Whoa! About to start the 3rd week

And I haven't blogged at all :( I'm so stinking busy! I'm seeing results but I'm beginning to really miss the comfort food gave me. I miss hot yummy bad for you food. I'm really stressed and that was something that made me happy. One night I totally broke down and got Jack 'n the Box tacos and egg rolls. It was amazing and it felt amazing. So let's say I'm doing 90% vegan now. Here are some recipes that have been really yummy and I will definitely try again!


* I fried it instead of baking...oops.



* I used agave instead of honey and left out the chocolate chips :)




Mmmmm Mmm!

Day 1 and 2

This time is SO MUCH EASIER. Not only because it's easier to pick foods but because I'm still drinking coffee. Last time I did a vegan diet I also gave up coffee and alcohol. It is a good idea for a reality show though, because it was THAT HARD.
My schedule is so busy I know what I'm eating for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the rest of the week, including weekends. Sound crazy? Well this listen to my schedule: Work M-F 8-430, class M, W, and F 530-810, down time=studying for the praxis, wedding planning, and homework. I barely have time to do anything else, especially clean and workout. But if I plan ahead and in as much detail as I do it makes it work. I'm able to make meals ahead of time for on the go, I buy less groceries because I know exactly what I need for each meal, and it keeps me from looking in the fridge, deciding I have no food and then eating out.
For dinner last night and then leftovers for lunch today I made "egg" salad with tofu and use half of an open pita to make a delish and healthy meal!

This is the pic I took. Here is the recipe I used as a guideline but really I just threw it together the way I thought I'd like it.

Ingredients:

• 1 block firm tofu, drained
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise (use Vegenaise for a vegan version)
• 1/3 cup sweet relish
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/2 stalk celery, diced
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tbsp mustard
• dash paprika for garnish (optional)

Preparation:

In a medium-sized bowl, mash the tofu with a fork. Add remaining ingredients and stir together until well combined. Sprinkle with paprika for garnish, if desired.

*I added chopped apples and grapes to mine which really made the dish. I also cooked to tofu first and sprinkled it with garlic powder.

I've had fruit for breakfast and lots of fruits and veggies for snacks. I felt the fullest from the almonds I have been eating.
I didn't work out yesterday and felt easily full and energized. I also fell asleep and woke up easily.
Today I worked out before work and have been really hungry all day :( I did forget my almonds today...that may be it.

This is a great bread recipe I made today. It's like a dessert if you eat it with strawberry preserves! I used 2 cups of white flower and 3 1/2 of whole wheat. Click on the picture for the recipe!!

The Biggest Loser

Not the show...hopefully it will describe me on March 1st. I asked my step mom who was complaining about her weight if she'd participate in the 30-day vegan challenge with me! She quickly said no. Oh well, I'm taking this adventure on alone again. I told her I bet I loose more weight than her in 30 days jokingly and it turned it to a real bet with real stakes. Bring it.

She is training for a half marathon so she has a huge leg up on me here, that being that she exercises and I don't. Having done this diet before I know from experience the first question EVERYONE will ask is "Well where do you get your protein?" For the love of God, if you see me and are reading this DO. NOT. ask me how I'm getting my protein, calcium, or vitamin b. I got this, okay?

After the aforementioned question is asked this is undoubtedly the next one: "Why?"
Well, in all honesty my reason at first was weight loss. It worked last time. But after doing research I think Brenda Davis and Collen Patrick-Goudreau put it best.

"Adopting a vegan lifestyle is arguably the most powerful step any one individual can take toward the preservation of this planet. It takes about one-twentieth the resources to feed a vegan that is takes to feed a non-vegetarian. Intensive animal agriculture is simply not sustainable-it pollutes the air, the water, and the soil, and it is among our greatest contributors to deforestation, and species extinction. A 2008 award winning study by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University found that our carbon footprint is more effectively reduced by eating 100 vegan ONE DAY A WEEK than by eating 100 percent local SEVEN DAYS A WEEK".
-Brenda Davis, R.D.

"When people hear the word vegan, they tend to associate it with asceticism or martydom, deprivation or sacrifice. They often think being vegan is about rejecting thing-about saying "no". On one hand, this is true. Being vegan is about saying no. It's about saying no to suffering, exploitation, and violence. It's about saying no to unhealthful and unnecessary food. It's about saying no to the wasteful abuse of natural resources and the destruction of the remaining wild places in the world."
-Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

Last time I tried this I read "Skinny Bitch" and "Skinny Bitch in the Kitch", and I highly recommend them both. However, this time I read The 30-Day Vegan Challenge because of it's extremely high rating on Amazon (pretty scientific, I know)

This was more about how to get the nutrients you need from a vegan diet with recipes included and less about the meat industry like "Skinny Bitch".

Between Pinterest where I can pin recipes to my hearts desire and this awesome website I found called www.theveganstoner.com which lays out the recipes so beautifully:

...I think I'll be able to stick with it longer the the 2 week trial of 2010. I'll keep this posted with the ups and downs and I'll review recipes so I know for next time which ones worked and which didn't!

I start one week from today. God help me.

Snow days are God's way of telling you to put Baily's in your coffee

Or at least it used to be, right? I feel old and lame. It's our first official snow day of the year and I have spent all day thus far making a plan for our save the dates and saving recipes on Pinterest. These are three options I love for the save the dates:


I like this one for just the text and beautiful drawings.

I like this one for it's originality and it's a scratch off! What Missourian doesn't love to scratch that weird silver shit off of something with a nickel!?
I like this one because it is funny and doesn't have the typical wording. AND we could still use an engagement pic! Woot!

So if these 3 could get busy and have a perfect baby for me that would be pretty awesome.

Anyway, I'll figure that out tonight with my kick ass maid of honors (yes, plural. Their sisters and I won't them both, get off my back). Then I'll turn it in to my other kick ass friend Ben who will then make them for me. I am a super blessed girl to have the people in my life that I do.

BACK AT IT

It's been quite some time since I did my vegan experiment. I ended up staying vegetarian through the rest of that year and I pretty much rocked the shit out of it...until I gave up to have pot roast at Christmas. Oh, and also to eat salmon at the restaurant I started working at after I quit teaching. Yes, people. I'm truly just a quitter at heart. I love starting things and then quitting them. Hopefully that won't be the case with this blog but, well, let's be honest.

I would like to keep this blog for the following reasons: (I feel the need to list them because I honestly haven't thought of them yet and I want to know why as well, so here it goes)
1. I forgot about this blog and going back and re-reading about that time in my life was amazing. I could so vividly see our lives in Kansas City again. (We're in STL by the way, for one year in February) I want to be able to do that again in the future.
2. The massive amounts of Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, random blogs, tv, movies, music and books I consume weekly is astronomical and I have so many thoughts/idea/opinions I need to organize and put out there into words.
3. I want to post different crafts I'm doing because then possibly if I follow other crafter's blogs I can make connections and gain resources.
4. So I can't stop talking Dan's ear off about stuff he doesn't care about and he will still love me.
5. So I can chronicle my WEDDING PLANNING! Holla holla holla holla holla!
6. And ya know, if the world hasn't ended or if blogs are not "so out" by the time I have kids who are old enough to appreciate my writing, then my kids will have access to personal insight of their kick ass parent's life before they came and ruined it.

Well that probably sums it up. My friend Efren has an exhibit coming up soon so I will mostly be helping him out with his art projects for now, but when that is done I'll start working on our save the dates. I'm thinking of using this pic...

Day 14

I guess that makes it two weeks huh? Well the vegan thing didn't last that's for sure, the vegetarian thing most definitely did for now. I'm pretty grossed out by meat and have found so many great substitutes I'll stick with it. I'll also stick with the whole eating ridiculously healthy thing too, at least until summer. What I really need to work on is my working out. I'm super broke, not saving a dime and spending it all on healthy food: translation: I don't have a gym member ship. I try to run out side but it's been raining about 4 out of 7 days a week since I started this. Grrr...How do I get motivated to get back in shape? With my eating habits it just learning about the food industry and the effects the food has on my body.
I think I need to find something that isn't running. Or I guess it can be running once a week and then I need to mix it up, but how? I can ride my bike...um, that's all I've got. I really want to take a hot yoga class. It's a 90 minute yoga class that is in a room that is kept a temperature of 95-100. So you sweat like crazy. That would be a good compliment to my hatred of running I guess, something I enjoy? Okay I just talked myself into. I looked it up and there is a place here down by the plaza that offers it everyday at 6:30 pm which is perfect and I can sign up of a 30 dollars for 30 days unlimited classes package as a first time member. Sweet. I guess I'm off to by a yoga mat...I'd hate to share with other sweaty peeps.

12 and 13

Time is none existent so I'm running behind! I totally cheated! I didn't feel good on Wednesday so I ate out of convenience, mac and cheese. Dan already had it made and man was it good! So I kind of went crazy that day and also ate a cheese quesidilla....aaaahhh! It was wonderful. All these veggies are hurting my tummy. I'm going to start eating cheese again because it gives me a few more options and did I mention this is EXPENSIVE!? I've spent more on groceries for the last two weeks than I would have for a whole month, easy, and I still have two more weeks until I get paid. So poop.