What better way to start Spring Break than baking muffins and coffee? This muffins I got from my favorite cookbook author and blogger. So my break is finally here and I've enjoyed my evening by taking a loooong nap, baking, cleaning, and packing for my trip to Atlanta this weekend and Cali.
Even though Fridays are my long days of school, today wasn't bad at all. I had a break between my Biochem lecture and discussion and had a chance to sit at Starbucks and reflect a little bit. I always try to look at the New Year's resolutions that I've made and meditate a little on my progress or other areas I would like to see improvement in. I don't know about you but I make resolutions all the time, new ones just about monthly. Some of them are recurring as I they are on-going qualities or things that I want to make habits. I have definitely gotten a few of my New Year's resolutions under-wraps. These were my resolutions to eat a vegan diet and cook more. I have really enjoyed both of these new ways of living. I love that I know what is in everything I eat and that I know it has nutritional value, even my cookies. I am definitely drinking less coffee now than I used to but it is one of the resolutions that needs to stay on my list as a reminder. I've cut back from pots of coffee to simply a cup and not even every day.
Some of my newer or revised resolutions are:
- Meditate: I have realized, especially of late, that I'm pretty stressed. I am very aware of the feeling of stress in my body (normally a tension headache or a tautness in my chest). I really want to work to reduce that. I resolve to spend sometime meditating every day. Whether its 10 minutes or I am able to do a full hour, I want to put my body in a relaxed, efficient state. I will incorporate stretching and breathing into my meditation. Just a few of my favorite stretching poses to turn my thoughts inward to my body and breath rather than the stress of the world around me.
-My lovely sister said this last night while she was talking to her step daughter: "Remember, how do we move? With a purpose." This is the most brilliant thing I've heard in a long time. I'm going to try to get out of this idle state and learn to really move with a purpose in all areas of my life. I'm not talking about constantly running around but being mindful to live an active life. It's hard to get out of an idle state of mind, but I'm trying to take a lesson from my sister who does this so well, and I admire her so much for it.
-The last resolution I'm going to share is one that is seemingly for others but it's really for myself. I have always loved to see other people happy and healthy, especially my family and close friends. So, I have resolved to encourage others and hopefully have a positive effect on their lives. Whether it is giving someone a healthy recipe or smiling at someone. I just think there needs to be more smiles and love. A little more laughing and joy. I of course believe that health is a key component of this because diet and exercise have such an effect on moods and the feeling of well-being. I am overjoyed by the opportunity to encourage someone to work toward a healthier lifestyle. I also resolve to learn from those around me, like my sister.
With all of that said, smiles and good moods are contagious. Dance and sing with your family and friends. Be a little bit silly. Hug a tree if you're feeling over barren and let it hold all the weight for you.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
So, what do you eat?
This is the first time I've legitimately been asked this question about being vegan. The obvious answer would be fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and whole grains in awesomely delicious recipes and combinations. But, I caved under pressure. I've heard of a lot of vegans who on the spot have trouble answering this question posed by our meat-eating friends. I've wondered why that is and have come to the conclusion that we are looking for specific ways to describe who wonderful these foods are to people who rarely enjoy their goodness. We realize that for most people "fruits, vegetable, nuts, seeds, and whole grains" sounds extremely boring. BUT ITS NOT AT ALL!! I love my diet and way of healthy, conscious living. And to me, my diet sounds so much more appealing than decaying flesh, the milk of a lactating cow and the spoilage of that milk people know and love as cheese...
Hello!!
Goodbye.
Hello!!
Goodbye.
Suck it up, Buttercup
This is going to be the week from hell. I have a bajillion tests this week and there is just sooo much going on. AHHHH!! My life is a little too crazy this week. But, if I can just get it all finished then, it will be Spring Break. Quick stop in Atlanta for a tournament and then.... CALI!!!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Vegan Champ!
So, my life has been consumed by food the last couple weeks... like more than usual if you can imagine. I really have been in an off mood and nothing has really interested me except for food and cooking.. I have done very minimal school work... eek. I'm hopefully going to get on top of that this week.
But, since I've been doing a lot with food lately (I wish I had pictures) I'm gonna tell you about some of the yummies I have experienced.
I have recently been in a pinch for money and have been trying to stretch my food dollar as much as I can. So, Friday night I was searching through my cookbooks for something that I could make with the very skimp amount of food in my pantry (there was nothing in the fridge if that gives you any clue). So, I made some lentils cooked with dried herbs and I also made some Jasmati rice to go along with it. After I cooked both of those, I combined them, drizzled flax oil on top and doused in fresh squeezed lemon juice (the lemons were my roommates, shh). Omg.. delicious. It was so easy too. While, I was waiting for the lentils and rice to cook I prepped for making vegan peanut butter cookies to take to Louisville for my volleyball team. They were perfect. gluten-free and incredible. They were the perfect softness and a big hit.
The interesting part of my weekend was going out to dinner with my team and their parents.. It is the first time I've been out to eat since really committing to being vegan. It was interesting but I pulled it off. Of course we went to an Italian restaurant where everything is covered in cheese and butter and all of the salad dressings are made with eggs. Thankfully I had a very well educated server who talked me through some options and I ended up getting a salad with some olive oil and basalmic vinegar and then I ordered a veggie pizza with no cheese. It was great. I ate practically the whole thing. The rest of the weekend I ate lots of fruit, hummus and veggies. It was perfect and I was full the whole time.
Today, I made it to the grocery store before the floodgates opened up on Knoxville. I made enchiladas for lunch. I halfed the recipe and only ate half of that and I'm still sooo full.
On that note, I'm going to try to remember to eat only until I'm satisfied, not stuffed full. This is an obvious way to stretch food dollars.. eat less! Duh! It is just so unfortunate to cook only for myself. Because I like to cook new things everyday but I always have leftovers. I am trying to half recipes and such so I don't waste any food and still can eat a lot of variety.
Anyway, tomorrow night it's lemon garlic pasta and caesar salad. : ]
But, since I've been doing a lot with food lately (I wish I had pictures) I'm gonna tell you about some of the yummies I have experienced.
I have recently been in a pinch for money and have been trying to stretch my food dollar as much as I can. So, Friday night I was searching through my cookbooks for something that I could make with the very skimp amount of food in my pantry (there was nothing in the fridge if that gives you any clue). So, I made some lentils cooked with dried herbs and I also made some Jasmati rice to go along with it. After I cooked both of those, I combined them, drizzled flax oil on top and doused in fresh squeezed lemon juice (the lemons were my roommates, shh). Omg.. delicious. It was so easy too. While, I was waiting for the lentils and rice to cook I prepped for making vegan peanut butter cookies to take to Louisville for my volleyball team. They were perfect. gluten-free and incredible. They were the perfect softness and a big hit.
The interesting part of my weekend was going out to dinner with my team and their parents.. It is the first time I've been out to eat since really committing to being vegan. It was interesting but I pulled it off. Of course we went to an Italian restaurant where everything is covered in cheese and butter and all of the salad dressings are made with eggs. Thankfully I had a very well educated server who talked me through some options and I ended up getting a salad with some olive oil and basalmic vinegar and then I ordered a veggie pizza with no cheese. It was great. I ate practically the whole thing. The rest of the weekend I ate lots of fruit, hummus and veggies. It was perfect and I was full the whole time.
Today, I made it to the grocery store before the floodgates opened up on Knoxville. I made enchiladas for lunch. I halfed the recipe and only ate half of that and I'm still sooo full.
On that note, I'm going to try to remember to eat only until I'm satisfied, not stuffed full. This is an obvious way to stretch food dollars.. eat less! Duh! It is just so unfortunate to cook only for myself. Because I like to cook new things everyday but I always have leftovers. I am trying to half recipes and such so I don't waste any food and still can eat a lot of variety.
Anyway, tomorrow night it's lemon garlic pasta and caesar salad. : ]
Monday, February 21, 2011
Bi-polar
When I wake up some mornings I just have no will to carry on through the day. That was this morning. I was utterly depressed upon waking. So, I skipped class and made vegan pancakes instead! They were wonderful. I ate too many because no one was home for me to share with unfortunately. Cleaning is normally a go-to activity when I'm feeling low and that definitely helped.
The jump start to my day was definitely when my new friend that is living in Berkeley at the moment text me and told me to get my butt moving because I'm supposed to go climbing with him when I go to Cali for Spring Break.
...
YES! BERKELEY FOR SPRING BREAK!!!!
...
I bought my tickets today. : ] So, I went for a jog and it was really great to see some other physical changes in my body from my vegan diet. I ran 4 miles. It was beautiful, albeit very windy, outside today and so I just went for it. When I was running often, I would often lose my breath while running before my legs actually were too tired. But today, I was breathing fine, it was just my lack of muscle that was making the run a little tough. That was so great to feel my lungs working well and not have phlegm in my throat making it difficult to breathe (that mucus comes from dairy, hence why most singers don't drink milk).
That really put me in a better mood. I finished up some leftovers tonight and while I was examining my fridge and pantry I realized I have very few items in either place. I'm trying not to spend much money so I am extremely pumped about the fact that the few items I have will work perfectly together to make a great pasta for dinner tomorrow. Sundried tomatoes, onions, garlic, green olives. I have chickpeas and am going to do some research to see if I can make a creamier sauce with chickpeas and oil and some lemon juice/zest. I think creamier would be better for me tomorrow. I have no clue what breakfast or lunch will be. I guess pancakes again for breakfast because that's really all I have and then an early dinner before practice.
I'm pumped about food. I'm really glad for good friends (one of which is hopefully moving into my room tomorrow to keep me from going insane with my thoughts) and for new friends.
So, in the end, it's been a pretty good day after all. : ]
P.S.
I watched a ton of documentaries yesterday. Please don't shop at Wal-Mart or other corporate giants like that, and pay attention to the amount of water you use because a lot of people don't have clean drinking water and Earth's supply of fresh water is decreasing due to humanity's carelessness. : [
That's all.
The jump start to my day was definitely when my new friend that is living in Berkeley at the moment text me and told me to get my butt moving because I'm supposed to go climbing with him when I go to Cali for Spring Break.
...
YES! BERKELEY FOR SPRING BREAK!!!!
...
I bought my tickets today. : ] So, I went for a jog and it was really great to see some other physical changes in my body from my vegan diet. I ran 4 miles. It was beautiful, albeit very windy, outside today and so I just went for it. When I was running often, I would often lose my breath while running before my legs actually were too tired. But today, I was breathing fine, it was just my lack of muscle that was making the run a little tough. That was so great to feel my lungs working well and not have phlegm in my throat making it difficult to breathe (that mucus comes from dairy, hence why most singers don't drink milk).
That really put me in a better mood. I finished up some leftovers tonight and while I was examining my fridge and pantry I realized I have very few items in either place. I'm trying not to spend much money so I am extremely pumped about the fact that the few items I have will work perfectly together to make a great pasta for dinner tomorrow. Sundried tomatoes, onions, garlic, green olives. I have chickpeas and am going to do some research to see if I can make a creamier sauce with chickpeas and oil and some lemon juice/zest. I think creamier would be better for me tomorrow. I have no clue what breakfast or lunch will be. I guess pancakes again for breakfast because that's really all I have and then an early dinner before practice.
I'm pumped about food. I'm really glad for good friends (one of which is hopefully moving into my room tomorrow to keep me from going insane with my thoughts) and for new friends.
So, in the end, it's been a pretty good day after all. : ]
 | ||||||||
| Water Scarcity in India (boddunan.com) |
P.S.
I watched a ton of documentaries yesterday. Please don't shop at Wal-Mart or other corporate giants like that, and pay attention to the amount of water you use because a lot of people don't have clean drinking water and Earth's supply of fresh water is decreasing due to humanity's carelessness. : [
That's all.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Gluttony
I ate waaay to much pizza and waaaay too many brownies tonight. This was my first endeavor with vegan pizza and brownies. The brownies are totally awesome (perhaps too awesome), and the pizza was great too. Next time I have pizza though, I'm definitely making my own crust and I'm leaving off the vegan cheese. I've never had a vegan cheese until tonight and it just didn't make me feel that well, it was too melty. But, yes, my own crust because I want something less processed and no cheese, I had enough veggies.
Natalia LOVED my vegan brownies and asked for the recipe. I'm so glad they turned out well.
I watched another documentary on food and medicine. I love those because they give me encouragement for my lifestyle.
I want to try to eat more raw foods for my health..
Sorry, I'm a little scatter-brained right now. This was a weird post.
Natalia LOVED my vegan brownies and asked for the recipe. I'm so glad they turned out well.
I watched another documentary on food and medicine. I love those because they give me encouragement for my lifestyle.
I want to try to eat more raw foods for my health..
Sorry, I'm a little scatter-brained right now. This was a weird post.
Panini Pizzas!
So, this week has been a really wonderful one. I sort of feel like I'm coming down from a high though. The weather was awesome this week, and it put me in an extremely good mood. On Tuesday I made brussel sprouts with some red bell pepper, water chestnut and rice. I could probably do without the water chestnut next time but the brussel sprouts were awesome. I don't know how they've gotten such a bad rap.
Wednesday was just leftovers (aka. cookies!!) and then I stayed at my parents' house for the night. My mom and I watched Oprah and had some good conversation. She is starting to be more supportive and understanding of my decision to be vegan. I'm very glad for that. The main reason I went to stay there was on Thrusday morning my mom and I mad VEGAN PANCAKES!! My mom loves pancakes and I thought that would be cool for her. They were delicious! They were thinner, more like flapjacks, but they tasted great, were gluten-free and whole grain. She loved them.
I'm extremely tired. I didn't sleep much last night, but I got one of my cookbooks in the mail (the others should come today) and got to look through that last night.
Weekend plans:
Tonight I'm making pizzas and brownies with Natalia and Julia. I really wish Leah were home to join. Vegan brownies are going to be awesome!! After my lab I'm going to do a quick coffee detox and clean up my room a bit, then Natalia, Jules and I are going to the grocery store (the co-op, Earth Fare and probably Kroger for the non-foodies) to get ingredients. I haven't had vegan pizza yet and I can't decide if I want to just cover my pizza in veggies or put a little vegan-rella on top.. hmm. I'll decide when it gets to be crunch time. Natalia doesn't know about the co-op yet so I'm excited to take her there. She will love it! I hope that she will get to be vegan or even vegetarian someday. That would be cool. She'd really enjoy it.
I want to have a chard salad with my pizza tonight but I'm not sure what to drizzle on my greens so I'll have to do some quick research for that.
I think we're going dancing after our food digests and then tomorrow is all about some exercise! I have practice and I'm going to run because I'm a wimp now. I may even head out to Farragut to run tomorrow since my dad needs to change 2 of my lights on my car. Hmm.. homework alllll day on Sunday. And probably more food.. : ]
Wednesday was just leftovers (aka. cookies!!) and then I stayed at my parents' house for the night. My mom and I watched Oprah and had some good conversation. She is starting to be more supportive and understanding of my decision to be vegan. I'm very glad for that. The main reason I went to stay there was on Thrusday morning my mom and I mad VEGAN PANCAKES!! My mom loves pancakes and I thought that would be cool for her. They were delicious! They were thinner, more like flapjacks, but they tasted great, were gluten-free and whole grain. She loved them.
I'm extremely tired. I didn't sleep much last night, but I got one of my cookbooks in the mail (the others should come today) and got to look through that last night.
Weekend plans:
Tonight I'm making pizzas and brownies with Natalia and Julia. I really wish Leah were home to join. Vegan brownies are going to be awesome!! After my lab I'm going to do a quick coffee detox and clean up my room a bit, then Natalia, Jules and I are going to the grocery store (the co-op, Earth Fare and probably Kroger for the non-foodies) to get ingredients. I haven't had vegan pizza yet and I can't decide if I want to just cover my pizza in veggies or put a little vegan-rella on top.. hmm. I'll decide when it gets to be crunch time. Natalia doesn't know about the co-op yet so I'm excited to take her there. She will love it! I hope that she will get to be vegan or even vegetarian someday. That would be cool. She'd really enjoy it.
I want to have a chard salad with my pizza tonight but I'm not sure what to drizzle on my greens so I'll have to do some quick research for that.
I think we're going dancing after our food digests and then tomorrow is all about some exercise! I have practice and I'm going to run because I'm a wimp now. I may even head out to Farragut to run tomorrow since my dad needs to change 2 of my lights on my car. Hmm.. homework alllll day on Sunday. And probably more food.. : ]
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