Lucky #13 and how biochemistry ruins lives...

YAY! I got my thirteenth follower. Thank you, bekthebest.yeah.
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Not much going on in my life except for SUMMER SCHOOL. I am taking Organic&BioChemistry and Sports Nutrition. Basically, organic chemistry is kicking my butt! I study for hours and hours and it still makes no sense! boo.

But this weekend I did get to take a break from school and go to the lake! It was only my second time to go to the lake this summer. (Where are my priorities?) I wake-boarded a bit with Ryan. He is actually really good at it. This is him on wake-surfing.

I will update soon with an actual interesting post regarding food. But I don't have anything for you right now except for carbon chains, alcohols, ether, and methyl groups. Yuck...lets end on a positive note. Here is the beautiful water from this weekend.

You can do it! 5-a-day!!!!

Did you know that we are supposed to eat 5 fruits and veggies a day? The preferred breakdown is 3 vegs and 2 fruits. However, only 25% of Americans eat the recommended 5 servings per day from the fruit and vegetable groups. WOAH!

When it comes to fruits and veggies, more is more!! There are a few reasons why people may not be getting their 5-a-day.

"I don't like the taste of vegetables!"

Alot of people have only been exposed to a few common fruits and veggies. Branch out! Keep your eyes open in the produce section, don't have tunnel vision for the same fruits&vegs you always buy. You might find that you like some unexpected things.

Nothing tastes as bad as being sick feels! Make yourself try something several times before you rule it out permanently. Experts say that sometimes you have to introduce a food 7 or 8 times to a child before they will eat it. Use that kind of persistence with yourself.

(Are you kidding me?! I wouldn't eat that either!!)

The above picture is why we overload on meat, cheese, and dairy. Eww. Learn how to prepare delicious fruits and vegetables. This is a huge key to eating 5-a-day. Fruits don't need as much help to be appealing, but invest some time in learning to make delicious veggies. You don't have to eat vegetables one type at a time, warmed up and sprinkled with salt. I have found so many amazing recipes online that call for all sorts of veggies partying together in one dish.

*Hot. Cold. Made into soups. Spicy. Stir fried. crunchy. creamy. baked.*

 The options are limitless. Once you find a few recipes you enjoy, you really won't mind eating a few more veggies. I find food blogs are my favorite recipe resources because they show you pictures and have great step-by-step instructions.

Eating too much of the other stuff...

Look at your plate. If it is completely covered in meat and cheese-covered-starch, and your broccoli looks like a charming little garnish then you aren't giving your body the nutrients it needs. We obviously don't have a problem getting our meat, dairy, and starches in! But the more we eat of these, the less we eat of fruits and veggies. MyPlate is an excellent resource for showing us how our meals should look.

You are going to eat what you have on hand so watch what you buy! Make it easy to succeed in getting your 5-a-day, surround yourself with healthy options.

something from nothing: the evolution of a yummy mess

I arrived back at my place today after a very long stretch of being gone. It was so nice to be home. The only problem with coming home is that coming home makes the house a mess (all the dirty laundry and stuff to unpack) AND there are no groceries! {Cause fresh food won't keep for 2 weeks!}

So out of seemingly nothing, I made a pretty good meal.

Behold:

I know it just looks like a hot mess of food...but that is what it was. But look at all that lovely color! And believe it or not,  it tasted great.

Here's what it is all about:

-half can of red beans leftover from another recipe
-full can of black beans from sweet little mom who thinks there is never
enough to eat at my house...maybe she's right...

-one can of Rotel

-2 handfuls of grape tomatoes that were getting a little too squishy
-a few pieces of spinach out of an old salad salad
-Some brown rice
-dash of lemon juice

-2 tbsp of powdered ranch and enchilada seasoning (I would have preferred taco, but I didn't have it.)

Warm it up, and there you have it. A very yummy, very filling, very healthy MESS.

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I have had some big family eating events in the last week.
*4th of July with my fam
*4th of July with Ryan's fam
*Sister's engagement dinner
*2 different family birthday dinners for Ry's birthday
This all means one thing. Animal protein! :)
But the good news is that meat and dairy in fact do not kill people and they taste pretty good. So I had a little here and there. I did miss the excessive veggie celebration I normally revel in...but the people who knew I was a plant eater included a few veggie options. {{Thanks you sweet hearts!}} And at the locations where my alternative eating was not yet known, I brought my own.

Here's some easy snackage that is good at a family get together:
The classic veggie tray. always nice.

Edamame.

 Pass the salt please. I even had some brave relatives try a few.

I have yet to figure out whether they were just being polite. hmmm.

McDonald's Asian Salad.

Gotta give the clown credit on this one.

 I just bought the ingredients at Kroger's (except for chicken)

 and it made a beautiful salad.

 Be sure to use Newman's own Asian slow-fat sesame ginger dressing.

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In closing: happy birthday to my sweet lil man Ryan. He is a big boy now.

I am dating someone in their 30's!!!!!!

Hello Loves!
I made some black bean hummus the other day to take to the fam hang out this weekend.

*1/2 can of black beans (rinsed 4X)
*1/2 can of chickpeas (rinsed 4X)
*1.5 TBSP of tahini
*lots of lemon juice (to taste)
*1 tsp of Cumin
*2 cloves of Garlic
*salt and pepper to taste
*2 TBSP of nutritional yeast (if you have it)
**Water if you need to thin it a bit
-Just put it in the blender till its nice and smooth.-

It tasted great!! Try it!! It is great for dipping raw veggie sticks and of course with chips. I put it in a wrap the other day.

I am about to be out for a few days celebrating the 4th of July with my family then Ry's. :) I will let you know if I find any good plant food while we are having fam potluck. I think it will go smooth with my fam, but we'll see with ryan's fam. They normally have lots of yummy meat and cheese based dishes. lol and I haven't seen them since I started eating differently, and I think Ryan has been too ashamed to mention it to them. Either way it will be great fun.
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Also, I went on a great friend date yesterday. We ate at zaza's which is so great. Not cheap, but it has alot of good plant food that is easily modified. I had a garden pizza with no cheese. ((and some red wine.)) :P It was a marvelous time with my friends Sandee and Trevor. Check it out!!

Thank you Sandee for such a marvelous dinner! I was truly blessed by ya'lls company.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Free at Last!! Back from camp.

So I am back from summer camp. One week as a camp counselor for 11 girls was mad!!! Here are a few of my crazy-babies:

in the cabin

exercising by the lake

this is the girls practicing their dance.

It was so hard. It was the longest week I have had in a while. But I was really proud that I stuck it out and kept a good attitude to support the girls. The day I left camp I had lunch then slept for 5.5 hours, woke up to eat dinner, and then slept for 12 more hours!!

The eating at camp was rough for me. It was a health and fitness camp, so the food was "healthy" according to most standards, but it was still not as healthy as I feel like I should eat. They didn't have a  very big variety of fruits and veggies, and most of the veggies were canned. I didn't want to be a brat or a diva and since they didn't have enough variety to meet my nutritional needs... I just ate what they ate, only less meat and dairy. However, I felt the difference in my body very quickly. But it was nice to not have people look at me crazy for eating differently. Most of them didn't even know I was a plant-eater. ((Some of the folks closer to me are still struggling with what to do with me and my "alternative lifestyle."))
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So today I rewarded myself for surviving camp by going to my happy place. Grocery Shopping!!!!

For the first time I brought my own bag to the grocery store.

I got some FRESH, crunchy, delicious veggies and treats like fig Newman's. I hit those fig newman's the minute I got home. lol I also found some hazelnut butter. I had seen these little packets on other blogs and am so excited to try it...maybe with some bananas?

So dinner was some simply amazing veggie soft tacos. I am not ashamed to admit, I had 3. haha.

The avocados in it were like butter!! yummmmmmmm!

look at those colors

So happy to be back with my veggies, and my Ry, and my favorite blog people (YOU!)

coming out & starting a nudist camp

I had some seriously great tacos last night for father's day. Get a load of this!

These were so good that even my dad liked them!!! He is a major meat&potatoes kinda cat, so they must be good!

I found the recipe on http://www.onesweetvegan.com/. You can check out the official version there. But basically we just through together:
*1 can rinsed black beans
*1 can of rinsed corn (you can eliminate sooo much of the excess sodium by rinsing 4 times.)
*2 tomatoes
*1/3 cup chopped cilantro
*2 zucchini squash
*very finely chopped onions
*1.5 avocados cubed
*Juice of 2 limes
*one chopped orange bell pepper
We topped it with some guacamole and some homemade pico de gayo and it was great! This is another recipe where you can modify pretty much however you like and it still be great!
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Also, yesterday I kindof threw myself a small coming out party and cooked tofu for the first time.

I know you are probably cringing or laughing. I would have too only a short month ago. It was a tofu scramble (as in scrambled eggs) and believe it or not, it tasted fine. The texture was a bit odd for me because it was like really soft scrambled eggs and I like(d) for my eggs to be firm. I won't include the recipe this time, because I seriously doubt anyone is interested in it. lol But as far as "coming out"...

I am officially now a plant eater.

I know we all saw this coming this last month. So what does that mean? Well, I guess that I eat similar to a vegan without having the vegan belief system. I don't eat meat or dairy...so basically, I don't eat animal products. I am not sure where my boundaries lie within grey areas such as veggies that have been cooked with a smidgen of animal product when there is nothing else to eat. But I will figure those details out later. How long is this going to last? I can't promise forever...but for a while.
I am doing this because I feel that is is a matter of design. I believe that pre-fall we were created to walk around naked in a paradise garden eating yummy plants all day. I understand that we now live post-fall world, but after extensive research I know that it would be soooo much healthier for my system to eat in a way that it doesn't have to just "make do." I believe that my health will be able to thrive on a plant based diet. Also, I am now starting a nudest camp in a beautiful garden to continue the idea of getting back to the way we were created. Applications will be posted shortly. ;)
So... now you know. I don't believe that everyone should do it my way and I am not going to be a vegangelical. It is a very personal decision that should be made with much thought and research investment. So lets just make a deal that I will respect your food choices if you respect mine.

 Even though we probably think differently on some subjects, Please still check my blog out for fun ideas on healthy eating. Maybe you can find a yummy side to your meat that will help you get some fruits and veggies in. There will still be some great information here, plus pictures of winston. :)

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 I wanted to let you know that I will be off the air for at least a week. I am going to summer camp!!! (camp counselor)

Rae's Salad dressing

Today I wanted to share this recipe for a salad dressing from my old pal Raelene. Isn't she just a doll?

and I am including this second picture because you can trust a lady who can rock a floppy hat. Now that we have established her credibility, here is her recipe:

"Ok, because I always make different amounts, my measurements are a little sketchy- But play around with it. I'll actually make a batch of it today and record the measurements I use for you.
It's my mom's famous dressing, and people ask her to bottle it- that good.
Ingredients are:
*Extra light flavored Olive Oil (about 8oz)
*Fresh squeezed lemon juice from about 2-3 lemons (about 3oz)
*Fresh pressed garlic (I use about 6-8 cloves- don't worry, it's not too much!)
*I like to add a little fresh rosemary (finely chop sprigs from 1 small stalk)- but it's optional.
*Sea Salt - (couple of tsp to taste)
*Fresh ground Black Pepper - (couple of tsp to taste)

Putting it together:
I use a 26oz pitcher and a small liquid blender that fits down inside of it- I call it my "whir-whir" machine- It blends it all up perfectly. And when blended right, the olive oil and lemon juice almost "whips" into a thick creamy blend- so it turns into a sort of Garlic Ranch dressing. But it is completely natural and SO good for you. If it's too strong for you, tone it down with some water, or more olive oil.

**Oh, and it's important to use the Extra Light Flavored Olive Oil- otherwise the mixture doesn't "whip". If you're using regular olive oil, the mixture will remain oily. Still tasty though!**"

I made this the other day. It was so easy! And yes, surprisingly yummy. The best part is you can alter the amount of the ingredients depending on what you like. I found that it was neither too lemon-y or too garlic-y. It was great.


After I ate this on some salad I used the leftovers as a marinade. I put it in a Ziploc bag with 2 portobello mushroom caps and let it sit overnight in the fridge. With one of the caps I made a burger by just sauteing it till it was nice and warm and soft. I put it on some bread with a few fresh tomato slices and it was delic. Unfortunately, it was so good that I ate it before I got a picture. I totally scarfed it!



For the second mushroom cap:

I dumped the rest of the marinade from the Ziploc into a big pot. I chopped up 1.2 and onion, a couple leaves of kale, and the mushroom cap and cooked them on low heat in the marinade until the onions were soft. Then I put that on top of some wheat rounds (sandwich bread) that were toasted extra crisp. It made a very yummy open face sandwich...I had quite a few of them.

This marinade gave the veggies so much flavor! I highly recommend it. Thanks Rae-rae for sharing! love you!

If any one else has some plant based recipes they would like to share with me, facebook them to me. I am always on the lookout for yummy food.

Eating&Working{out}

Get ready. I got a lot of pics for this one. ^_^ p.s. I found my camera that my sweet little Jordan got me. As soon as I can find a USB cord for it, we will have some better quality pics.

Firstly, last night I got to go on an amazing date with my Ryan. I had SO much fun...also I had so much sake. Are the two related? I will let you determine. I had a wonderful plant based meal with a few non-vegan exceptions. like this one:

P.F. Chang's Chicken Noodle soup. This is one order! Me and Ryan shared it as an appetizer. I picked out the few bits of chicken and put them in his bowl. It kinda had a flavor like hot-n-sour soup. Yum.

I ordered a "vegetarian" dish. Buddha's Feast. The flavor was amazing! It was not a compromise to eat it! And I had a side of spicy green beans which were also epic!

We polished it off with some cake with a berry syrup. I know it probably has eggs in it. But since I haven't set my food boundry lines yet, I figured what the hey!

The cake was good, but after those rockin' veggies, its just had no chance of amazing me.

*I seriously recommend P.F. Chang's for plant eaters. What I had was mind-blowingly delicious & the veggie options are half as expensive as the meat portions so you can order alot! (or sake.) And you will have great leftovers for the next day.

And my sweetie got me flowers. ((blush))

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So I decided I need to get back in the swing of working out now that I am settled in. >>I have spent the last week reading nutrition books, laying out by the pool, cooking great, new recipes, and watching Hulu.<< So I decided to take a jog around my beautiful neighborhood to get acquainted.

The mistake I made was bringing winston. He was so scared of traffic. (poor muffin) And I ended up just literally dragging him. It was a nice little 14.8 pounds of resistance. I finally decided to give him a break and try later by myself. we accomplished the grand distance of 1.1 miles. lol

When we got back into our complex, I took his leash off so he could just walk behind me.

"can you believe this bull?"

So instead of prancing behind me like normal, he wouldn't bend his legs! He was just ever so slowly placing one stiff leg in front of the other. Needless to say, we didn't cover much ground fast. But his protest did add some extra time outside. Oh dear.

I am working on a post with a new recipe, I promise. I am cooking it up now. I just didn't want to give ya'll too long of a post. Coming up next is a salad dressing recipe and some fun stuff you can do with it. xoxo

welcome home!

I thought I would give you a tour of the new place. This is  my living room.

Here is where the magic happens, my charming little desk. If you look close you can see my sweet little streamer with paper doilies at the top.

here is the kitchen

and my bedroom: my friends all know I can't live somewhere without putting up my deer head. Say hello deer!

Tacky, unmatching, pink, 80's pillow cases...what can I say? They made me smile.

and some pictures on the wall.

The bathroom is pretty standard, so I didn't bother. It was so small I couldn't get inside AND take a good pic. Just come visit me and I will let you see it and use it if your lucky. :)

And here I am getting happy with my almond milk latte. I made a pot of coffee and put the leftovers in the fridge. Now for easy iced coffee any time I want, I mix half coffee and half sweetened vanilla almond milk. Does a body good!

I have a great recipe to share with you next time, compliments of my pal Rae-Rae! Come back!!!