Miss Adventurous

I love trying new things. By and large, I am an adventurous person in my life, and this certainly bleeds into my eating habits. I love trying new food, and I love cooking new food. I'm a passable cook, many of my dishes would even fall under the category of delicious and gourmet vegan fare. As with anything in life though, there are always mistakes to be made. I thought it might be an amusing venture into something a little different to share some food mishaps that haven fallen upon, and at my own hand.

• The oatmeal smoothie disaster of last night. Also known as the smoothie that inspired this blog. I've always enjoyed smoothies with wheat germ and the like, and I have my magic bullet and some frozen berries at home but no wheat germ, and not even any of 'the like.' I decide instant oatmeal is a reasonable facsimilie. I have since decided that it is not. It tasted like drinking really watery, cold oatmeal...but less appealing than what you are imagining.
• Using miso paste AND soy sauce to season my veggies. So. Much. Flavor. Too. Much.
• Who knew you could burn soup? Yes, yes you can. Just leave your hearty, bean based soup boiling while you take a shower. Yup.
• Then there's my ongoing battle with rice. How much is too much rice? How much is too much water? Why doesn't the flavor stick? Why isn't the rice soft? Is it possible that the rice is too soft? Oh crap, why is it black on the bottom? WHY WON'T SOMEONE JUST TAKE PITY AND BUY ME A FREAKIN' RICE COOKER?!
• My personal favorite, however, comes long before my vegan trials and errors. I call it the great brownie distaster of '07. My roommate, his then-stepsister and then-stepbrother and I decided we were going to make brownies, and no one else was home except for his brother who was a sleep. Somehow the lot of geniuses decided to put the mix on a pizza pan that was slotted on the bottom. The brownie mix of course melted and dripped all over the heating element on the bottom which caught fire. We turned the heat down, put the brownie mix in a proper receptacle, let the fire die down. We put the brownie mix back in and turned the heating element up, not realizing we never cleaned it off. Sure enough it started blazing again almost right away. No one panicked, but...no one really helped either. I took pictures. Someone was laughing, my roommate was looking for different food because clearly these brownies were a lost cause. Eventually his brother heard the commotion, wandered in, and jumped to action locating the fire extinguisher and saving us all from far worse trouble in record time. A few seconds later we realized that in saving us, my roommates brother had also doused the brownies in fire extinguisher smoke.

I would love to hear other people's cooking misadventures! Until next time, peace, passion, and love.

Home Made Salad Dressing!

My friend Jodie made this for me last night to go with some greens and sunflower seeds, and I thought it was so good and ingenuisly simple that I made myself a spinach salad tonight just to make the dressing! Most of my recipes leave a lot of leeway for your own taste, and that is intentional. So tweak, and enjoy, or enjoy as is.

::One Part Vinegar (I like balsamic, but pick your favorite)
::Two parts olive oil.
::Sea salt to taste
::Ground Peppercorn to taste
::Garlic, Chives, and Ginger to taste
::Squeeze some lemon and lime juice in there, enough to taste.

Whisk it all together with a fork and drizzle over your favorite salad, or use it to dip veggies in. Enjoy!

Peace and love.

I Completely Forgot to Do My Three Week Review!

Whoops, sorry loyal readers. You know, all seven of you. Yesterday was Wednesday which means two significant things in my life: A week anniversary of stage 1 of my attempted veganism, and dollar drinks at my favorite gay bars. The latter is not very important to this blog.

Week three arrived with no sentimentality, no struggle, not much of anything. Which probably means I'm making progress in adapting this as a lifestyle change.

So the big questions, I'm sure, are answered below. Please contact me if there are additional things you want answered on the weekly reviews, or even in seperate blog posts.

What, in my opinion, am I doing right?
This week, I started introducing a lot of raw food to my diet and am pretty pumped about it. It's not a very original thought, but I always feel so clean and pure afterwards. There have been more than a couple of meals where my meal was a carefully thought out plate of well-balanced fruits, nuts, and veggies and I walked away fully satisfied each time.

Additionally, I started depending a lot less on juices and liquid and my water intake went through the roof. I have no intention of cutting coffee, juice, non-dairy 'milk', or social drinking out of my diet any time soon, but I do think moderation is really important. I only drank alcohol once this week (last night, to be exact), and woke up this morning exhausted but not completely dehydrated with a headache, and I am 100% sure it's because I'm drinking so much water. I have decided to more or less cut milk out now. Mostly because I discovered rice milk, which is lower in fat than a lot of the other substitutes and not very expensive at Trader Joe's. Again, I'm not being very judicious with other people's cooking, reading ingredients, asking how things are prepared at restaurants, etc. and won't be until the final stage, which I expect will take place over the spring. I am being extremely judicious when I make and prepare food myself, and no dairy, eggs, and certainly no meat products are being used.

I also cut way down on meat substitutes this week. Most of them are a lot healthier than the meat variety, but it's still a lot of overprocessing that I'd just rather not take in unless it was unavoidable. Again, I probably will never cut them out completely, but they need to go from being staples of my diet to occasional treats. This week, I think I obtained this and just need to keep it uo.

I cut way back on cheese this week! Again, there was one notable run to that Tex-Mex place we all know and love, and I ordered a sandwich with it on it. That was all!

I've also gotten primo compliments on how I look like I've lost weight, even if I'm not sure I have.

What's not going well?
Actually, the only thing I can think is that next week should mark the end of the Great Cheese Cutback, and I'm honestly not sure I'm ready to move on to no cheese ever. I'm contemplating cutting back to once a week, add a stage. Otherwise I think I'm doing alright. I had a PCOS freak out that ended in having a torte, but that was really about the only large amount of refined sugar that I took in. Cut way back on alcohol, caffeine, processed food, etc. So I think it's just nervousness about the next stage. We'll see how I feel in a week.

Can a Veggie Dish Alone Be Filling?

Yes. It may take a little bit of work though. I am not a big fan of baking or frying (although for the sake of this blog I may, at some point do these things to post recipes for everyone else). I satuee everything. It's easy and quick, with the same amount of prep and clean-up. Often I do satuee up just some vegetables. Today for lunch, for example, I sautueed some spinach leaves, a bunch of snap peas, an orange pepper I chopped up, about half of an onion, a clove's worth of minced garlic (about two tablespoons) and three button mushrooms. I garnished it with some tomato slices on the side. I am currently full and content as I type to you.

The first thing you can do is double the portion size of some of the vegetables. Most are low in fat or fat free, low in calories, and high in nutrients and fiber. So stuff that skillet full! I'd watch some of the sweeter ones because even too much natural sugar isn't the best idea, and I eat a lot of fruit so I do need to watch. The second thing to do is season them. Choose your seasonings carefully of course, too much sodium will bloat you and isn't great for your heart. However, some sodium is perfectly acceptable. Seasonings trigger your taste buds into thinking you're eating more than you are and they fill you up quicker as a result. I used ginger, garlic, and oregano. I added it at different times in the sauteeing process to give the tastes layers. Third, if you are sauteeing, and not just boiling your veggies, you are probably doing so in a healthy but hearty oil. If you aren't, then you should be. I have always been partial to flaxseed oil, today I used extra virgin olive oil. Healthy oil helps you absorb nutrients better, brings out the flavor of the seasonings, adds a dash of flavor on it's own, and makes everything stick together as one dish. If you still think that your meal is not as filling as it should be, then try adding miso paste to your dish. It adds a soy-sauce like taste to your dish but is lower in sodium. Miso paste also adds nutrients and amino acids to your dish. I highly recommend it to almost anything, but not everyone likes the taste so use sparingly if you aren't sure.

Hope this helps!

Peace and love.

Scattered Snacking

Sometimes when I'm doing multiple hour stretches of working from home, it's really hard for me to prepare meals for myself and sit down and eat. If I know I have to work to do, it's just really hard to justify taking that much time out. Lately I find myself snacking fairly scatteredly, and I think I actually feel better and eat more food that I enjoy this way. Today for example, I have had no solid meals, but feel great. What I did have was:

A mixed berry/blood orange smoothie with chocolate almond milk.
The other half of that blood orange
A couple of scattered Trader Joe's not-sausage patties
A sweet pepper
A tiny piece of bread with hummus

I know I will need to actually arrange something more full and satisfying in an hour or so; for now though I think this is pretty good, but it's certainly nothing that would ever be put together as a meal. It's a lot of pure food (with one notable exception), and a lot of nutrients.

Thoughts on snacking versus meals? Please share.

The Fast Food Dilemma

*Note: I had an idea for a blog about restaurant eating, but decided I wanted to break it down further. So without further ado, my thoughts on the 'Fast Food Dilemma' that all vegans (and I would venture to guess that anyone on a restrictive diet) finds themselves in.

One thing that I always said about being vegan, and that I hear people say all the time is "Well, what if you go out to eat? There's nothing vegan there!" I think these fears are amplified in regards to fast food, and for good reason. Fast food places, one in particular, have been sued, have had films made about them, have undergone perhaps justified FDA crackdowns, and have served as the subject for many a sensationalist entertainment news segment. Your fears are probably valid, but they don't have to be an all-consuming "oh, just forget it" notion. I myself, eat out a lot more than I should. Much of this does include fast food. My career and lifestyle has me gone from my beloved apartment in ten or twelve hour stretches sometimes. I obviously have to eat, and I don't always bring enough snacks to get by or make enough food the night before. So, yes, this often leaves fast food as my primary option.

What it boils down to, is that it involves a little creative thinking and knowing how to talk to people kindly. That's all! It's no different than any other restrictive diet. There are almost always options. I am not afraid to ask waiters/cashiers/etc. how things are prepared, and what they would recommend to a vegan. If they don't know, and they may not, do not stress out and do not, I repeat, do not talk down to them because the corporation that they work for may not inform every employee of it's policies. Just thank them for their input, and think. Is there anything on the menu that could probably come without meat and dairy? Is there something you want not listed, but the ingredients are all used in other things? Go for it, ask. 99% of the time, they will be fine with it, and I would venture that 70% of the time there is no upcharge.

And yes, some places are easier than other. I think we all know that not all fast food restaurants are created equal. Many fast food chains have earned their unhealthy reputations. Still, many have not, and even the ones who have, there may be options. So what fast food should you aim for?

The obvious choices are sandwich and smoothie shops. Superfood abounds and many of these places make me very excited! I don't think I even need to explain smoothie shops, so we'll move on to sandwich shops. Even if a sandwich shop doesn't have a veggie or vegan sub listed, they will make it for you, gladly, and it isn't very expensive. The best part is that a lot of these places offer veggies as free toppings and you are more then welcome to just keep piling them on. Additionally there are often options to put in salad form instead or whole-grain breads can be used. You can get variety this way too, just mix up what you do and do not get on it. I love veggies and am not one who needs a ton of variety without getting bored. I understand not everyone is like this, and to you I suggest experimenting with different naturally derived condiments, veggies you've never tried, and combining different options each time.

One group of options that may be less obvious is to try Tex-Mex or other ethnically-inspired fast food restaurants. In regards to Tex-Mex, most of the big chains will do beans in place of meat in any of their regular menu items, and you can always ask to leave the cheese off and ask for extra veggies. Other ethnically-inspired fast food places (and depending on where you live, there may not be many) are actually pretty liberal with their vegetarian or vegan-friendly options, as many Asian, European, and Middle Eastern diets are already pretty healthy. If your favorite one is an exception to this, this is another time to just ask what the best options are and how various things are prepared; if nothing seems satisfactory than just get what you normally would sans meat with extra veggies/nuts/wheat germ, whatever they have. The number one thing to take away from this blog entry is to never be afraid to (politely) ask for what you want/need.

Standard burger or chicken joints are a bit of a beast. I can't tell you how many times I've downed a mediocre (or worse) side salad and fries that I've convinced myself aren't cooked in lard just to keep the peace among meat-loving friends. Some places are better than others, just like anything else in life. My best advice here is just to know and remember which places have decent options and which don't. Some have veggie burgers, some have veggies as side options, some have decent salad options. You just have to remember, and if someone asks how you feel about eating somewhere it is okay to say you aren't crazy about it or not in the mood for it. You don't have to endure ridicule about your food choices (although if that's a real fear, get some new friends. Seriously) if you just say one of those two things. Even before I was a vegetarian, I was never afraid to say "Oh, I'm not in the mood for that, do you mind if we go (fill in the blank) instead?" If they say no (and chances are they won't) then you may just have to come up with some more ideas until you come up with a proper compromise.

I mention the issue of asserting yourself to friends or family who may not want to always eat at healthier places because it's one that I, until recently, have struggled with fairly ardently. The keys to being able to do it with regularity are: A) being willing to compromise and b) remembering that it is no different than how you would treat a friend or family member on a diet; not even on a diet, but if they just didn't like something. My mother hates seafood, would I, even if I wasn't a vegetarian, insist on a seafood restaurant? Absolutely not. Even in recent history, I realize that my roommate is not on this journey with me. We have an unspoken compromise; he never suggests burger joints, and I never suggest strictly vegetarian places if we are going to get food together. Assertive, not aggressive.

So, those are my thoughts on fast food. Hope it was helpful and gave some insight. One day my blog is going to start getting ballsy and naming names...but that day is not today;)

As always, peace and love.

Grocery Shopping

So, what does a "Vegan Transformation" grocery list look like? Well, today I bought the following things (but as I am a little short on cash, I did not get everything on my list. This indicates what I DID buy only). Still, I thought it might be a nice insight:

1) Four different kinds of organic hummus (I'm a total freak, I know).
2) A mix of sweet peppers (only because they didn't have banana peppers by themselves).
3) Organic bananas
4) Blood Oranges
5) Giant apples (I forgot which kind. I let my roommate pick them out).
6) A couple of Luna bars
7) Tea with raspberry leaves (helps with certain PCOS symptom relief).
8) Whole Wheat pasta
9) Organic marinara sauce
10) Organic juice (blackberry crush)
11) Berry blend
12) Chocolate almond milk
13) Giant thing of rice milk
14) Vegan-friendly bread
15) Two containers of organic button mushrooms
16) Fake sausage
17) Meatless meatballs
18) Bag of raw almonds
19) Set of tomatoes on the vine
20) Bag of organic red onions
21) Bag of carrots
22) ice trays
23) Bag of organic baby spinach

I also may have splurged and bought myself a giant smoothie full of pomegranate and berries. It was delicious.

What am I going to make out of this? Well, remember that I still have some ingredients, we don't run out of everything before we go, unless we're really bad off. So between what we have and what I bought, there are tons of options!

I still had some pasta, so I can just saute up some pasta with olive oil and veggies. Smoothies are a fairly new obsession, hence all the fruit. I have some organic cereal. I have rice, again I could throw a bunch of veggies in there. I'm also no stranger to just sauteing up some veggies and potatoes, or even slice them up and eating them raw. I can make fake meatball subs and fake meat and fake egg breakfast sandwiches. Not to mention my flat out obsession with sandwiches anyway. There's also the option of baked potatoes with veggies on the side. Overall I do feel like I get a lot of variety in my meals still. I adore ethnic food and most of it has vegan options. I got a lot, and if everything is stored properly, I should be okay for about two weeks. There are more things I'd like to pick up if possible, but for now I think I'm okay.

Peace and love.

Week Two Check In

Alright, I am really annoyed with Blogger because I wanted to just copy and paste my form from last time and it absolutely wouldn't let me! Oh well.

Week two has been a little harder on me. I feel like I did a lot better, a lot healthier, so I am proud of myself. Even so, it became more frustrating at times. I started to miss pop, and while I didn't miss cheese, the fun challenge posed by most restaurants became more irritating thist time. I don't want to be one of those bitchy vegans or vegans who are constantly putting their friends out, but I'm really running out of options. Then again, I'm also PCOS-ing like crazy, so maybe I'm just crabby.

Let's talk about how I feel PCOS wise though, because it's definitely an upper in the blog entry. In my old blog I did a whole entry about all of the havoc that PCOS reaks on my body. Since a lot of people reading this blog probably did not read that one, I will give you the 'highlights.' They include making it harder to lose weight, fatigue, adult acne, hair loss, PAIN PAIN PAIN, anemia, mood swings, excessive hair growth in other places, etc. Sigh. It isn't very fun. This week it hit me like a mack truck again, and on the first day I almost wanted to go to the ER, but I knew what was happening, and honestly besides putting me on medication I probably won't take, there isn't much they can do.

However, the initial onset lasted only a couple of hours. Hours, not a day, not two days. I didn't lose any sleep and after some hot tea I went about my day normally. I was blown away. I honestly wasn't sure how much good this was doing after only two weeks, but if this is any indication then I am really happy with how things are going. The fatigue has still been an issue. Kind of a big one. I still don't think it's as bad as it was before, but I am really tired. All the time. I know it's not anemia because I'm not cold any more than usual, and I just know how that feels by now. It's just the PCOS. Irritating, but I can deal. Last night I was a little in pain again, but instead of being an all-encompassing "kill me now, I hate my life" pain, it was more of a dull throbbing and constant but medium to low pressure on the lower left side of my abdomen. This might sound annoying to normal people, but to me it was the greatest burst of fresh air ever.

Furthermore, I had a friend tell me that my face looked thinner a few nights ago, I've noticed that my skin has cleared up, and I feel really clean inside and out. I put on a skirt that I was almost ready to get rid of today because the waist band has been too binding, and while it's still a little tight, it fit lower on my abdomen and less tightly at that. It's definitely a keeper as obviously my body is at least changing a little. With any luck in a few months I'll be ecstatic that I kept it!

I don't think my results are typical. I think that my body was just running SO badly that this was a drastic change. This lends itself to a quicker turnaround. I'm still not 100% vegan or a stellar eater yet either, but I'm getting there more quickly than I thought.

So what's different this week as opposed to last week? Well, for starters I cut my cheese intake down even more. I had pesto with parmesan in it one night. I also went to Quizno's, got their veggie sub, and had cheddar on it. I DID specify that I JUST wanted the cheddar, FYI, so it was basically a single slice. Before I would've done the whole three slices (shudders; my old eating habits already gross me out a little). One night that was really bad was when my roommate ordered pizza. Even that was a bit of a triumph for me though, because I refused extra cheese and had basically all of the veggies except olives stock-piled on there. I. Hate. Olives. Period.

But I digress. That was basically it! No cheesy tex-mex, no parmesan in pasta, no parmesan in my pesto except for one night. Additionally, I had only one glass of milk and no other dairy. (Well, that's probably not completely accurate, as I'm not being 100% judicious with my bread or boxed goods yet).

Overall I think it was successful, and honestly, if I can just remember how much better I feel right now as opposed to a normal PCOS attack, I think I'm going to be totally fine. This is way more gratifying than any vice.

Peace and love.

These Are A Few of My Favorite (Vegan) Things.

This journey has been a wee bit challenging in it's second week, but more on that tomorrow. I wanted to just post some of my favorite things (products, brands, general things) that have really helped me stay on track, and why they're good for me. Maybe it will even help some of you add some life back into your own diet.

• Hummus. While slightly higher in fat than I should be eating, it's mostly healthy fat. Additionally it's packed with vitamins, is low-ish in calories, and you can cram it full of other veggies to sneak some in.
• Smoothies! Eating a plant based diet makes me feel wonderful, but sometimes I just don't have time to sit down and prepare this many fruits and veggies in a day. Enter smoothies.
• Onions and garlic. Not ideal date food at all, I am well aware. However, adding onions to your food adds a lot of water, fiber, and a ton of Vitamin C. Garlic is heart healthy, and adding these to your food adds a lot of flavor that otherwise vegan food could potentially be lacking.
• Blood oranges. Delicious, and a very potent punch again of water, fiber, and Vitamin C.
• Trader Joe's! This grocery store is seriously the best thing that ever happened to healthy people. I spent only $25 there and managed to get vegan bread, vegetarian meatballs, wine, vegan foccaccia, really yummy and healthy juice, ginger tea, agave nectar, whole wheat pasta, and coconut milk creamer. Additionally, I saw things I had just bought at a rival store for a dollar or two cheaper on the item and kicked myself. Hard.
• Multi-vitamins. I honestly don't have the time to calculate my food and how much of every good thing there may or may not be in it, and plan and cook accordingly. I think people should do it, but I just can't right now. So I have a multi-vitamin formulated for vegetarian women. I don't think the brand is important, so much as what's in them and how soluble they are. However, there is one thing about vitamins that people don't realize; you need to be drinking a ton of water and eating enough healthy fat for most vitamins to dissolve and be absorbed properly by your body. I am in no danger of this being an issue, but people who are relying solely on black coffee and the carb-ier side of things may not be doing their body any good by taking a multi-vitamin. As such, I also take Omega 3 supplement for vegetarians, just to cover my bases. (And yes, there are such vegetarian/vegan formulas. Check your health food store, or do some googling, find a brand that sounds good, and see what the closest one to you is).
• Miso paste. I loved miso soup already, and this is still my favorite form to use it in. While some forms of soy product are not great for you, miso is healthy for virtually everybody. It regulates your hormone levels, has been thought to prevent many types of cancer, contains a lot of B vitamins, easily soluble protein, and when used with seaweed (like in miso soup and certain miso pastes) it also helps regulate cholestrol and lower blood pressure. I am trying to eat mostly superfoods, but this is one of the most "super" foods I have found. It tastes great when mixed in sauces for veggies, rice, soups, ethnic noodles, etc.
• Ginger root. Any time you majorly change your diet, your stomach may have an adverse reaction at first even if you are being really healthy. This is normal and passes quickly but is still unpleasant. Ginger aids digestion healthily and naturally, and you won't even notice your stomach digesting differently.
• Agave nectar. Lighter than honey, better for you than sugar. 'Nuff said.
• Anything from Cascadian Farms, especially the granola bars and cereal. SO yummy, and completely organic.
• Coffee. I am unable to go completely off caffeine for a number of reasons. PCOS means extreme fatigue sometimes, my body is probably addicted, my lifestyle means a lot of late nights followed by moderately early mornings (and this is a career thing as much as a chosen lifestyle thing), etc. etc. Coffee is really not that bad for you if you don't doctor it up with a ton of sugar and cream. In fact, a lot of studies show that it can help prevent diabetes (which was a large reason I even started this journey), and it is just as rich in immune system boosting antioxidants as some juices. Furthermore, I use creamer made from coconut milk (BEWARE OF POWDERED NON-DAIRY CREAMER. IT IS NOTHING BUT LAB-FORMULATED CHEMICALS AND TASTES TERRIBLE), which is less sugary than other creamer. Just make sure if you imbibe very frequently that you drink a ton of water.
• Other vegan/healthy lifestyle blogs. My friends have been unendingly supportive, but none of them are on this journey with me. The fellowship of the blog stratosphere is the closest thing I've got, but you know what? It's been wonderful.
• Tea! Tea! Tea! Even before I went health nut I touted the wonderful effects of tea on my life. For awhile I was drinking a cup or more of green tea every single night, and I lost about ten pounds that month without even really trying. I got a little lazy, and am trying to get back to it now. Green tea especially should be an important part of your diet. It is loaded with antioxidants, and it kicks your metabolism up a huge notch. Additionally, it is a tasty way to sneak more water into your diet. You still need to drink water, but tea helps get you there quicker. The steam alone can also be really good for your sinuses, any muscle pain, or any chest congestion.
• Minneapolis/St. Paul. While not strictly vegan, there are so many wonderful, healthy, and still affordable options for groceries, restaurants, and general merriment.

That's it for now. I am still excited to be on this journey, but honestly there have been a few more difficult days. I will blog more about the process tomorrow as it marks the end of my second week!

Another Important Blog...

I am still trying to build my own readership, so I said it was going to be awhile before I flat-out pimped out another blog without their knowledge. However, I am not entirely sure that my journey would even be possible without Alicia Silverstone's The Kind Life. I haven't even read her book yet (I'm really holding out for a copy for my birthday next month) but this site has practical information, helpful tips, recipes, other people's stories, etc. It's made anything I need to find really accesible, and even for non-vegans, it's a great site to peruse for eco-friendly product links. Ms. Silverstone and I do share some differences in opinion over certain things (most notably fruit which I think is perfectly acceptable for snacks and side-dishes), and I could never make as many broad statements as she does about how everybody should adopt this lifestyle. At it's heart though, the site is a comprehensive "how-to" that I think will make even more sense after I do read her book. In the meantime, I have tons of product reviews, tips, and recipes right at my fingertips-along with encouragement and a whole community of vegans!

Vegan Pizza Bread

Such a great quick meal, I had to post it. This does require a pizza oven, but I suppose a regular oven would work. Basically I took pesto, spread it on Vegan-friendly bread, and then took fake cheese (use your favorite; I like Daiya shredded Mozzarella style shreds). I then toasted it in my toaster over until the not-cheese melted. You can obviously use a marinara sauce instead but I've always preferred pesto-based pizza. The bonus with the pesto is that it's an olive oil base; not only does olive oil help you absorb vitamins better, but when it heats up and everything starts blending together, it makes the bread tastes like your typical buttery crust.

So, there you go! Enjoy. Peace and love.

Yummy, Filling Soup Recipe!

So, I made up this soup on my own with some of my favorite healthy things. It makes me feel really good and it fills me up, so I'll be making it again. It doesn't have a name yet, but here's the recipe:

1 can of pre-cooked black beans (drain them before putting in pan)
1 can of organic tomato soup
1 can-full of good old-fashioned H20
1/2 can full of veggie broth
1/2 cup of chopped cucumbers
1/2 cup of chopped onions
1/2 cup of snap peas, snapped in half.
1/2 cup of minced garlic (I actually did not do this fresh, so you're fine to not)
1.5 tablespoons miso paste
.5 tablespoons crushed ginger root (or just use 2 tablespoons of ginger root miso paste like I did)
Sea salt to taste, but it shouldn't take very much at all between the miso and the garlic.

Heat until it boils and all of the miso paste is dissolved, let simmer for 20 minutes or so. It makes a lot, so be warned about that! You could probably use half-portions for less.

I had plenty left for myself the next day, but that's a good thing since I get burnt out on cooking after a few solid days of non-stop cooking.

Enjoy my first published, self-created recipe.! Peace and love.

The End of Week One!

or
"Congratulations to Me!"

It is the end of week one, and while I am not quite bursting with energy thirty pounds lighter...I am feeling pretty good. It is definitely worth noting that I also am not exhausted, shaky, and ready to quit. I want to break it down fairly simply, so I'll just make some lists!

Number of times I've eaten cheese this week: 3
Pizza (terrible), a sandwich, and a burrito tonight. Not perfect, but considering my goal is only one bit of cheese a day, I'm actually really proud of myself.

Number of times I've had pop to drink this week: 0
Yep, you read that right. I am awesome. That is all.

Number of additional times I've been tempted to cheat: 2
and it was cheese both times. Once at the bar, which I blogged about, and once tonight at a certain chain fast-food tex-mex place; I did order a burrito with cheese but it could have been so much worse.

Pros of Being Popless:
I'm not thirsty as often. My food tastes better for some inexplicable reason. Most importantly, peace of mind. While I'm not going to see a ton of effects after week one, I definitely feel better now then when I began. Additionally, I know I'll feel even better in a couple of weeks.

Cons of Being Popless:
Only that moment of panic in the convenience store when you realize everything else is more expensive. But eventually you just get over it, buy less, and learn to refill your bottles with water.

Pros of The Great Cheese Cutback:
Pride in myself. I honestly didn't know if I could do this. Now I am 99% sure that I can.
More creativity in my food selection, esp. with herbs.
Price of food; people complain going organic is expensive, but without buying seven different kinds of cheese I am almost positive I paid less for groceries this go-round.
Again, peace of mind.
My body seemes to be working more like it's supposed too. I'd specify, but it might get icky.
Less caffeine gives me more of a kick. Which also means I'm taking in less, which is good.

Cons of the Great Cheese Cutback:
Figuring out what to order in a lot of restaurants is really tricky. It's a little easier with one cheese a day, but still a challenge.
Being hungry more often. I know it's probably better for me, but It's kind of annoying.
Having to cook so much, all the time. I love cooking, but it's really time-consuming to do this all the time.

Surprise!
I don't even miss soda. I really wish I'd made that decision sooner.
Less food fills me up even though I'm hungry more often.
The energy boost was almost immediate. Like I said, it wasn't immediately overflowing, I don't hop out of bed. But considering my erratic sleep schedule, it's amazing that I have an energy boost at all.

Reasons I'm Less Than Proud of Myself:
I still need to work on cutting back on cheese.
I am taking in way too much refined sugar, and healthy fat. I know that healthy fat is...well, healthy, but I think too much still ends up stored as fat, and that I'm not okay with.
Too. Much. Caffeine.
Probably too much beer. Again, in moderation it is shown to have a lot of positive effects, but I think there is roomfor improvement.

Reasons I AM Proud of Myself:
I don't even miss pop.
I've added a substantial amount of new, healthy food and herbs to my diet (ginger root, miso, almond milk, extra veggies, blood oranges, etc) and am fairly reliant on them as food sources.
I've gotten even better at cooking!
I am still avoiding things I already avoided; fried food, etc.
I've found weaned myself off of the typical vegetarien soy-dependency decently. I know soy in moderation is healthy, but I was not eating it in moderation and it can have a negative effect on your thyroid.
I've upped my water intake like, a million percent.
I've adapted to the changes my body is going through decently (the need for snacks, remember to take extra vitamins, etc).

So, I guess that about covers it! Let me know what type of posts you'd like to see next week. Peace and love.

Day 6 of the Great Cheese Cutback

So it's only midday Sunday, but I went all day Saturday and thus far today without so much as a bite of cheese, and I haven't touch a pop in six days.

My roommate and I ended up at a bar last night instead of the sushi happy hour, and I was really worried because my old standby at this bar was artichoke and spinach dip; just full of melted cheese! I was tempted to give in, but I ordered mushroom fries instead.Fried food is in no way healthier for me than cheese, but I also eat it sparingly, and not with the regularity that I was taking in cheese. Today for lunch I had my same sandwich (man, that thing is delicious) with juice that was the healthier kind with veggies blended in there too. I skipped breakfast because I slept really late. Whoops. For dinner I sauteed up some potato slices, snap peas, and onions in olive oil with a ton of garlic, ginger, and basil, and a little rosemary, chilli powder, and chives. It was really delicious! I'm drinking chocolate soy milk; again, I'm also cutting back on soy because it isn't great for you, but I've also had a ton of water and no caffeinne at all today.

So the point of talking about what I'm eating, other than to keep myself accountable, is to compare it to my former eating habits. So, what would I have ordered at the bar a week ago? Probably a clear rum and pop, but for sure the spinach and artichoke dip. So even though mushroom fries and a beer were not the healthiest option, comparitively, it is probably the smarter choice.

As for my meals today, well, my sandwich for sure would've had a ton of cheese on it, and you know what? I don't even miss it. This is very similar to a sandwich I already made frequently, the only difference is the lack of cheese, and I think it tastes better now! The flavor in the hummus really pops, and it's nice to actually taste the cucumbers.

I think the main difference in my dinner is that normally, I would have thrown some parmesan in there too. I don't really miss it, mostly because I have never made this dish before, so I have nothing to compare it too. I probably also would've used butter as well as olive oil, but am really glad I didn't. The potatoes alone are really delicious, but the spices and veggies thrown in make this a meal by itself! I debated heating up some meat substitutes, but I didn't even need them. I have leftovers, so if I get hungry later, that's still a possibility.

Tomorrow will mark the end of week one, and I'll discuss what I think my current strengths and weaknesses are.

No Use in Getting Frustrated!

After my bad morning, food-wise, yesterday I got my act together. I also drank four twenty ounce of bottles of water, so I felt really clean even though I overdid the cheese earlier that day. Dinner ended up being whole wheat pasta with roasted garlic marinara, vegan meatballs that I picked up at Trader's Joes, and foccacia with rosemary and olive oil. Everything was really delicious and I think I actually enjoyed my sauce more without the parmesan taste. Of course, my roommate made it closer to how my mom used too, adding our own ingredients still but also adding a can of tomato paste for thickener (organic tomato paste).

I had another pitfall potential at a friend's house however. People were drinking, and while I am cutting down on distilled alcohol, I'm not cutting it out. The pitfall that I did sidestep however, came in the mixers. All they had was soda. I am very proud of myself however, and did not give in. I simply had a beer or two instead, which was not a great decision but it a) did not go back on my resolution, b) did not have nearly the effect that distilled liquor and pop would have, and c) let me rest a little easier because beer in moderation does have positive health effects.

Today I've been doing great! I had a whole wheat onion bagel and fresh hummus from one of my favorite organic cafes for breakfast. Really caloric still, but I could afford it because it was the start of a busy day. I also had some organic coffee with soy milk and raw sugar. I did notice that my coffee affected me a lot more than usual today, probably because there was less guck in my system slowing it down. I need to be a little more careful, because I started feeling less than stellar after a couple of cups. However, that also means my caffeine boost will come with less. I am fine with this trade off.

For lunch I made another sandwich like the one I posted about before; vegan bread, guacamole, hummus with spinach, cucumbers, and onions. I was still hungry so I had banana and a glass of the milk I wrote about before. Everything was delicious, but I didn't get enough sleep last night and needed a nap. I took said nap, and woke up feeling amazing. I know it might not be just the food changes that have me feeling so great lately, but I do think it helps.

Dinner hasn't happened, but will be later, and at a sushi happy hour. I will probably have a glass of white wine or two with my vegetarian sushi. I know it sounds crazy, but if you like seaweed, I really think good sushi restaurants are great places for vegans to eat at. It's not very expensive, there are usually a few healthy vegan or vegetarian options, and it's really filling. I like the avocado rolls the best, but I've knocked back a few cucumber rolls in my day too. Now may be the time to bring up that I do occasionally eat shrimp. If I feel I haven't had a lot of substantial meat substitutes, as much as I hate killing any animal for food, I tend to see shrimp as the least of the evils. So considering my low protein level today, I may indulge in a shrimp roll or two.

I'm hungry now, and dinner will be late, so I may have a small helping of the leftover pasta from yesterday, but no focaccia. I always try to stick to whole grains, and have for a really long time. This is something I am trying to be really strict about now.

I still don't think I'm eating as healthy as I could be, but I think I'm doing a really good job of cutting out soda and a decent job of cutting back on cheese. It's hard to cut out things that were so important to you at one point without faltering a little in other areas. Even so, the bulk of my diet has been vegetables, healthy meat substitutes, and whole grains. I think I just need to watch my fat and sugar intake a little. I do feel more energetic, and I do feel more clean inside, so I know I'm on the right track. The next few weeks will be about balancing healthy fat a little better.

Whoops.

Sometimes, life happens. Today I way overdid it on cheese. I started off so strongly too! Oatmeal and a banana for breakfast, I felt completely satisfied. Then at work, someone had a few leftover pieces of pizza that they offered to me. Okay, I thought, no big deal. But I didn't feel very good afterwards, and even so for my actual lunch had a small amount of cheese put on my sandwich. Not good at all. However, the sandwich is still a bit of a triumph. I got it from one of my favorite sandwich places, and they usually put a ludicrous amount of cheese on it. I specifically asked for literally a third of what they usually do. I feel really guilty and kind of gross. However, I have only drank water today, and so long as I'm smarter at dinner I will not allow this to affect me. This is a process and I have to view it as such, not beat myself up, and just try harder when it comes to the rest of the day and tomorrow.

Peace and love.

The Importance of Snacks AND What's for Dinner

I am mostly surviving on fruits, veggies, and whole grains now, and am ecstastic about it. However, this means my metabolism has already started doing it's job better, esp. since I've been having a lot of citrus. This is wonderful, and I already have more energy than before. So why the however? It means I am hungry more frequently. A fact that I was unaware of on only day 2 of my journey, and when I had a late lunch, thought I was fine to attend a three hour rehearsal. Nope. Actually, only thirty minutes in to my evening rehearsal I suddenly felt really shaky and hungry. Luckily my business partner was there, and our rehearsal space is above a grocery store, so I had a Luna bar and a trial size Larabar and felt totally fine. If you have never had either, then you definitely should. Luna bars are specially fortified with vitamins and minerals most helpful for menstruating women (bonus feel-good for people with PCOS) but they are delicious for anyone all the time. They taste like cookies, look like granola bars. They are a little more sugary than what I should be eating, but in moderation or if you are actually menstruating I highly recommend them. Larabars are just bars made with reconstituted fruit and with nuts. They are bars, but still a really pure form of food; each bar has 8 ingredients or less, and every ingredient is an actual food and not corn syrup or anything like that. For example, the only ingredients in the peanut butter cookie ones are peanuts, dates, and I think apples but I could be wrong on that last one. I know it's only three. In addition to introducing these two wonderful snacks to you, the main point of this post is to remind anyone who has recently gone on any healthy diet plan or changed their lifestyle that snacks are of the utmost importance. If your meals are not ladled with fat, too much sugar, heavy stuff, your body will react accordingly. It will be hungry more often, but the good news is that it will take a lot less food to fill you up each time! I was totally fine after what amounted to a granola bar and a half.

After rehearsal and the drive home, I was hungry again, so the roommate and I decided he would make peanut rice and vegetables for dinner. It should be noted that he is not on this exact journey with me, but has realized he feels better the better he eats, so we still agree on a lot of meals. He sauteed up some chicken for his, and for both of ours sauteed snap peas, onions, and mushrooms in the same peanut sauce with some extra spices. I am not kidding you when I tell you that vegan or not, it is one of the best meals I have ever had in my life. We intended to have wine with dinner but we broke our corkscrew, so I had the Goji Berry flavor of Urban Detox (I love how clean they make me feel, but because of price it's definitely a splurge item) to drink.

I think the most pleasantly surprising thing so far has been how supportive people have been. My friends tease me just for being a vegetarian, so I really thought I'd come across some resistance now. I think everybody gets that this is really important to me for health reasons as well as other reasons, and are reacting accordingly. It means a lot, so if they are reading...thanks!

Day 2 of Step 1: What's for Lunch?

Just to give people an idea of what a diet change looks like, I will more than frequently just tell you what I'm eating. This might be boring to some people, but I know I am always grateful for the ideas on other diet and vegan blogs, so hopefully this will help others.

Today's lunch was a sandwhich, pretty standard. Mine had a thin layer of guacamole, a thin layer of hummus, spinach leaves, cucumber slices, and onion slices. I was worried it would feel incomplete without cheese, so I threw some Daiyia fake cheddar (made with veggie protein instead) on it. Not enough to bother me if I ended up not liking it, but enough to give that faint cheddar taste. I used vegan whole wheat bread that I got at Trader Joe's, which got the roommate seal of approval as being good bread. I had coffee with lunch, and in leiu of creamer used coconut-milk based creamer which was actually even cheaper than regular creamer. I was still a little hungry even though my sandwich was kind of hearty, so I had a blood orange. These were recommended to me because they are supposed to be really good for busting both belly fat and rheumatoid arthritis if eaten as a regular part of your diet. I haven't been doing it long enough to know if it works, but I love them anyway! I'd never had one before but the color fascinated me. I kept squeezing them to see them bleed! It helps that they were super delicious as well, really sweet and not overly citrus-y. I also decided to take my multi vitamin with lunch so I wouldn't forget. I actually really enjoyed everything. My only complaint was actually my coffee, and it had nothing to do with the creamer. We acquired a cinnamon flavored coffee and the cinnamon taste is a bit overwhelming if you don't use enough creamer; since creamer still has a lot of sugar, I didn't use much.

So, that's my lunch for today! Hope it gave someone else some ideas! Thanks for reading.

What's This All About?

So, you're my friend, or my family member and came here out of good will OR you did some random blogger stumbling and this is where you arrived. Either way, you're probably either confused, curious, or already judging me. Well, this is hopefully where I clear this up.

I am sure the first and foremost question on everyone's mind is why on Earth would I want to go Vegan? While I have long been an animal rights activist, staunch vegetarian, and rebuker of leather, most people still did not see this coming. Those who know me best know I've been mulling it over for years, but due to the cheese addiction mentioned in the title of this blog, along with other habits I was unwilling to part with, I didn't think I could do it. Even so, I followed vegan blogs, read vegan books, tried to incorporate aspects of it into my life. At the end of the day, however, what it came down to is that I was lazy. I object to the way animals in mass farms or treated, but except for donating money once in awhile was unwilling to do anything about it. I voice concerns for my health, but drank soda at every meal; usually meals covered in cheese.

Then, I read something that scared me, a lot. To understand, you have to know that I have long been dealing with both PCOS and rheumatoid arthritis. I read articles from medical journals about both whenever I can get my hands on them, but nothing has really been able to break through to me. Until an article about each, on the same day, linking them not only together but with type 2 diabetes. Due to my family history as well, I realized that beyond a shadow of a doubt, unless I made some major lifestyle changes, I would end up even more sick, and even more broke from dealing with the added illness. I don't know why, but suddenly everything I've been doing wrong to my body clicked. Someone very close to me went vegan for awhile, and his glucose levels were cut significantly and he felt really good, so I had that testimony in my head as well. There are a lot of diets I could have pursued, but I know it will be easier to stick to something that I think is morally right, instead of just a diet. This has to be a lifestyle change, and not just a diet. Veganism feels like the natural next step for me.

However, because I am doing this primarily for health reasons (as much as I do want to free all of the cows), I have to approach it in a way that will stick with me, yield weight loss and positive health results, and make me excited instead of feeling lethargic all the time. So, I am approaching this first of all in steps. Step one is cutting down drastically on cheese. When I say I was a cheese addict, I am not even kind of kidding. I get extra cheese on almost everything, and prior to yesterday when i started this, can not remember the last meal I did not throw some cheese on. So for the month of January, I am allowing myself only one serving of food with cheese on it a day, with a preference of only every other day. Now, anytime you cut something out there is the danger of adding something just as bad back in. I am making a very conscious effort not to do this. I recently went to Trader Joe's, my favorite organic store, and bought only things that I like and are good for me. I think it's really important to make sure you like everything you're buying, otherwise you will not stick to your plan. The emphasis in any lifestyle change or diet plan, I think, should be on focusing on the healthy foods that you do enjoy. For me, this means stocking my fridge with guacamole, hummus, and onions (I know a lot of people they are gross, but I adore them) as well as loading up my fruit basket. Currently there are blood oranges and bananas in there, but I love most fruit.

As a side note, most anyone who knows me can vouch for my addiction to a certain soda as well, sometimes finishing as much as a two-liter a day. No more. Seriously, no more. While this has nothing to do with veganism, I feel it's an important step in my journey and worth noting.

There are exceptions to my veganism. I am already trying to cut back on things not in this specific step like milk, butter, and eggs. Eggs are almost a no-brainer because I actually prefer the taste and texture of egg replacements. Avoiding butter will suck, but it is doable. There are really good brands of earth-conscious non-butter, and some of them are even affordable on my budget. Milk is a little trickier however. I love soy milk, but soy is actually not very great for you in mass quanities. Almond milk is delicious but not always doable on my budget in the amount I need to drink and cook with it. However, my wonderful, supportive roommate found this slightly more affordable milk that I am actually not morally opposed too. I forget the brand, but the cows are not only free range, but the farm averages 35 cows for every 90 acres so they have tons of room. They aren't treated with hormones, and they have a 1% version, so health-wise I'm fine with it. This is the most notable exception, but there may be others along the way.

Now, on to the blog part. Why blog? Mostly to keep myself accountable. I figure if people who trust me and think highly of me as well as detractors and naysayers are reading along about my journey, I'm far more likely to keep up with it. The guilt of cheating will take on a whole new level. These parts of the blog will show my triumphs and pitfalls, let you know how I'm feeling physically and emotionally, etc. This blog is also to help others. Whether someone is just curious, considering veganism themselves, just wants to eat better, or is even farther on a journey then myself, I want this blog to be a touchstone for recipes, tips, brand recommendations, etc. (I would really love to do some paid reviewing of products too, hint, hint, if anyone is out there). I'm also not opposed to interviewing others whose stories are relevant, or having people interview me, etc. I'm all about reaching out and being reached out too.

This blog is NOT intended to indoctrinate anyone or change their minds. Approaching veganism has been a deeply personal journey for me, and I feel, as I said, that this is a natural next step. I will probably always struggle with my weight and health, and I know this. I do not think veganism is a cure-all, but I do think it will help me feel better. Other people's lives have led them to very different places, and I respect that. So follow me, enjoy, and let me know of any content you want to see. I'd love some unique ideas for posts.

Until next time, peace and love.