for the fam tomorrow night. It looks so good and I've always loved it!! However, I know as much as my tongue would enjoy it, my stomach would not thank me later. I'm thinking of some sort of coconut-based creamy dessert of my own. :) Suggestions?

Unwelcome at Moe's

2009-09-05T15:28:00.004-04:00

Hey friends! I hope everyone's Saturday is going well. Seems to be a lot of college-football lovin' going on this weekend. :)

Hubby and I slept in this morning! We've been sleeping awful all week, so last night we crashed hard, and got a solid 8 hours of sleep. So refreshing!

Breakfast was a softball-sized peach with the bruised parts cut out. I love peaches. :)

My mom and I had fun this morning, and we went on a mother-daughter date to the farmer's market and Whole Foods downtown. The market was hot and busy, and we really didn't get that much - just some fresh spinach and some bell peppers. Whole Foods was a different story. :) I got some basics, and a couple special things. (You can bet a vegan chocolate chip cookie was amongst the special things). You'll see more in the days ahead. :)

For lunch my family headed to Moe's. The original option was Firehouse Subs, but then when my sister asked, "What do you eat when you go out?" the option changed to Moe's, a place where I could get a more well-rounded vegan meal. I love my family. :)

I asked for a Joey Junior, with no meat or cheese, and politely asked if I could sub guacamole for meat. The chick told me no, that was a different kind of burrito. I ended up having to pay MORE for a burrito that had guac on it, even though I didn't get the meat, cheese, or sour cream. My meat and cheese-less burrito was more expensive than family members who had the same thing with meat and cheese and no guac. I'm sorry, but Moe's - this is ridiculous. So much for "Welcome to Moe's" - rather unwelcoming, in my opinion.

Alright, well I'm off to chill and get in a treadmill workout at some point this afternoon. Dinner should be fun tonight - something I have not tried to make a vegan version of yet, although I don't imagine it to be too daunting. :) Enjoy the rest of your Saturday!

Friday From Sarasota

2009-09-04T21:37:00.004-04:00

Happy Friday! Hope everyone made it through their work weeks alright. :) This afternoon was a rush, but we made it to Sarasota! Check out the view of the sunset we had on the way down:

Gorgeous, huh? Anyway, I told y'all my mom was super sweet and accommodating to my vegan venture. We had a short phone call on the way down, where she made sure of what I can and can't eat. She made a separate pasta dish for me (pulled out of the family dish before she added the sausage and chicken). My pasta contained whole wheat rotini, spinach, black olives, mushrooms and sundried tomatoes. It tasted like it was coated in some olive oil and herbs. Quite tasty. :)

I'll probably be breaking out some leftovers tomorrow, but adding some cannelloni beans. The pasta was tasty, but I could tell my body was missing the protein, because I never quite felt full, and I kept wanting to reach for the fresh bread. Instead, I kept picking at mushrooms and black olives. :)

I'll be honest - the first time that I've been "tempted" away from my vegan challenge is tonight. When we walked in the door and there are fresh seven layer bars (graham crackers, butter, condensed milk, butterscotch chips, chocolate chips, coconut - most definitely NOT vegan)...yeah, I definitely wanted to grab one. But that's the good thing about this challenge - less mindless eating, and more awareness of what I'm putting into my body. (Which is good for someone with a sweet tooth like me).

See y'all tomorrow! My mom and I are hoping to hit up the market and Whole Foods in the morning - can't wait!!

ETA: Dessert - Ginger Snaps!

(Yes they're vegan, I read the ingredients). :)

Almost the Weekend!

2009-09-04T13:14:00.004-04:00

Apparently I'm the only music dork out there - for the record, Symphonic Metamorphosis is by Hindemith. :) (In case you missed it, I'm referencing last night's post).

Moving on! Busy morning! I spent a lot of time yesterday reworking my resume. You know the quote that says something to the effect of "if you keep doing what you've always done, you'll always stay where you've always been"? (I'm sure I butchered that quote, but you get it). Well, I figured that my current resume, while ok, was not getting the results I desired. So why not fine tune it?

Well my new and improved resume was great. Until it disappeared off my computer with no explanation (I searched everywhere). Oh well. So instead of actually applying to some jobs this morning, I re-did my resume again. :)

Breakfast was crack (I did not feel like messing around). I loved how the last of the almond milk (Original Almond Breeze for those of you who have asked) got all foamy and bubbly at the end. Yum. :)

Lunch was a cup of leftover homemade split pea soup with half a ciabbata roll (toasted with Earth Balance). I didn't end up eating the peach with cinnamon and almond butter, simply because I wasn't hungry anymore.

I have so much to do now, and so little time to do it! Up next - go to the gym! Then I need to come back, shower, finish folding laundry, eat my peachy snack (!), pack for Ross and I for the weekend, tidy up a bit and be on the road (hopefully) by 4:30.

We're headed to Sarasota for Labor Day Weekend! My sister and her boyfriend are driving down from their college in Alabama, so I'm looking forward to us all being able to hang out. I love my family!! :)

I'm sure I'll be asked, so I'll go ahead and answer it now. I am honestly not worried about my vegan challenge with my family. They all know about it, and I'm pretty sure they all respect it. My mom always has tons of healthy options on hand, and besides a couple larabars and a giant peach that will go rotten before we get back, I'm not bringing much else. Plus, my mom has always been pretty accomodating (i.e. if I didn't want to eat the roast beef, she'd make me a chicken breast).

Ahh running out of time, have to boogy!

Orlando Bargains + a Symphony of Layers!

2009-09-03T18:16:00.013-04:00

Dear Orlando Friends,

Please stop what you are doing and go check out this link: Buy Local Orlando. I am so disappointed I didn't know about this while I lived in Orlando! Maybe it's new? Regardless, you can get a Buy Local Orlando card for free, and it entitles you to many deals, steals, and bargains! Just a sample of participating stores and restaurants that I know some of you may get excited about - Plaza Cinema Cafe (50% off!), Orlando Brewing, Ethos Vegan Kitchen, Track Shack of Orlando, and so much more! I even saw something for 10% off a wedding or special event booking at a hotel! Any other Orlando brides - there were also some caterers on this list, too, and I think I saw a photographer. Go check out the link and see all the wonderful merchants for yourself. Then let me borrow your card next time I visit Orlando. :D I discovered this beautiful little card at 67 Days of Smiles, which you should go check out too - maybe you'll learn more about Orlando, too!

With bargain-filled love,
Linds

*****

Ok, so that was my fun bargain discovery of the afternoon. Yet another reason Orlando is awesome. Good thing we have a visit planned mid-September. :)

Dinner tonight was mostly hit, with a little miss. ;) It featured Jenna's Best Pizza Dough (this time made with all whole wheat pastry flour instead of the all purpose/ whole wheat combo - I am out of all purpose). The dough was definitely the best hit - loved using whole wheat pastry flour for all the flour! (Note: You'll probably be able to find WWPF at your local health food store - my current one was from Whole Foods).

As a musician, I often note the parallels between music, art, dance, culinary arts, and all other art forms. Tonight was no exception - a symphony of layers!

Our pizza dough is our conductor, the "leader" holding the symphony together, bringing it to life. :)

Layer one was a very thin layer of tomato paste. We'll call you our string bass.

Layer 2 was hummus (Sabra's new spinach and artichoke hummus) - this shall be our lower brass. :)

Layer 3 is our piccolos - sharp, high, tiny notes of accentuation (garlic powder and dried herbs).

Layer 4 is our cellos and violas - balsamic roasted eggplant slices.

Layer 5 is our high brass (think trumpets) - tomato sauce (and lots of it).

Layer 6 are our flutes (yay flutes!) - fresh, bright notes of green spinach and more dots of marinara.

Dress Rehearsal (with fresh mozzarella added to Ross' side) -- oh yeah, our roasted mushrooms are our violins. :)

Post oven (12 minutes, 425 degrees Fahrenheit) we have a Symphonic Metamorphosis (name that composer!! Anyone? No other classical musicians out there?? *Crickets*)

It was tres fantastique! Next time though, I would pre-bake the pizza dough. With all the liquids on there, that thin bottom crust never stood a chance and it never crisped up. This was definitely (and unfortunately) fork and knife pizza. (Yes unfortunate, I like to use my fingers!)

I hope you guys enjoyed that, that was fun for me. :)

So does anyone honestly know the composer of Symphonic Metamorphosis (without googling it)? I'll be impressed and you'll be my new BFF. :)

See you tomorrow!

Craving Healthy Foods

2009-09-03T14:04:00.003-04:00

I had another great sweat fest at the gym this morning. More running/ walking intervals for a half hour. But man - my legs were tight, particularly my calves. I'm thinking it may have been all of my jumping jacks yesterday. Lots of stretching off and on this afternoon for me!

Lunch was super tasty. I tried an Amy's non-dairy burrito, and I really liked it! I'm constantly impressed with the nutritional stats and ingredients in Amy's products.

I had my burrito with some salsa and a slice of avocado (chopped) and a peach.

What you don't see is when I got part way through my peach and decided, "why not give in to my craving for some almond butter with my peach?" It's not bad for me, and I certainly was planning on only using a dab, so why not? I couldn't think of a reason, so I brought out my last jar (*tear*) of TJ's raw almond butter. I've often found that if my body is craving something healthy (in this case, I have a suspicion it was the healthy fats in almond butter), then maybe it's trying to tell me something and I should listen. We should all trust our bodies far more than we do. :) What are your thoughts on craving healthy foods?

I think I'm going to pop in a cheesy, girly movie while I finish updating my resumes and a couple new cover letters to send out. Ciao!

C is for Cookie...

2009-09-03T08:10:00.006-04:00

...and Cookie is for Me!

Breakfast Cookie that is. Gina is one smart lady. I must not be as smart because it has been way too long since I last had a b-fast cookie!!

I pulled the good wife card and made a breakfast cookie for hubby, too. :) (And then I threw a frozen Amy's burrito and a peach at him and said, "here, lunch"). :D

His & Hers:

Macho Man Breakfast Cookie:

1/2 cup oats, huge scoop of peanut butter, 2/3 banana, splash skim milk and raisins.

Dainty, lady-like breakfast cookie:

1/3 cup oats, 1/2 an individual size packet of vanilla vegan sprouted brown rice protein powder, heaping teaspoon of almond butter, tiny chunk of a banana, splash of almond milk, goji berries and pepitas.

Yum.

I like my breakfast cookies extra hard and cold, so I pop mine in the freezer a few minutes before eating. If I had gone to the gym and showered before breakfast, it'd be perfect to throw this in the freezer while in the shower. But I'm going to the gym later, so freezer time was simply lazy time for me. :)

Lazy time over. See you later!

Life Changing + Simple Split Pea Soup

2009-09-02T22:15:00.006-04:00

You know something? Blogging has seriously changed my life. It's been almost a year since I've started blogging, and while my blogging "style" has evolved considerably along the way, the friends that I've made and people I've come into contact with are invaluable. I've made new friends in real life, I've gotten reconnected with old friends, and I have countless "internet friends" who I know I would instantly bond with if we were to ever meet "in real life". To each and every one of you that takes the time to read what I write, and to those of you who pause to leave a comment - thank you. Your sweet words mean the world to me. The past year has been a crazy year for me, no where close to where I thought I'd be, and honestly - blogging has been the only constant in my life.

Every time I sit down and consider sharing something more heartfelt and/ or more emotional and more "real" to what's going on in my life, I always second guess it. "Will this turn readers away?" "Will no one care and just think I'm a silly whiner?". No. (Well, I'm sure some people do, but they don't comment, so thank you). I've found instead, people offer support, love, advice, and anecdotal stories from similar situations they've been in and have been bettered from.

Anyway, all that sappiness to say thank you and it means the world. :)

On to the food!

Lunch was a sweet potato with some Earth Balance and cinnamon, alongside a tasty salad (romaine, spinach, avocado, carrots, cucumber and salsa).

Another delicious Honest Tea:

Tropical Mate! In all honesty on the Honest Teas - they're hit or miss with me. It just so happens that the most recent ones I've tried (Pearfect White Tea and the Tropical Mate) are pretty tasty. My favorite is the Black Forest Berry - love that one!

Afternoon snackage included some unpictured Quaker crack and almond milk. Yum! Perfect fuel for my indoor sweat sesh.

250 jumping jacks
200 butt kicks
100 crunches
Medicine Ball ABC's (essentially squats and frontal and lateral raises)

It worked and in-between all that I was able to get dinner together.

Such a simple soup - Simple Split Pea Soup.

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced and crushed
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 large carrots, peeled and chopped
1 Tablespoon tomato paste
freshly ground black pepper and kosher salt
2 cups split peas (measured dry)
2 cups vegetable broth
4 cups water
splash of white wine (about a 1/4 cup)

In a large pot, saute the onions in the EVOO until translucent. Add the garlic. A minute later add the celery, carrots, tomato paste, black pepper and kosher salt. Cook over medium heat for around 10 minutes. Add split peas and the liquids. Cover and let simmer at least 30 minutes, or until split peas or tender. When soup is done, puree 3 cups of the soup in a blender or food processor. Add back to the soup, stir, serve and enjoy.

It was simple and delicious! Want to know what took it over the top though? Those CROUTONS! I just sliced a ciabbatta roll very thinly, spread some Earth Balance on it, and crisped the bread up on a griddle. These turned out so delicious, whether sopped up with soup or crispy by themselves.

Alright friends, this concludes day 2 of the Vegan Venture! All is still going well and I honestly haven't missed dairy or meat in the slightest so far. If anything, I'm craving a greater variety of vegetables. Now I have some jazz to take care of, so I'll see you tomorrow morning!

What a Mess

2009-09-02T09:29:00.004-04:00

Morning! Happy hump day! (It is Wednesday, right?). I am dragging this morning. I honestly feel that I have been doing pretty well with maintaining positivity throughout my job search process, but last night I was lying in bed trying to fall asleep and all of a sudden I was hit with this series of anxiety attacks. Freaking out, crying, worrying about money running out before I can get a job -- it wasn't pretty. Thankfully I'm blessed with an amazing husband who calms me down, (puts up with me? lol) and prays with me.

I think I may be feeling some yoga in my future. :)

Breakfast was a cereal/ yogurt mess. (Don't worry - coconut yogurt for my vegan venture).

My mess (perfect to match myself today haha!) included strawberry coconut yogurt, strawberries, ground golden flax, Quaker oatmeal squares and cinnamon. It was good, but I'm not sure if I'd get the strawberry flavor again - it was really strong and honestly I felt it was a little artificial tasting.

What are some positive mantras or encouraging quotes that you repeat to yourself when you're feeling off and in need of encouragement?

Drunken Spaghetti

2009-09-01T20:08:00.010-04:00

Before I begin, if you have a moment to spare check out this article from USA Today:

Sixty percent of adults can't digest milk

This article echos a lot of what I've researched myself, and also shows more behind my reasoning for giving up dairy / going vegan for a month. I'll let you read it yourself, but I thought it was a good article, although I definitely questioned the intelligence of some of those who commented...

*****

So far the Vegan Venture is off to a great start. :) I'm going to breeze through most of the day in order to get to the good stuff - drunken spaghetti. :)

Breakfast - crack and almond milk. 'Nuff said. (hehe how ironic I used a USA Today mug and I linked to a USA Today article??)

Gym: 40 minutes treadmill (walk/ run intervals); 100 crunches; 50 push ups. Works for me!

Lunch: Green smoothie made with one cup iced green tea (unsweetened), frozen pineapple, frozen mango, and a ton of spinach.

Served alongside an AB&J - Ezekiel bread, raw almond butter, low sugar strawberry jam and the kicker - loads of cinnamon. K, I don't know if you're a PBJ fan or not, but if you are, next time add a layer of cinnamon to both sides!! :)

Snack: Tortilla chips and an oatmeal raisin cookie. I got snacky this afternoon. :)

Now for the fun part - dinner. Ross and I were going back and forth between two different dinner options before we finally settled on Spaghetti and Bean Balls from Veganomicon. But we couldn't leave well enough alone. We had to make DRUNKEN SPAGHETTI and bean balls. Brilliant. Absolutely, positively brilliant.

No, those aren't soba noodles. That is plain ol' angel hair pasta boiled in half a bottle of old merlot (too old to drink) and water. This was so tasty, so colorful and by far the highlight of the meal. Besides - how fun is it to say that you had drunken spaghetti? :D

The beanballs were pretty good too, but I found myself wanting some varying texture. I think next time I may venture off the recipe and include some oats or something of the such to give more texture.

We had our drunken spaghetti and bean balls with frozen broccoli - thawed of course. (Tangent: am I the only one who can only get two servings out of a "family size" 4.5 serving bag?)

I just subdued my intense chocolate craving with a square of 85% Lindt Extra Dark Chocolate. Oh so good.

And oh so vegan!

You probably notice at the end it says "May contain traces of peanuts/ tree nuts/ soybean/ milk". Having grown up with a severe tree nut allergy, I've learned that pretty much every.single.thing. with an ingredient list will say "May contain traces of tree nuts" just as a way to cover themselves in case of a liability. So honestly - I disregard that memo.

So far my first day of my vegan venture was off to a great start. It's definitely not hard to eat vegan, and it's easy to make subtle changes between mine and Ross' meals (i.e. greater portion sizes for him, he can add cheeses, etc.). I'm excited!

Good night!

The Vegan Venture

2009-09-01T10:16:00.002-04:00

Welcome to September - the month I have chosen for my Vegan Month Challenge, here on out known as The Vegan Venture. :)

vegan: A vegetarian who eats plant products only, especially one who uses no products derived from animals, as fur or leather.

WHO: Me (and anyone who chooses to join me - I know there are several of you planning a Vegan Thursday, Vegan Wednesday, etc.)

WHAT: All plant-based foods, all the time

WHEN: September 1 - September 30

WHERE: Wherever the heck you or I may be!

WHY: I have actually gone back and forth with vegetarianism since middle school, even dabbling in veganism for a couple brief stints in time. The times that I've gone out of a vegetarian diet have been because I didn't want to offend someone (i.e. I didn't want to refuse the food prepared the first time I celebrated a holiday down south with my in-laws) or because I was led to believe that proteins like boneless, skinless chicken breasts are one of the best and easiest ways to get protein into my daily diet. (What's easier than a plant-based protein that doesn't take nearly as long to cook and prepare?) I've never been a fan of beef or pork, and it took me a while to acquire a taste for salmon and other fish. To this day I do not eat shellfish, because I have a sneaking suspicion I have a shellfish allergy.

The things that have pulled me out of a vegan diet before have ultimately been my love affair with dairy. And boy, do I love my dairy products - Greek yogurt, cheeses, milk, ice cream, frozen yogurt, cheesecake (heck, my wedding cake was cheesecake!)...I could go on and on. However, as I've gotten older, I have realized more and more that dairy does not like me back. Having experimented with going a couple days, a week, etc. without dairy - I know that many of my stomach and digestive issues clear up when I eliminate dairy. I feel so much better when I avoid dairy.

What I am hoping to get out of my Vegan Venture month:

I'm hoping that avoiding dairy for a month will eliminate all dairy cravings that I may have, enabling me to feel better all the time without all the stomach/ digestive issues.
I'm hoping to see if veganism is a lifestyle I could realistically apply to my life.
I'm hoping to improve my overall healthiness.
I'm hoping to become more aware of what I'm putting in my body (i.e. instead of just grabbing that cookie because it sounds good, I need to actually see what's in it).
I'm hoping that since most "common" baked goods and sweets are not vegan, that I'll be able to cut down on my sweet tooth.
I'm hoping to determine that eating a healthy, vegan lifestyle can be done on a budget.
I'm hoping to see that I can get enough of my dietary needs from plant-based sources.
I'm hoping to pick up more reading material on the vegan lifestyle to grow in my knowledge of a vegan diet during this month.

A couple notes to clear up, because I know I will be asked:

While Ross is looking forward to trying new vegan meals that I prepare, this isn't something that is a big priority to him. He still enjoys meat and dairy, and it doesn't pose as much a problem to his health as it does to mine, so he will still be enjoying things like skim milk with his cereal and deli meat in his sandwiches.
Honey - I know this is a pretty controversial topic amongst vegans. I tend to use raw agave nectar over honey anyways (there are actually still some nutrients retained in raw agave nectar), but if a product contains honey I'm not going to worry about it (i.e. I'd rather have a veggie sub on honey wheat bread for the whole grains at Subway, than have the same sub on plain white bread). Plus, there are health benefits to honey - if you eat local honey, it can help with your allergies! :)
Fur & Leather - I'm not a big fan of fur and leather in the first place (I just don't like how it looks), and the majority of my shoes/ purses are made of synthetic leather.
I think I made this clear by now, but I am not doing this just for giggles, I'm not doing this because of some fad, etc. And also - while I am very sensitive to the treatment of animals, I am first and foremost doing this for my health.

There you have it! I extend an open invitation to any of you who may be contemplating a vegan diet yourself. There are many excellent vegan cookbooks out there (Veganomicon, Vegan with a Vengeance; eat, drink & be vegan). Do you want to commit to trying a recipe or two during the month? Commit to going one day out of the month as a vegan to see if it's as hard as you think? One day a week? One week? Go all out with me? :) While I am doing this for myself, if anyone else chooses to participate at all, send me an email/ drop me a comment with a vegan recipe, a recap of a day of vegan eats, etc., and for each comment/ email I'll enter you into a contest at the end where (at the very least) you'll get some of my awesome homemade vegan cookies. :)

If you have any questions, general or personal, I'd be happy to answer/ look into an answer for you. Leave a comment or shoot me an email at mrslcblog (at) gmail (dot) com.

Summer Salads in (almost) September

2009-08-31T21:00:00.003-04:00

My afternoon was spent analyzing page after page of different health insurances. Ah, the joy and exhilaration of being a responsible adult, eh? hehe I now feel "experienced" enough to get a job in the insurance industry, though. ;)

I know tomorrow is September, which is definitely more of a "Fall" month - but here in Florida I'm still craving summery salads.

Tonight's salad featured spinach, peach, strawberries, alfalfa sprouts, mozzarella, avocado and a drizzle of Annie's raspberry vinaigrette. With a hunk of sourdough bread. :)

Ross proclaimed he wanted "a salad on bread" (lol!) so he made a salad sandwich - carrots, lettuce, celery, pickles, tomato, parmesan cheese and honey dijon mustard.

Tomorrow starts my vegan challenge! I'll kick the day off with an "explanatory" post, but if you're interested and aren't sure what eating vegan entails, it's basically no animal products at all - no meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy, or any animal-derived food (many vegans won't even eat honey, but I'm more flexible on that point).

Are you planning on joining me in my Vegan Month Challenge? Feel free to commit to a day of vegan eats, a week, or even to just try a couple new vegan recipes. I'll see you for the "kick off" tomorrow morning! :)

Busy Bee

2009-08-31T13:08:00.006-04:00

Hey guys! I hope you're making the most of this Monday. I know a lot of times we think about Mondays as "ugh, another Monday, I hate Mondays" (I'm guilty of it too!) but why not think of it as a fresh start? It's so much more gentle and refreshing that way. :)

This morning I caved - CEREAL! My crack was BOGO Free at Publix this past weekend. While I still plan on changing up my breakfasts, I couldn't say no to BOGO Quaker Oatmeal Squares (P.S. New readers - I affectionately refer to this cereal as my crack because I just love it for breakfast cereals, snacks, everything!). :)

Lunch was another top-secret sandwich creation for the Mezzetta Make That Sandwich Contest. :) I'm having so much fun with these.

Plus a vegan oatmeal raisin cookie for dessert. :) Yum!

Alright, well I need to go flip a serious productivity switch. I've just got so much to do! How do you most efficiently get things done/ knock things off your to-do list?

Battle of the Sexes

2009-08-30T22:09:00.004-04:00

We had an all out Battle of the Sexes in the kitchen tonight!!!

It was war. Sandwich war. :)

Earlier this afternoon I was describing my ideas for a sandwich to enter into Mezzetta's Make That Sandwich Contest (you can win $25,000 and a trip to Napa! That would definitely ease my urgency and need to find a job so soon!), ;) Well, Ross being the competitive, creative man he is, decided he was going to enter a sandwich too!

Hers:

His:

Obviously we can't divulge any secrets about our sandwich skills since they're for a contest, but I will tell you my sandwich was for the Vegetarian category and Ross' for the Hot Sandwich category. I'll also tell you that my sandwich was crazy filling and I just nibbled at that second half!

I'm actually thinking of trying my hand at one more sandwich tomorrow for lunch - you can enter multiple times, and I have one more idea (plus I have a little more cheese to use up before Tuesday!).

Speaking of Tuesday - if you'd like to join me for my Vegan Challenge Month for the month of September, leave me a comment or send me an email! Also feel free to ask any questions about the vegan challenge month. I'm planning on kicking the challenge off with a post on why I'm doing it, what I hope to get out of it, the "rules", etc. :)

Good night!

Park, Pizza, and Dessert for Breakfast

2009-08-30T11:06:00.009-04:00

Yesterday after lunch, some work around the home (and a nap...) Ross and I headed over to San Felasco State Park, which is almost exactly a mile from our front door. :) I got really excited and immediately started dreaming of all sorts of walks and jogs when I saw this:

A shaded, paved path through the serene "woods"? If you've never experienced a Florida summer, you have no idea how priceless shade can be. :)

Unfortunately this path only lasted about 1/4 mile? So we took some trails through the woods.

Check out this beautyberry - from a little time on Google it appears the fruits are edible. How pretty would a salad with these berries be?!

Is it just me or are bridges just beautiful, symbolic and thought-provoking? Maybe a tad romantic, too? I love bridges. :)

Welcome to the swamp.

Unfortunately, it being a swamp and all, we called it quits soon after this because the bugs were out in force! I have nickel-sized red blotches all over me from bug bites. :(

Dinner was fast, but oh-so-tasty. Amy's Roasted Veggie No Cheese Pizza! I had half. :D

After dinner we did more work around the house. Our huge closet is finally getting organized!! Then I decided I wanted to bake. :) I think since I made the (disappointing) round 1 of the Whole Foods Vegan C.C. Cookie Test, I've been craving a good cookie.

I made a variation of my vegan oatmeal raisin cookies, except I used applesauce instead of canola oil, and I added a tablespoon of molasses and extra cinnamon, ground ginger, and pumpkin pie spice. So it was a little more of an oatmeal raisin spice cookie. :) SO GOOD!

Now. This leads me to breakfast. :) I'm sitting on the couch and Ross goes into the kitchen proclaiming, "I'm going to make you breakfast". Who am I to argue?

He ended up making the Chocolate Chip Brownie Waffles from Veganomicon.

Holy deliciousness. These were decadent. I was unable to finish these two and there are plenty of leftovers that shall be used for desserts. :)

Mr. Ross did want me to point out the substitutions he used - almond milk instead of soymilk, applesauce (with some guar gum to thicken it a bit more - my idea lol) instead of soy yogurt, whole wheat flour instead of all purpose, and almonds instead of pecans. He's so cute. :) I cut up a few strawberries and mascerated them a bit with a sprinkle of sugar and voila - easy strawberry sauce. :)

Well, I have a bunch of energy now (sugar high?? haha) so I am going to go be productive!! See you all later. :)

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

2009-08-29T12:46:00.009-04:00

First thing's first...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMA!!!!
I hope you have a wonderful day, I love you and can't wait to see you soon! :)

Isn't my mom simply gorgeous?? Doesn't she look like she could be my older sister? I've got good genes. ;)

This morning started out with a simple breakfast for my tender tummy - two slices of plain cinnamon raisin swirl toast.

Then we headed off to go grocery shopping!! (Wow, weirdo alert for the !! about grocery shopping). I headed over to Ward's Supermarket for the first time this morning - love it! I love the prices. Once I get my new food processor back I'll be able to make homemade almond butter for cheap again - raw almonds from the bins were $4.99/ lb! Plus they also feature a lot of local goods - so exciting. :)

We also hit up Fresh Market and Publix on our way back, to maximize the deals. :)

One thing I definitely noticed - by getting some "convenience items" (i.e. cereals, tortilla chips, a couple frozen burritos, hummus, deli meat for Ross, a loaf of sourdough bread, black bean dip), even with sales, our bill rose about $20.

This just goes to show that I really need to take pride in making things "homemade" - breads, dips, hummus, etc. Even making my own granola can substitute for cereal. Anyway, just thoughts on food + budget. :)

Lunch was muy delicioso!

Sourdough bread + Sabra's (new) Spinach and Artichoke Hummus + Cucumbers + Alfalfa Sprouts + Tomato + Spinach

Publix Black Bean Dip (in a jar by salsas) with tortilla chips (not tasty blue because white were much cheaper).

Half a peach:

All together:

This was such a tasty lunch! And I have to say - I loved being able to make and enjoy lunch together with Ross. I love weekends. :) Off to go work on the home some more and pray for no rain so we can enjoy our planned afternoon adventure! See you later. :)