Thursday, July 25, 2013

Eight months in

So, I've been a vegetarian for eight months. And right now, it's a bit harder than it has been before. I'm finding that I am having more cravings. I've figured out that the cravings are likely stemming from not eating with nutrition in mind. Between work stress, unemployment stress, and being busy, being healthy slid off my priority list.

And you know what happens then? You feel like crap and make poor choices because you feel like crap. Then the cycle continues (no worries, by poor choices I mean dairy). Being healthy takes work.

Weeks ago I got on a green smoothie kick. But we ran out of greens. So I stuck with fruit. And then we ran out of fruit...so my smoothie became (essentially) a protein iced coffee. Is it good? Yes. Healthy? Not so much.

It was a slow and steady downward spiral. I don't want to be in that spiral. I started getting back on track by preparing a bean salad and mock tuna. This gave me more filling snacks and lunches...and my supper was usually healthy.

I do need to return to being dairy-free though. Dairy definitely triggers my migraines. And these migraines bring on whole new migraine symptoms that I had never before experienced. But the thing with dairy is that it's addictive so I can't typically handle a little bit and stay on track.

Right now the idea of eating cheese grosses me out, so that is a step in the right direction. One foot in front of the other.

Monday, July 22, 2013

Wrapping up

I'm a bit behind in my posts these days. My favourite little person has been keeping me very busy. I had planned to do my blogging while she naps but today is the first time I've been able to follow through with this plan.

I have made very little in the past couple of weeks. It's been ridiculously hot. Who wants to cook in weather like that? Luckily, I have loved ones that won't let me starve.

At one point it was 106 degrees outside. Definitely gross if you are doing anything other than lounging.



(Some) Stuff I Ate


Grilled Veggies
Avocado Fries (they were good!)


Black Bean Brownies (the ones
I could never master) and Coconut
 Ice Cream (very very good, but not
 made by me.
Grilled Eggplant
I have nothing planning for stuff to eat. I've spent 99% of my time away from home and I eat what I've been offered. If this keeps up, I may move in. ;)
 

In the Rest of my Life

  • My garden got weeded. See the before and after pictures below (not pictured is the part they didn't get to. Turns out my gardeners wussed out.)
  • We went to an-almost-local market and melted. I hope to go back when it's cooler.
  • I'm reading the same books, so nothing new on that front.
  • Coming up: I have no clue.
Playing Fort with my favourite
little person. Can you see her?
Before
After




Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Mess making

This morning was rough. I would start one chore and then quickly get distracted by something else. After doing this for a while, I realized I needed some caffeine. I opted to make an iced coffee/protein smoothie.

  1. I attached the base to the jar of the blender
  2. I added ice
  3. I noticed the ice did not occupy much space in the blender
  4. I added almond milk
  5. And as the almond milk pooled beneath the blender, I realized that I did not attach the blades before attaching the base. So, essentially there was a huge hole in my blender planning.

Monday, July 15, 2013

Fat Sick & Nearly Dead

I recently watched the documentary Fat Sick & Nearly Dead. My overall impression is that it is interesting and I hope it encourages people to eat more fruit and veggies. However, I am concerned that viewers will jump on the juicing bandwagon to be part of a fad as opposed to making real long-term changes in their diet.

I know for myself, I'm not about to run out and buy a juicer. And I can't imagine that the juice tastes that great. I will stick to my morning protein green smoothie and that will likely be the closest I get to drinking vegetables.

As an aside, this is post 100! Now I'm off to make my smoothie and move on with my day.

Thursday, July 11, 2013

White Bean & Sweet Potato Burger

 
Let's play a word association game. The word is SUMMER:
  • Hot & sticky
  • No to cooking
  • Yes to BBQing
  • Especially yes to someone else BBQing
  • Veggie burgers

Typically a veggie burger in my world is a processed one from the grocery store. I'm lazy, I've never used a BBQ, and making veggie burgers from scratch sounds time consuming and challenging. Luckily, someone else was up to the challenge. So while I'm blogging about it, I had no part in the making of these burgers.

The recipe we (ha, see I'm already taking credit for the work!) used was found here. It was slightly adapted to include more sweet potato. Reviews around the table (or corner of the table since some of the animal eaters around the table are allergic to all things vegetable) were good. We all liked the flavor of the burgers. And they are pretty and didn't even look that hard to make. Who knows, maybe some day I will even try them on my own. For now, I will share the pictures and take minimal credit.

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Bug Bites & Blisters: Wrapping up (a little late)

The highlight of last week was the arrival of my sister and my niece. I don't get to see them often so it's a pretty big deal. In fact, it's a big enough deal that I was willing to suffer bug bites and blisters to spend time outside with them. It was great to see the other family members too, of course.

Anyway, this isn't really an off-topic post, so I should refocus on the food stuff, right?

(Some) Stuff I Ate:

A mediocre veggie burger at a local spot



Sweet Potato Burger
(recipe review to follow)



Vegan Tales for the Lazy Baker
I'm not sure what this is called,
so I title it: Food Made by
Someone Else


 

Stuff I Want to Eat

I actually have no plans for the week. I'm not sure how much I will be home or where I will be spending most of my meals. If it is at home, I would hazard a guess that I will be having much of the same (grilled veggies, veggie burger, etc). The weather is gross I'm-going-to-melt weather so I have no intention of running the stove.
 
We (Ok, mostly me) are hoping that it cools down enough to follow through with the mashed potato and cookie cook off to prove that vegan food is awesome. And I also plan to make something special for my awesome co-workers. I've made the treat and posted about it before, so don't get excited thinking I'm making something new. I just can't tell you because once upon a time a co-worker had my blog link. I'm not sure that she still reads it, but I don't want to ruin the surprise - just in case.
 

The Rest of my Life

  • In case you missed it, we have visitors this week
  • One of these visitors should weed my garden while she visits
  • I'm still reading The China Study and Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children...Probably because I made it through a super annoying level of Candy Crush and that has been somewhat distracting. Or because I have visitors. Or maybe because The China Study, while mostly interesting, is slightly dry.
  • Coming up: more info on the sweet potato burger (pictured above)
My tiny little visitor

Sunday, July 7, 2013

Strawberry Shortcake

The best kind of baking is divided up so no one person does all of the work. And it's even better if someone else does the clean up.

It was decided that we were going to have Strawberry Shortcake for dessert yesterday. I made the shortcake, my sister and mom hulled the strawberries, my mom did the Nutriwhip, and my sister and grandmother did the dishes (for which I feel slightly guilty but not super guilty because I was having tons of fun with my itty-bitty 19 month old niece).

I started by searching online for a vegan shortcake recipe but stopped quickly because I knew we've made shortcake before and that I probably could veganize the recipe. I pulled out The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook. I'm sure there are newer versions than ours which is copyrighted 1980, but it has been used well over the years.

Anyway, on to the recipe.



Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup of sugar
  • 1 3/4 cups of flour
  • 1/2 cup of shortening
  • 1/3 cup of almond milk
  • 1 egg replacer (I used chia and told everyone I used flax because I have the memory of a carrot. A flax-egg would work better but I ran out of flax)
  • 1 tbs baking powder
  • Strawberries
  • Nutriwhip

 

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
  2. Mix together the sugar, flour, shortening, egg replacer and baking powder. (I had to add slightly more shortening because it was a tad bit crumbly).
  3. Divide dough into eight equal cakes and bake for 10 minutes.
  4. Hull the strawberries and prepare the Nutriwhip (or get someone else to do it!)
  5. Cut the cakes in half horizontally. Serve with cut surface up, add berries and Nutriwhip.
  6. Enjoy!

 

Monday, July 1, 2013

Vegan Tails for the Lazy Baker

Happy Canada Day!!

I decided to celebrate by making Vegan Tails, a modification to Beavertails. You can read more about Beaver Tails here.

And when I say that I made Vegan Tails, please remember that I'm lazy. I didn't make the real thing. For starters, any recipe I found for Beaver Tails requires having yeast. Only real bakers have yeast.

And then there would have been kneading of dough, a rolling pin, and a deep fryer. Those are all kitchen tools and skills that I avoid.

So, what did I make? The next best thing. I made Vegan Tails for the lazy baker.

Ingredients:

  • Naan bread, 2 pieces
  • Oil or melted vegan butter (I didn't measure)
  • 3 tbs brown sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • other toppings of your choosing

Directions

  1. Mix together your brown sugar and cinnamon.
  2. Place the Naan bread on a cookie sheet and brush on the oil or melted butter. It should cover the Naan bread very well.
  3. Sprinkle the sugar topping over the bread.
  4. Bake at 350 degrees....for a while. My Naan bread was frozen and I baked it for 15 minutes or so. You don't really want it to get crispy so don't over bake (types the vague blogger).
  5. Remove and serve warm with or without extra toppings. (I quickly mixed up a small batch of icing to drizzle on top).
  6. Enjoy!