Ramblings...

It's been a GREAT day today! I'll post more about that later, with pictures, but something is on my mind...

My hubby and I are having a date night tonight. And we are wanting to go to this really awesome Thai restaurant we've frequented before. And I want this shrimp dish he got last time. Really bad.

I'm thinking that makes me not so much a vegan! LOL But I'm okay with that. I really don't want a label anyways. Or the label I'll take, want to achieve, is a "healthy, balanced, sane (LOL) eater"

What veganism HAS taught me the last 6 weeks is my body can and does feel great on a plant based diet. My body responds well when I put good things in my body, and take care of my body thru vigorous exercise. I am worth taking care of.

I'll be back later, with pictures of the delish shrimp dish I am going to enjoy! :)

Black Friday!!!

This is the first Black Friday that my mom and I haven't gotten up at the crack of dawn for this:

We typically just enjoy the hustle and bustle of everyone, sort of our kick off to a wonderful holiday season. But this year, since I've pretty much had all my Christmas shopping done, and I get up at 4:45am every other day of the week to go workout, I decided to stay home instead with my family!

I made us some Apple Cinnamon Flax Pancakes for breakfast! These were awesome. My kids didn't particularly like them, but that's not because they weren't incredible. I'm having a battle over food lately with my youngest. He is by far my more picky eater. It's the war of the wills right now. He is not adventuresome when it comes to eating new foods. He's particularly fine with eating the same thing everyday, that he knows he likes.

A little later in the day I got a bit hungry and I decided to make myself some chocolate Almond Milk using this product.
I didn't particularly like it. I guess I was expecting your old fashion chocolate milk taste. That's not what I got. If you drink this, how do you prepare yours???
For lunch I decided to make some Spinach Pies. While I was prepping the pies I got hungry, especially since the chocolate milk thing didn't go over so well, and munched on carrots and about 1/2 the tub of Sabra Roasted Red Pepper hummus! YUMMY!
To make the pies (which are super duper easy) I use one large bag of frozen (thawed) spinach leaves. Chop up one small onion. Juice of 2 lemons. Mix together.
For the dough I use the low fat crescent rolls (if you have a better suggestion I'm all ears). I roll each triangle out to make it larger. Place a large spoonful of spinach mixture on top.
Fold dough over on one side and pinch close.
Fold the other two sides over as well, pinching close.
Bake them on 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown.
These are so good. I actually ended up eating FOUR of them! For some reason I have been ravenous today! I was going to make a salad to go along with it but after shoving 4 in my pie hole I got momentarily full and decided against the salad!
All day today I have been so hungry. Like my body used to feel all the time. I know I shouldn't be hungry based on the number of calories I've consumed so I'm guessing that it's actually my body searching for a nutrient that I haven't given it today. Looking back on my eats so far I realized that it's VERY HIGH in carbs, and pretty low on veggies and greens! So I made myself a big ol' green monster!A LOAD of kale, banana, 2 scoops of Chocolate SuperGreens and water. Added it to my wine glass again...just feeling in the mood lately to drink from that cup. It just makes the drink FEEL special! :)

I was still in a baking kinda mood, and we were out of our granola bars, so I decided to make more of THESE except this time I decided to make them chocolate berry bars. I added the chocolate supergreens again (probably 1/4 cup), vegan chocolate chips and dried cranberries.

They turned out INCREDIBLE! So good for you too! Excited about having a bar tomorrow!

There have been many of you that I see that are stopping by my blog lately...but you're remaining quiet! :) Come on out...I'd love to hear from you!

Question for you all, especially those with kids: what do you do, or what have you done, especially with a picky eater to convert them over to a more vegetable based diet? I'm not expecting them to become vegans, or even vegetarians (Daddy also still loves meat) but I don't cook two meals. Therefore, when we are eating meat I just don't grab a portion of it for my plate, but when the main dish is vegan, I expect them to eat it, or go without. I've had many a tears lately, but it's just not something I'm willing to give on. I've NEVER been a mom that will cook two meals, vegan or not.

So what do you do for your family??

I survived!!

Well...I survived my first Thanksgiving without eating ANY turkey or anything laden with cream, butter and pork lard! LOL I did get a wee bit of the Spanish Inquisition during meal #2, and I'll tell you more about that...but let me share some pictures from my preparations pre-Thanksgiving!

First...I can't start talking about Thanksgiving without sharing a picture of my favorite part of my life....my boys!

We always have two Thanksgiving meals. The first is in a small country town that my husband's mom grew up in. Several generations of family, included extended cousins, aunts, uncles, and MANY people we have no idea who they are, gather together around noon and have ourselves a big ol' time. These are country cooking folks. No waistlines are considered when eating here. In years past I'd be licking my lips to get to the meal...good stuff! Or so I thought!

Funny story though...I'm here in this small town and the conversation comes up from my sister-in-law that she heard from someone else that there is this blog called "Chocolate Covered Katie" that she said has lots of great healthy recipes! Katie...your infamous, even in remote parts of the USA, your name is sparking up during people's Thanksgiving meals...too funny!

For this stop on our Thanksgiving tour, I decided to bring some marinated tomatoes. Included is red tomatoes, yellow peppers, sweet onions, fresh basil, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, EVOO and a tsp of agave nectar. I let them marinate overnight...this was a GREAT dish. So glad I brought this b/c it was THE ONLY raw thing on the VAST table to eats!

Little side note: While I was doing all the Thanksgiving prep on Wednesday night, this was the kids dinner: Thai lettuce wraps and organic blue chips! :)
While I was cooking I decided to have some of this. I've heard so many people drinking these that I thought I would give it a whirl! I had no idea what flavor was the best, or most popular. I ended up popping open the cosmic cranberry one first and poured it into a wine glass. Note: Do not shake this prior to opening. I learned the hard way.
Is it just me or do these taste very vinegary?? I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't what I tasted. I ended up putting a few sprinkles of Stevia in it and enjoyed it much better that way. What say you? What's your favorite flavor? Do you drink it the way it comes? Do I just need to bear down and stop being whimpy? Does it matter if I doctor it up?
Then I got on with business and made some really yummo things! First I decided to use the Raw Chocolate Fudge Babies recipe as a crust for a Raw Chocolate Berry Pie!

First I blended up all the Fudge Baby ingredients and poured it into a pie tin. Press it down evenly, packing it as firmly as possible.
Then, to make the "syrup" that goes next I blended several fresh strawberries, a few dates and a 1/4 cup of water.
Pour that in the bottom of the pie. The night before I had sliced 2 pints of strawberries up and sprinkled some stevia over them and a tad of water and allowed them to "marinate". Next, arrange the berries over your syrup in whatever fashion floats your boat!
I decided to sprinkle a few vegan chocolate chips over the top too!
Here is a piece I sliced up for myself last night. It was sooooo good! Everyone raved about it and couldn't believe it wasn't bad for you! :)
Next I made Angela's This Ain't Granny's Sweet Potatoe Casserole. This is OUT OF THIS WORLD GOOD! And so easy too!

This picture is prior to cooking, so the top isn't nice and golden and glowing!
I also made a favorite...broccoli cashew salad. The ingredients included: two heads of raw broccoli, 3/4 cup of raw cashews, organic raisins and cranberries. For the dressing I used vegannaise, apple cider vinegar and agave nectar all blended together and then poured over the top.

Here is my plate at meal number one: pole beans, green beans, marinated tomatoes, Ain't Granny's sweet potato, cup of fruit! This meal was so satisfying. I did not miss out on anything as far as my palate or my tummy is concerned. I felt GREAT! While everyone else was moaning about how stuffed and tired they were, I felt like a million bucks!

Always for meal number 2 we go to my Dad's house and eat again. I had escaped any type of questions about my food preferences these days while at meal number 1. We were all scattered about and everyone eating at different times since there were so many to go thru the meal line that no one seemed to notice that my plate was missing the customary bird!

However, at my dad's with a more intimate setting, it didn't go unnoticed.

I really didn't want to draw attention to myself. I haven't even told my mom about how I've been eating...and we are really close. I know I even used to have this stigma about vegetarians, especially vegans, and I was sure they wouldn't understand. At one point my dad says to me "now I don't want you going and getting all unhealthy on me!" I about laughed and cried at the same time! REally? Are you kidding me! I am eating about as healthy as I have EVER eaten! I assured them that I'm eating ample food, quite the variety, color and taste and that they have nothing to fear. The inquisition only lasted about 5 minutes, for which I'm thankful. But there were a few turkey jokes and some bantering with me about them shoving in some meat in their mouths. Overall though they know I've got a sound mind on my shoulders and were accepting of my new decision. I'm hoping to inspire some of them with my results and how I feel.

The day went really well. It was the first Thanksgiving where I didn't come home miserable and with a belly ache. I'm no longer fearful of the holidays and what they mean in terms of an expanding waist line. Now I can truly just focus on enjoying the parties, the people, my family and friendships.

How was your Thanksgiving? What type of comments did you get from your healthy food choices?

Proof is in the pudding!

Or I guess in THIS case, the Almond Milk. LOL

Warning...we're about to get reallllllly up close and personal here folks! But I can't help it. I think there is power in pictures. I know I love it when I see real proof, in living color, polaroid print before and afters. It's motivating. Even motivating for myself to look at my own progress and want to keep going!

For the past 6 weeks I have basically transitioned over from a typical carnivore diet to a VEGAN eater. Has it been hard? NOT AT ALL. Seriously. It has been so very easy. It's crazy how easy it has been. I have had the kid's halloween candy (and I mean the good stuff) sitting on my kitchen counter and not ONCE have I been remotely tempted to eat any. And it's not because I have this Iron Will Power or anything. My body has detoxed all the processed sugars out of it's system and therefore no longer craves those types of foods. It now CRAVES good stuff. Honestly. I really have had no craving for junk. I don't miss it, it sure doesn't miss me.

Does this mean I no longer want sweets? No! I do get a hankering for something sweet. But usually a few scoops of Coconut Milk based icecream, piece of dark chocolate or some almond butter on a banana does the trick and I'm good to go. The GREAT part about eating these types of sweets vs. what I would crave in the past is that it doesn't create this vicious cycle. Because these foods do not have processed white sugar (aka CRACK) they do not create a monster inside of me that says "more, more, more"! It's great!

My husband has been FULL of compliments lately, it seems like every day there is something he is raving about. Yesterday he called home in the morning ONLY to tell me that he could really tell how my body is changing and how good I'm looking! Then today, we met up for lunch, and from across the table he told me my skin was glowing! Love that!

So anyways, I guess you are interested in getting to the pics by now, huh? Okay, enough already! :) I'm pretty excited to show you actually. I mean, not that I am now plastered on the internet in my bikini, but with the results I have gotten, so easily, so fast, following a vegan lifestyle, I hope to encourage perhaps one of you to give it a try!

I would encourage any of you that are willing to try....just do it! You may think you are going to be "giving up" so much, but you won't be! Instead I'm gaining so much more! I eat such awesome food, my skin glows, my clothes are getting baggy on me, I'm more experimental in the kitchen, I feel lighter, more bubbly and it doesn't hurt that my husband thinks I rock!

These pictures were taken 5 1/2 weeks apart!

I can only imagine how my body will morph by the time I hit the 6 month mark, 1 year mark, etc! I'm so happy that I'm feeding my body well, that it is responding, and thanking me for it!

Wanna join me???

Happiest Place on Earth????

Yesterday we went to Disney with some friends from Alaska that have never been before! How cool is THAT to go there and see things thru their eyes! We were all very excited.

We got their around 9:30am, purchased tickets, got strollers to make walking around the park with 4 boys easier, had all of our prepacked goodies in tow and we were off!

It's so hard to pack what I normally eat, since it is usually volumes of greens, but I didn't want to be caught empty handed and forced to eat something I'm not comfortable eating. I packed us several water bottles (froze 2 of them actually first to keep everything else cool in the lunchbag), a baggie of my homemade granola I like to make, 2 small almond butter and banana wraps, an apple, and a Supergreens Raw Chocolate Bar.

Once lunch got around I was really wanted a salad though. The thought of all that sweetness and fruit wasn't appealing to me. However, every where we went they had premade salads either loaded with cheeses or meat. Not an option for me.

I did end up finding a vegetarian wrap. Of course it was "Disney Priced" aka loads of money for small amount of food. It did "look" like a lot of food, all wrapped up in the ww tortilla. I wasn't that interested in the tortilla though and decided I would unwrap it and eat the insides with a fork. Inside was some lettuce, some type of black bean salsa and some hummus. Once I unwrapped it and laid it on my plate it was pitiful how little of the good stuff they actually put inside those things. There was MAYBE 1/2 cup worth of veggies to eat. All for $8.00!

I did end up eating throughout the day the rest of my goodies, and I'm so glad I packed things to bring along. I really wish The Happiest Place on Earth would cater more towards the vegetarian crowd. We did find out, too late to get reservations at however, that The Liberty Tree Tavern has several vegetarian meals on their menu. Reservations are some times booked up months in advance though! Jeesh!

So in case I forget to pre-book our dinner reservations for our next visit I'll need to come up with several more ideas to bring with me. I'm curious about some of your lunchbox vegan eats you bring with you when on the go?

Please share! I'd love to hear from you!!!

Green eyed Monster Returns!!!

Yesterday was a great day! I have some friends come in that I actually "met" thru the internet world over 9 years ago! We finally got to meet and hang out. It was awesome!

In the morning I had my customary oatmeal and apples mixture. Still loving that! By 10:00 I usually get hungry again and opted for my homemade granola of Kashi/Raw Granola/ dried cranberries & raisins/ chocolate chips. It doesn't take much and it REALLY fills me up, and keeps me full for a long time!

Lunch time rolled around and I knew I needed to eat, but I just really wasn't that hungry still. So I opted for one of these....the ol' Green Monster Shake! In this shake was a humungo heaping of kale, spinach, banana, pineapple and water!

Our friends were eating dinner with us last night, and by the time we got home from the park with all the kiddos I was starving@!!! I whipped up an incredible meal if I do say so myself!!!

We had Cuban Style Sweet Potatoes from Alicia Silverstone's "The Kind Diet Book". I eat this recipe a lot...it's an awesome mix of sweet and bitter. The ingredient list is super easy too...sweet potatoes, lime, garlic, EVOO & parsley!
I also roasted some vegetables. Got this recipe from Tosca Reno's "Eat Clean" Cookbook. It's NOT a vegan cookbook, but there are a lot of vegan recipes and ones you can adapt to a vegan lifestyle. This is the first recipe I've done out of the book since I just got it, but many that I plan on making. This recipe included zucchini, roma tomatoes, purple onion, leeks (which I didn't have), yellow pepper, thyme, rosemary, garlic and EVOO.
I paired it with a nice garden salad...
Then once all the dishes were clean I got the hankering for something sweet. I opened the freezer and found this! Just the right amount...few bites and I'm gooooood!
Have to add this to my grocery list since it is now history!!! Sooooo good!

Woot!!!!

Today is starting out on the right foot! :) It was weigh in day.... I've lost another 2 lbs. making my total 11 pounds on the nose! Woot woot!!! I've easily got another 7-10 lbs I'd like to lose, but this is the EASIEST way I've ever lost weight before. AND...best of all I feel fantastic, not deprived!!

Yesterday I had my normal breakfast of oats, granny smith apples, cinammon, dates and flaxseed. Wonder if I'll ever get tired of that breakfast??? Nah! it is just so good, and so filling.

We all went to church and I wore this really cute bright pink blouse with a black pencil skirt. One that has been sitting in my closet collecting dust for a while now. Let me tell you....I must have gotten 30 compliments, even from total strangers yesterday in that outfit. I might just have to wear that EVERYWHERE now! LOL I felt good best of all. THAT's a great feeling.

After church we were all starving so we picked Jason's Deli to eat at. Do you all have a Jason's Deli near you??? The salad bar ROCKS! I unfortunately didn't take any photos of my salad before I wolfed it down but in it I had Organic mixed greens, spinach, peas, chickpeas, kidney beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, onions, red peppers, hummus, broccoli, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds and this really awesome Organic low fat french dressing. It was SOOOOOO good! I love that my salad usually resembles some monstrosity that is going to topple over if I don't eat it...quickly! All those glorious nutrients just waiting to be consume. Hmm, hmmm, good!!!

Last night I had every intention of eating dinner with the family, even had it all prepared and then a friend of mine, in from Alaska (who was actually going to stay with us but has children that vomited on the plane and opted for a hotel room instead...thank you!) called and wanted to meet up for dinner.

So I finished up the meal I prepared for the family and headed out.

I left my family with a hearty spaghetti dish that I was really eyeballing, excited about left overs for today.

First I browned up a packaged of Tofurky italian sausages (ha ha...take that hubby...let's see if you realize you are eating tofu in these babies!!!)

I roasted some tomatoes to bring out their flavors....
Added a jar of marinara sauce, tomato sauce, sundried tomatoes, onions, the tofurky and roasted tomatoes to make up the sauce. It smelled divine and the wee taste I had was even better!

I was going to do some zucchini pasta for myself if I had eaten at home, but since I wasn't staying I just boiled up some whole wheat pasta for everyone else instead.

The hubby said everyone enjoyed it, alot!

I didn't let him in on my little tofu secret....shhhh!