Mission Complete!

So, I finished my 30-day vegan trial. (I actually finished on Monday, but haven't had time to write until now...) Overall, it went really well. I feel lots and lots better and I can always tell if I've had too much sugar or not enough veggies, because I end up feeling really crappy. During the 30 days, I kept a tallied journal of how many whole grains, vegetables, fruits and legumes I consumed every day. Since it's over, I've stopped doing that, but I still try to keep a mental checklist to make sure I'm getting enough nutrients and making good choices about my food, like whole grains instead of refined white flour.

Some of the things that I didn't like about going vegan were:
1. going out to eat. I pretty much always had to check online before I went out somewhere to make sure there was something there for me to eat. Restaurants like to put hidden ingredients in their food (that's kinda scary). I had to learn this the hard way after I went to Panera one time and ordered their garden vegetable soup. Seems vegan, right? Nope. They put pesto in it, which apparently has cheese mixed in. The only completely vegan thing I've been able to find on their menu (besides an apple) is their black bean soup. But luckily, that's my favorite. (But they don't have it every day...)
2. feeling like I'm inconveniencing others. I stayed at a couple of friends' houses during the duration of my trial. I didn't want them to have to go out and buy special food just for me, so I brought my own food and ate that instead of what everyone else was eating. It felt a little awkward, but I didn't want to sacrifice my commitment, so I did it any way.
3. constantly checking ingredient lists. Every time I was at the store or at a friends' house, I would pick up a container to check the ingredients to see if I could buy the product or participate in snack time. You would not believe the products that have milk ingredients in them. I don't understand what corporations are trying to do by feeding us all this milk (except to make us fat...)

That being said, however, I've decided to stay vegan for now. I'm not going to be crazy about it. If I accidentally eat something with butter in it, I won't freak out. But when I can make my own food choices, I will. I think this really works for me, so I definitely want to keep doing it as long as I can. :D

Pizza Sauce!

Yesterday, I had an orange and Cascadian Farms multi-grain squares cereal for breakfast. At lunch time, I made a Grilled Avocado Sandwich. And at dinner, I made pita pizza with homemade pizza sauce. Here's how:

Quick+Easy Chunky Pizza Sauce
1-15 oz. can of diced tomatoes
1-small can of tomato paste
3 Tbsp. oregano
2 Tbsp. basil
1 tsp. black pepper

Heat all ingredients on stove until tomato paste has thinned and everything is heated through to blend tastes. Spread on a pita or pizza dough and top with your fave toppings. Also makes a great dipping sauce for breadsticks and garlic bread.

There we go! How easy was that??

And here's a note for all those wondering: while the Daiya mozzarella cheese I had with my lentils/rice the other day was delicious, it is quite gross in large amounts on a pizza. I think I'm gonna have to stick with cheeseless pizza from now on. I was peeling off all the cheese, but I couldn't get it all off. It didn't help that it wasn't all melted and it was super stretchy like plastic-y rubber stuff. Bleh. It seems like more of a salad topping than something to melt...

Long Crazy Day.

Things were a bit hectic this morning and I only got to eat a kiwi. For lunch, I mixed half of a brown rice/quinoa microwave packet with some brown lentils that I made the other night. Then, I topped it with Daiya vegan mozzarella cheese and dried cranberries. That was an incredible concoction! I ate it alongside some roasted corn from Smoky Bones that was being served at the work conference. Fast forward to dinner and I made an AMAZING veggie chili for Mom, Stephen and I. Super spicy, super yummy and best of all, super healthy! It had tomatoes, onions, garlic, red bell peppers, zucchini, yellow squash, kidney beans, pinto beans and cannellini beans. I added lots of chili powder and a good amount of ground cayenne pepper to give it that kick we all love. :) Stephen made some cornbread, but he used milk, butter and eggs, so I abstained. Mom was raving about it though. Maybe you can talk him into giving you a recipe. :)

I had a pear for dessert and then later, Mom made us some time. Mom and I had rooibos and Stephen had Green Tea Matcha (matcha powder + green tea leaves). The rooibos was very delicious and she also had a Double Chocolate Yerba Mate that I will be drinking for my morning caffeine boost. (I haven't had caffeine in awhile, so I hope it doesn't me too crazy.)

Where was Dad during all this chili/cornbread/tea yumminess? Watching the Colts lose. :( Dad's not big on the spicy or the meatless chili, so he had a cheese sandwich and then retired into the other room to watch football. Mom was looking at some vegetarian shirts online, Stephen was doing a bunch of random things on his computer and I was reading "The Kind Diet." I was really glad to spend some time with my family after a busy weekend--I missed them a lot. :)

Food today.

Here's a quick post about the food I had today. It was crazy busy!

Breakfast
Green Tea Smoothie w/ pineapple
two buckwheat pancakes from what I'd made last night (see previous post)

Lunch
Black Bean Soup from Panera
(and I had the whole grain baguette)

Dinner
cup of leafy green salad
two large carrot sticks
two large celery stalks
roasted red pepper hummus

Snacks
Breakfast cookie
trail mix
Cranberry Walnut Bread (from Whole Foods)

I also drank two cups of tea: one green tea and the other oolong. And I'm stick working on getting my water quotient for the day.

I got lots of protein today and a good amount of veggies, but I have quite the headache tonight. I don't know if it's because of the stress of a long day or what, but I'm gonna finish cooking some black beans on the stove and then GO TO BED!**

**Good sleep is essential to a healthy lifestyle. I think I struggle with this more than the food or caffeine aspects.

A Little Something Extra.

My work is doing a conference this weekend, so meals are gonna be a tad tricky. But tonight, I got to go to Qdoba after I picked up one of the participants and we had dinner together. I was able to share with Dana about my new vegan diet and she had lots of questions. She was very kind about it, which I was glad for, because that's not always the case. At Qdoba, I had a Grilled Veggie Burrito which has zucchini, yellow squash and red bell peppers in it. YUMMY!! I got it with black beans and only a touch of rice and three different kinds of salsa + lettuce.

Then tonight, after our first session, I decided to come back to my apartment and made the most AMAZING pancakes EVER!!! No pics, but I will share my recipe with you. :)

Coconut-Cinnamon-Vanilla Buckwheat Pancakes
2/3 c. Arrowhead Mills Buckwheat Pancake & Waffle Mix
1 egg substitute (for me, it was 2 Tbsp. ground flaxseed + 3 Tbsp. water)
2 tsp. canola oil
2 tsp. raw sugar (the recipe calls for honey, but that's not vegan)
3/4 c. milk substitute (I used So Delicious Vanilla Coconut Milk)
Dash of cinnamon
Small handful of unsweetened coconut
about one teaspoon of vanilla
(As you can see, I added those last three in on a whim...)

Mix all ingredients just until lumps disappear. Using a 1/4 c. measuring cup, scoop pancake batter onto lightly greased pan or griddle and cook until cooked through, flipping after edges dry and surface begins to bubble. Makes about 6 pancakes.


I made these for breakfast in the morning, because I know that most of the food will be things I can't (won't) eat. But they smelled so good, I had to scarf down 1.5 of them just out of the pan. They are so thick and so delicious and I can just taste the healthiness. They're not too sweet, which is good, but they also have that extra vanilla kick that I love and the coconut and cinnamon just give it that over-the-top yumminess. You should really just try these. I can't wait to try more variations with this pancake mix.

I think I want to make a "breakfast" cookie for snack tomorrow as well. With the cookies and junk-food snacks that are gonna be at the conference, I want to make sure I'm not tempted to eat them. If I bring my own healthy snacks, I'll be much more likely to indulge in those. Stay tuned for more yummy recipes!! :)

Recovery.

Last night, I did just what I said I would. I came home from work, took a power nap, ate a soy burger for protein and basically relaxed. I also drank a BUNCH of water. Then I went to bed (after taking melatonin, cause I was having trouble sleeping) and I woke up feeling so much better today. I slept in a bit, then went to the gym and did a nice cardio workout on the elliptical, which is the first time I've used one since college. I'm not a big treadmill person, mostly because of my knee problems, but if I do the bike too much, I feel a little lazy.

Then I ran some errands, including picking up some vegan cookbooks from the library. (I got "The Kind Diet" by Alicia Silverstone, which I am really excited about reading.) Then for lunch, I was going to go to YATS, which is a local Cajun/Creole restaurant here in Indy. They have four locations and one is just about a mile from my apartment. They change the menu up every once in awhile, so I always check it to see what they have before I go. They always have vegetarian options, and most of the time, a vegan dish as well. But today, the first time I've been in a couple weeks, they didn't have anything vegan. Both of the vegetarian dishes they had were made with a cream sauce, so I couldn't eat them. They also always serve yummy bread with butter on it, so I'd have to skip that.

Since they didn't have what I wanted today, I decided to make my own version at home. I had thawed out some split pea soup that my mom and I made a couple weeks ago and then I thawed out about a cup of brown rice. I poured the split pea soup (which is rather thick) over the brown rice and then topped it with Frank's RedHot -- my favorite condiment. I broiled a couple slices of whole grain bread in the oven that I had topped with Earth Balance and garlic. The entire preparation only took about five minutes and then I had a super filling, very delicious lunch. And the spicy is just what I needed.

I'm excited to read my new vegan cookbooks, but it'll have to wait since I have a full day of work, errands and a retreat for work later tonight. I'll let you know if I find anything fun. :)

Too.Much.Sugar.

I have had WAY too much sugar today. I brought a bunch of cookies with me to work--bad idea. I need to limit myself to one, MAYBE two a day. I also broke down and had a soda for the first time in about three weeks. Also, a bad idea. I am on sugar overload and I feel like crap. There wasn't even a sugar high for any moment. I just had a "Ooo, this is yummy" moment and then instant crash. Headache, fatigue. I just really want a nap.

I started off the day really well. Orange for first breakfast, multi-grain bagel for second breakfast. Popcorn for lunch. I didn't eat what I actually brought for lunch. Things got really busy with the little ones around here today. I think I may just take the night off from my scheduled workout, eat an early dinner and then relax and try to come down from this sugar hangover. Then I'll get up in the morning and head over to the gym while everyone else is at work. I'm so glad for Flexible Fridays. (Which isn't an actual thing, except for me.) :)

So, word of advice to people trying to be healthy: when you go cold turkey off of sugar, don't OD on it later. You will pay the price... :/

Chili!!

Tonight for dinner, I had chili that my mom had made. It had at least two or three kinds of peppers in it (which I generally have trouble digesting, but after going vegan, I've been doing great with them), plus two types of beans and zucchini, along with other typical chili spices and sauce. No meat, though! It's crazy to me that when I tell people that I make meatless chili, they wonder what I put in it. Apparently, to them, chili is just spiced meat with some tomato sauce poured over it. When I make chili, I love to put three kinds of beans, and LOTS of chili powder + cayenne pepper in it. Spicy enough to make my eyes water = perfect chili. Mom's was really good -- very spicy, the way I like it. I had to wash it down with the last of her apple cider. (Guess you'll need to go back to the orchard this weekend, Mom!) ;)

Lunch was pretty basic today. An organic PBJ (organic bread, organic peanut butter, organic Crofter's fruit spread). Carrots + celery (I shared the celery with KO--they're her fave!) and grapes (KO got a handful of those as well!)

I had a great workout tonight at the gym. I like to vary my workout a bit so on Mondays, I walk a couple miles around the track with my parents (that's the only day we can all work out together...). On Wednesdays, I do basic strength/toning exercises with machines + weights. Thursdays--at least 20 minutes on the bike (although I may try an elliptical tomorrow). Fridays and Saturdays are difficult for me to stay consistent on, but I like to do weights again on Friday and some sort of cardio activity (outside, if I can) on Saturdays. Tonight, as with most Wednesdays, I start out by walking one lap around the track to warm up my muscles so I won't pull anything. Then I do all of my lower body on the machines: leg extensions (quads), seated leg curls (hamstrings), leg press (quads/hams/glutes), and hip abduction/adduction (inner thighs and hip muscles). I also started using the ab crunch machine tonight. I do two sets of ten reps, usually. And if I start to feel like they're too easy, I'll increase the weight a bit. (That's only happened with one exercise though.) After the machines, I'll go over to the free weights and work my upper body. I do bicep and hammer curls, tricep dumbbell rows, and two kinds of oblique exercises (side-to-side and front bends). Two sets of ten reps for these as well. All of these exercises are things I learned in high school, and I'm really grateful that I still remember how to do them. And proper breathing technique, which is *super* important!

Sorry that was a bit long. I have some fun things to talk about over the next couple days, so hopefully I'll have some time to get to write about them. I need to go clean out my fridge for now, to make room for one of the fun things I'll be getting to soon. :)

Boring Day.

Yesterday (Tuesday), I didn't really eat anything too interesting. My dinner was really delicious: leftover cold stir-fried veggies over cold pasta. Perfect small meal to eat right before I had to leave for my weekly small group meeting.

I also ended up making those chocolate chip cookies I was talking about in the last post. They were quite delicious! And I have been craving some chocolate, so they really hit the spot. Now, I just need to be tempted not to eat too many. (They still have sugar in them!!)

Let me write really quickly about a book that I read that helped me decide to do the 30-day vegan trial: Skinny Bitch. This book is SO funny! If you get easily offended by swearing and harsh sarcasm, you might not like this book, but I still think that everyone should read it. The girls that wrote this book tell it like it is and aren't afraid to hurt people's feelings. And sometimes, that's what we need. We need to be slapped in the face before we wake up to the reality of our situation. Kim & Rory (the authors) talk a lot about how our food is made and why this should concern us, as well as some tips for making our bodies feel healthier.

One of the things they suggested actually came from the creators of Body for Life. They say to eat fruit first thing in the morning, because your body digests fruit easier when it's eaten by itself with no other food in the stomach. So, they suggest to eat fruit for breakfast and then wait at least 30 minutes before eating anything else. And it doesn't have to be a little tiny bit of fruit. You can eat a lot of it! So, I have been trying this for a couple weeks and it really works. I was definitely hesitant about it and thought, "My body is so messed up, there's no way this will do any good." And I'm glad to admit that I was wrong. When I eat fruit first thing in the morning, my stomach (and the rest of my body) feels great throughout the day.

So, if you're looking for some small changes, but aren't really ready to go vegan yet, I would suggest trying this. See how you do and if it works for you, stick with it. You may have to give it a few days before it works the way it should.

And read "Skinny Bitch." You'll be glad you did. :)

Snacks+Dinner

Quick post before I settle in for the night:

For a snack today, I had an apple and some walnuts. Then I walked two miles tonight at the gym with my parents and did some ab exercises.

I'm always super hungry when I get done working out, so I had two big servings of pasta tonight: whole-wheat rotini with tomato sauce and mushrooms.

I'm thinking about making some vegan chocolate chip cookies before bedtime. I got a recipe from my friend Amanda's blog, so I may try it out.

Gotta get up early tomorrow to vote!!

Halfway Point

Alright, so here's some back-story, since I haven't posted in months and months (because I'm about 99% sure no one reads this but my mom): A couple of weeks ago, I decided to go vegan. I was already a "part-time vegetarian," as I called it, meaning that I ate a mainly plant-based diet, but would also eat chicken, turkey or fish from time to time. I also consumed eggs, some cheese (I'm a bit lactose-intolerant) and butter.

But I've been struggling to lose weight recently, and even after starting a work-out regimen, I was seeing no results. I realized I had to take action with my eating habits as well, no matter how drastic it may be. So, I decided to do a 30-day trial vegan diet. I started on October 17 and yesterday marked Day 15. So as of today, I am officially starting the second half of my 30-day trial. After it's over, I'll re-evaluate how I did, what I liked and didn't like and decide if I want to keep going.

So far, I have loved it. Yes, there are a couple things I miss, like candy bars and Doritos, but let's face it, those were probably the reason I wasn't losing weight anyway. Eggs have been difficult to cut out, because I love having scrambled eggs with veggies, but I've been able to open myself up to a lot more breakfast options, now that I've omitted an American staple. I feel lots better than I did before, since I've often struggled with digestive issues--I haven't had a problem since I started!

Anyway, the purpose of me writing again, was to talk about my adventures and some of the new foods I am trying now that I have to make more conscious decisions about what to eat. I'll (try to) post every day and list the things I ate and what was fun about my meal choices or what was difficult. I can already tell you that it is pretty hard to have get-togethers with friends when you are the only vegan (or even vegetarian!) in the group. I had a party this past weekend, and I made sure to bring lots of veggies to the party and luckily, some other people brought fruit. I was able to sample some cheese-less pizza and I had plenty to eat. But there were definitely a lot of things there I would have liked to eat that I decided not to (cheesy pizza, sun chips, BBQ chips, brownies and yummy cookies). I have no regrets, though. I feel like I made the right choice for me and my body and at the end of the day, I can feel confident in that.

Most days, I will probably not post pictures, because I don't always have a camera handy and some days, I'm just so excited about my food, that I just dive right in and forget about snapping some shots. But if it's something really cool and interesting, I'll try to post a pic or two. This is mainly just going to be a food journal.

Today, so far, I have had a spinach smoothie (coconut milk, flax oil, strawberries, OJ concentrate, vanilla extract + spinach)--this was only okay. I have made much better smoothies in the past (I might post some recipes later...), but I think my spinach is starting to get bitter and that's why it tasted off. For lunch, I had a no-queso quesadilla with roasted red pepper hummus, chopped red onion and Frank's RedHot on Trader Joe's Whole Grain Tortillas (which are my absolute FAVORITE tortilla!!). Instead of using canola oil spray like I normally do, I used my new Earth Balance buttery spread (which is the only margarine I'll use, more on that later) to cook the quesadilla. It definitely gave it a new interesting flavor. I make this dish different every time, so I never know exactly what to expect.

I did use the rest of my red-pepper hummus, so I'm going to have to get some more of this. (I brought it to the party and it got devoured!!)

I'll post later with my snack and dinner items. And at some point, I'll add recipes and blog about some of my favorite foods. (And maybe get on a soapbox or two.) Enjoy!

Company!

I don't have people over at my apartment very often. I'm busy a lot, my friends are busy a lot. It just doesn't work out usually. So, I tend to cook for only myself most of the time, and it's not very fun. But this weekend, two of my girlfriends from college, Jamie & Laurryn, came to visit and they stayed the night on Friday night. I made them popcorn (on the stove!) while we watched One Tree Hill (a college fave) and then on Saturday morning, I made them breakfast!! :D




I only took the one picture, but as you can see, I made a wonderful breakfast quiche, with spinach mushrooms & onions, an easy cinnamon coffee cake using crescent rolls & pecans, and some cut-up kiwi for the fruit component. I also used my espresso machine to whip them up some lattes and an americano for myself.

Now, we're at Laurryn's getting ready to head off for church and I'm enjoying a bowl of cinnamon oatmeal w/ bananas. Hopefully Panera for lunch. :D

Earth Day!!

Today is such an awesome day. I'm not generally a traditional holiday person, but I happen to love times that we've set aside to bring special attention to what's happening around us. World AIDS Day is December 1, March is Women's History Month and today is EARTH DAY!



We need to take care of the planet every day, obviously, but I love that we've named today a day where everyone can be reminded of the importance of caring for our environment. And for those of you who don't know, today is actually the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. In 1970, Senator Gaylord Nelson founded it as an environmental teach-in, meaning that he wanted to use it as a tool, mainly on college campuses, to educate people about environmental issues and caring for the Earth.

I am a self-professed tree hugger. Like, I literally hug trees sometimes. You may think I'm weird, but I've come to accept that about myself. :D I love knowing that I am doing my best to care for the home that God has given me. Not only does it show respect for Him by appreciating His gift, but it also respects future generations who will need to use the Earth as their home as well.

I took a shower last night and I won't take one again until tomorrow morning, so I'm going to try to use as little water as possible today. I also recycle on a daily basis and love buying/eating organic food. What are you doing today to help the Earth??

Breakfast Taco for Dinner.

I went over to Mom+Dad's last night for our weekly Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution night of fun. I wasn't feeling super well, but I decided to eat some food anyway and then I ended up feeling a lot better after. I always end up eating eggs when I go over there, because I don't keep them around my house much. It doesn't make sense for me to buy a whole dozen when I only eat three or four maximum a week. (Sometimes, not even that much.)

My parents had gone to On The Border the night before and brought back some of their fresh tortillas! I LOVE really good fresh tortillas, and I'm looking forward to trying a recipe that I found on MamaPea's blog. Anyway, here was my dinner last night:



I ended up using the fresh tortillas, egg whites, onion, mushroom, lemon pepper and a generous sprinkle of cayenne pepper to add some kick. These really hit the spot. I was really full afterward, but I didn't really end up snacking later on, which I tend to do throughout the night, especially if I'm watching TV.

Apparently, I'm on a Mexican food kick lately, because I made tacos with some friends on Monday night and I'm going to finish up the leftovers today for lunch. Hopefully, they're still good... :/

The others had beef tacos, but my tacos were black beans+refried beans w/ chili powder, cayenne pepper, onion & garlic. Mom & I went to Trader Joe's & Whole Foods today, and she picked up some heirloom tomatoes, so I'm gonna add some of those, along with spinach and a touch of salsa. I'm really looking forward to them... In fact, I'm gonna go eat those now... :D

Breakfast with Mini-Me.

I work as a nanny, for those of you who don't know. I get to hang out with an awesome female toddler four days a week, and I almost always feed her breakfast. Since I've been on a yogurt kick lately, I decided to share this yummy breakfast with her as well. Stonyfield Farm makes a whole milk organic yogurt for babies, so I got her this and she's been eating it with a granola bar the past couple days. She LOVES it!! This morning, we had similar breakfast:



SF Black Cherry & a Cascadian Farm Vanilla Chip granola bar for me. Strawberry Banana YoBaby & a Quaker Oatmeal Raisin Chewy granola bar for KO (as we call her). (The Black Cherry SF yogurt was just okay. I prefer the key lime, blueberry or SuperFruits. The chocolate is good for dessert type stuff.)



Beautiful display of granola bars dipped in yogurt. YUMM!!



Since KO is still little (19 months), I broke up her granola bar in little pieces. Despite being called "chewy," these are still pretty hard and I don't want her to hurt herself. When she eats Nutri-Grain bars, I give her the whole thing, and she does pretty well with it.

I took a couple pics of her and even recorded a video of her eating her yogurt by herself. (She's getting the hang of eating with a spoon!) But since she's not my kid, I didn't want to go plastering her face all over the world wide web. Let me assure you, though, she's the absolute cutest kid on the planet. :D If you are friends with me on Facebook, you can check out the video there. (Although, I'm convinced that my mother is the only one who reads this thing...In case I'm wrong, please let me know by leaving a comment!!)

Hope your breakfasts were as fun as mine!! :)

Meatless Easter

Easter lunch was amazing today!! Mom made some awesome, awesome food.



We had the following:
- fruit salad (made w/ bananas+strawberries+apples+grapes+pineapple)
- ham (ugh, pork...)
- green beans+pearl potatoes
- deviled eggs
- corn on the cob
- bean salad (made w/ white beans, kidney beans, red onion & olives from Whole Foods)



Here's my plate. I had a little of everything, minus the ham. Since, I wasn't eating any meat, I filled up on deviled eggs & bean salad for my protein. The bean salad was unbelievable!! She didn't add any seasonings, but the red onion & olives gave it great flavor. I got to take all the leftovers home. :D



Fruit bowl!! I counted this + some Easter basket candy as my dessert.



To drink, I made a mocktail of POM juice (part of my Easter basket) & Sprite Zero. (My dad keeps this around to mix w/ cranberry juice.) It was really good!! Pomegranate juice tends to be expensive, so I'm gonna get some club soda and drink this a little bit at a time. Plus, it's too rich for me to drink it straight.



Cleaned my plate! The corn & the green beans were vegetables that mom had frozen last summer/fall and we broke them out for today. They tasted as fresh as if they'd been picked yesterday!! Yummy!! :D

I was rather proud of myself for foregoing meat this Easter. That's really difficult to do during the holidays, because it's usually such a main dish.

It's made me think about other substitutions for other holidays. Fourth of July = veggie burgers (black bean burgers are my fave!). Other than that, I can't think of others. Tofurkey is NOT an option in my family. In fact, in my dad's extended family (who we spend most holidays with), eating healthy with lots of veggies is almost unheard of. I wonder what Thanksgiving will be like this year...

Healthy Breakfast

Some mornings, I eat breakfast. Some mornings, if I sleep in, I don't. Most mornings that I do eat breakfast, it's usually something quick, like a pastry at Starbucks or a granola bar. My brain isn't fully functional at 6am, so I don't like to think about trying to make something. Well, I got up at 8am today and decided to have some of my new Stonyfield Organics yogurt.



It was the Superfruits flavor with pomegranate, raspberry & acai. It was delicious!! I don't eat yogurt very often since I'm lactose intolerant and I'm afraid of what it will do to my stomach. But this stuff was great. Plus, apparently with the cultures in yogurt, it's supposed to actually be good for my stomach. So, we'll see.

After the yogurt, I decided to have some of my Trader Joe's Blueberry Muesli.



This stuff is SO good! It's way better than granola and I've never really been a big oatmeal person. I know that oatmeal is the big healthy thing in food blogs these days and my mom eats about three bowls a week, sometimes more, but I just can't get into it. Muesli is a good substitute, I think. It's easier to prepare--just pour some in a bowl and add a bit of milk, like cereal. It's got tons of fun nutritional ingredients (mine even had dried blueberries, which are AMAZING!!). And it's got a sweet flavor without too much added sugar.

Well, I'm off to Calvin Fletcher's Coffee Company to enjoy my coffee for the day. :)

Food, Inc. + Outdoor Overload

I've been meaning to update and I don't feel much like it tonight, but I'm gonna do it anyway. I apologize if it ends up being lame...



First, I finally got to watch Food, Inc. with the parents & my boyfriend. Dad actually sat through the whole thing and we paused at a couple places to discuss or clarify things. I'm not gonna lie to you: I cried at a couple parts. The way they treat animals is just horrible. Here are a couple things I took away from it:

- Mass-produced tomatoes are picked while green and then ripened with ethylene gas. Gross. My mom and grandparents have grown tomatoes in their gardens, so I know what a tomato is supposed to look like when you pick it and when it ripens naturally off the vine. The fact that they use a synthetic gas to ripen tomatoes totally grosses me out.
- Farms have been replaced by factories. There were shots of industrial "farms" that just treated chickens, cows & pigs as if they were some material in an assembly line. It's all about who can produce the most meat the fastest and it's become something that most Americans choose to ignore, even if they know about it.
- Meat-packing companies "have to" produce a lot of food on a small amount of land at an affordable price. So, they compromise quality and compassion in order to meet the demands of our carnivorous society. I seriously wanted to puke & cry simultaneously after watching this.

So, that's my take on "Food, Inc." Overall, a great movie and I would recommend it to literally everyone, not just people who are already health-conscious. *Everyone* needs to be aware of these issues.

And to the next part of my post, the bf & I went to the Canal (in Indianapolis, which is where I live) to walk and enjoy the beautiful 75* day. It was awesome, but I think I overdid it. I'm not used to being outside a ton, especially since we had a ridiculously cold winter and it just started getting decently warm a few weeks ago. So, I'm sunburned and my head is killing me.

But we did take a picnic lunch to eat and here was my favorite part of the meal:



These raisins are AMAZING!! Whenever my mom gets them, I always mooch a few. They are super plump and uber-delicious. I'm a nanny during the week and I watch an 18-month-old girl. She loves these too. Every time I get them out and start snacking, she's in my lap asking for "mo', mo'." In fact, most Earthbound Organics products that we've had are pretty delicious.

Well, I'm trying to wind down from my crazy day with a cup of Yogi Bedtime Tea. I have two coffee dates tomorrow: one with my bro (and probably the 'rents) and one with my friend Ryan. I can only manage about one cup of coffee a day, so I'll probably end up getting tea for one of those. Maybe if I get up in time, I'll post about breakfast. (with pictures!!)

Nothing new, really.

I haven't eaten anything too interesting lately. Went over to my parents' this morning and ate the last of my mom's egg whites in an egg-white scramble w/ mushrooms & onions. (Also, a sprinkle of lemon pepper and a tad of Laughing Cow Garlic & Herb cheese. I can have it in small doses.)

Yesterday, I ate a rather icky sandwich. I've really been craving soup lately, but haven't made any. Still have to finish up the pasta in my fridge. I also have a leftover potato from McAlister's w/ grilled chicken & tomatoes on top. It was really delicious, but one potato is too much for one sitting.

I'm planning to watch Food, Inc. with my mom and boyfriend tomorrow night. And possibly my brother. Not sure if he'll be there... I'll let you all know how I like it. Both my mom and Daniel have seen it before, so I'll be the newbie there. But I'm excited!!

Sorry for the boring-ness. I'm hoping to get some more interesting stuff up here soon.

Delicious Day

Okay, so I took pics of my food and they looked fine on my camera but when I put them on my computer, they were completely obscured. Too much flash or something. I'll fix it for next time, but yesterday's food will be photo-less. Sorry... :(

Anyway, I had a snack in the morning cause I woke up later and then drove down to Hanover to see my boyfriend race. When I got back, at 2pm, I headed over to my parents' and had lunch with my mom & bro. Mom & I had Dr. Praeger's Tex-Mex veggie burgers on multi-grain sandwich thins with avocado spread and chipotle mayo with a small slice of pepperjack cheese. (I can handle cheese in very small quantities.) The chipotle mayo was homemade by my brother, who is awesome at homemade condiments (as well as other things). He makes a barbeque sauce that is INCREDIBLE!!

Anyway, we ate the sandwiches and my brother had a turkey pastrami on rye with the avocado, chipotle mayo & pepper jack. Mom & I also split a golden delicious apple and I had a couple small slivers of chocolate for dessert.


In the evening, I went to Dave & Buster's to celebrate my friend Heather's birthday. I had one beer -- Blue Moon (I rarely drink, but since it was a special occasion, I figured why not?), which took me three hours to drink. Alongside it, we had a bunch of appetizers and then I ordered the Turkey Avocado BLT, minus the bacon. It was delicious!!! Served on multigrain bread and fries on the side, it was definitely the best choice. I was so full by the time I finished that I had like 5 fries, but that's probably a good thing. I have a weakness for potatoes...

Dave & Buster's was really fun. After dinner, we played games for a few hours and I won a bunch of tickets and I cashed them in for a food chopper in the Winner's Circle. I'll try to get some pics of me using it. I was more excited about that than any of the dumb stuffed animals there. haha.

Today will be a crazy food day. Quick breakfast, quick lunch, possibly some dinner. I'll update if I eat anything interesting...

Dude. Two words. Jamie Oliver.

Tonight, I went over to my parents' house after we all went out for dinner and we (Mom, brother & I) watched "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution." It was premiere event and it was AWESOME!! If you missed it, or have no idea what I'm talking about, Check out the link above.

Basically, Jamie Oliver is this British chef/food guy who changed a lot of things in Britain and he's come to America and visited the unhealthiest town in the U.S. to turn things around.

Have you ever seen a chicken nugget made? Gross. Pure grossness. Technically, he made it the way the British do and not how Americans do, but it's probably rather similar. I wanted to throw up. I'm not sure if it's in that link I show above. The premiere was a two-parter and it was in the second part.

I really hope he can make some changes in this town. I think this might become a weekly thing with my family now. At least, I hope so. My mom is big on healthy eating and my brother loves food, so this was a good show for us to watch together. My dad can't sit still and watch it unless there are cars or guns, but he came in to see a few snippets every now and then. (He's a hoverer...)

Sorry I haven't done any pictures yet. I've had issues with getting this thing to post pictures for me before, but I'll try to take pics of food I make/eat to post on here from time to time. Have a good weekend!

Starting Over

I deleted all the old posts that I had on here and I'm attempting to start over. This could just be a pipe dream of sorts. It may not last long, but I'll give it a try. I'll probably mostly talk about food and my failed attempts to maintain a healthier lifestyle. That's all the rage these days, apparently.

Basic facts to know about me:

- I like food. A lot.
- I like to eat healthy food.
- I like to eat unhealthy food.
- As much as I try to only eat the healthy stuff, I eventually give in to the greasy, fried junk.
- My three favorite foods are Carrots, Chips (any kind), and Chocolate.
- I love doing yoga.
- Yoga works best for me in the mornings, but I'm usually so tired when I wake up that I'm lucky if I do it even twice a week, much less the three to four times I should be doing it.
- I'm always uncomfortable having people besides my mom make dinner for me. I have specific eating habits and living in the Midwest, people usually end up making things that I can't (or won't) eat.
- The things I can't eat are: dairy, spearmint, lots of refined sugar.
- The things I won't eat are: beef, pork, mashed potatoes.

So, yea, eating for me is generally an adventure. I'm not gonna talk about every single food I eat or all my meals. I'll let you know the more interesting ones or some of my favorites. If I cook something fun or special, I'll post that. And if I've been eating poorly for awhile, I'll let you know that as well, since it'd be nice to have someone holding me accountable.

Au revoir!