Her Honest Life

Finding Better Focus

2011-05-22T15:09:00.000-07:00

See that glowing orb?

Yup, it's my scale. And that's the dumpster in front of it. Why is my scale out at the dumpster? Let's talk about it for a minute.

I've obsessed with my weight since I was about 8 years old. The women in my family have struggled with weight issues and I knew from a very early age that the number on that scale was a VERY big deal. I was taught that I had to be very careful to not get fat - because then people wouldn't like me as much, and I wouldn't be able to wear pretty clothes, and no boy would ever want to marry me. I don't think my family meant any harm, I think that they just wanted to spare me the pain of living overweight that they had experienced. But I have spent my entire life as a slave to that number.

I am confident in absolutely every other part of my life. At school I excelled with the slightest effort. I make friends easily, I'm funny, I'm smart, I arrive at work every day knowing that I am wonderful at what I do.

But if the number goes up - even a pound, I cancel dates, I stop having sex, I dress more frumpy to hide the bulges that now seem to have appeared out of nowhere. If the number stays the same, I become frustrated, I want to stop working out, I want to eat. If it goes down a smidge, I expect more of the same every few days in order to believe it's true.

I've lost and gained more pounds than I can count, but a few months ago I decided to stop worrying about diet. I realized that I just don't have the time as a single mom with two kids and a VERY full time job to obsess over every little thing I put in my mouth. I have stuck to my whole food vegan, primarily low-fat diet and have had more energy and I look better and better each week. I've also enjoyed eating so much more.

About 7 weeks ago I started running. I didn't start running to make the pounds come off - at least that's what I told myself. I've always wanted to become a real runner; someone who runs on a regular basis, who doesn't get out of breath racing to work, someone who signs up for charity running events and doesn't bitch out at the last minute (which I've done in the past).

So I signed up for a 5k, and I downloaded this awesome little app:

This app gets you 5k ready in 9 weeks. I'm almost done and am currently jogging for 25 minutes straight! It's been about 5 years since I've been able to do that. The runs are great - they clear my head, give me energy. It's great to feel my muscles developing. When I look in the mirror, my body is getting more toned, my thighs are tighter and I'm in very good health.

Then I step on the scale. It doesn't move. Then when I look in the mirror, I no longer see a more toned body. I see the same fat self I've seen my whole life. Even though my clothes fit better, even though I get compliments on looking healthier and more guys ask me out - that scale completely dictates how I feel about myself.

The other day I was staring warily at my scale in the corner of my bathroom, like it might jump out and attack me at any moment, and I finally realized how ridiculous this entire thing had become. Here I am, a healthy eater, a regular exerciser, someone who looks great in her clothes, and this number on the scale forces me to hate myself. It makes me want to give up.

And I don't want my kids to see that. I want to break the cycle with them, I want them to see me happy with my body - not because I've achieved some number on the scale, but because my body does what I need it to, it gets me where I go, it has the energy I need, it is strong and beautiful.

So farewell scale! I'm going to try to enjoy my body for a while.

Here's a great little snack to fuel up for your workouts. There are a lot of cookie-dough style recipes out there (like this one by Mama Pea) and most are pretty similar. This one is slightly different to accomodate the fact that I don't really like chocolate chips and wanted to limit the refined sugars in these babies. These have a really almondy taste and the coconut and cocoa powder remind me of Almond Joy bars - a childhood favorite.

Almond Joi Balls
makes approx 2 dozen

Ingredients:
1 cup almonds
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
7 medjool dates, pitted
2 teaspoons cocoa powder
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

Chop almonds into small bits in a food processor. Add the vanilla & almond extract, salt, dates and cocoa powder and process until it starts to come together into a ball.

Roll about 1 teaspoon of dough into balls in with your hands. Roll the dough balls in the coconut. Keep refrigerated.

Money Matters

2011-05-15T21:17:00.000-07:00

I grew up poor. How poor? We're talking no electricity/eating free meals at churches poor. All birthday presents were bags of candy bought with food stamps. Was it awful? Not usually for us kids. Our mom did her best to create a good environment for us. She tried to make up fun names for the amalgam of food bank food she would cobble together for dinner. We'd pretend to be camping when the electricity would be cut off .I'm sure this was all much harder for my mom. I remember the constant look of worry that she'd try to hide every time we went to the mailbox.

We were poor for a lot of reasons. Because my dad ran off when I was two. Because my mom was struggling thru a degree in psycology. Because there wasn't a very good support network for a single mom with two kids to move forward in the world. But primarily, we struggled because our family is very, very bad with money.

Who's bad with money?
This lovely lady (sorry mom).

This goofball (you know it's true bro)

And yes, even me.

My mom didn't start this cycle either - my grandparents are not known for being financial wizards. There are ups and downs with how we live. The plus side, we aren't materialistic and we don't tie our self worth to our well - material worth.

The downside:

We don't go on vacations
Our credit scores are laughable
We avoid the mailbox like there might actually be a bomb in there
Safety net? What safety net! We're creative!

"But Ijeoma," you say, "you have been going on vacations like mad lately!" Ah you are right. Is this because I've learned the error of my ways and cleaned up my credit and paid my debts and am now free to spend my spare money as I please?

Hahahahahahahahaha. No.

It's because I am luckily now making a little bit more money, and can therefore cover basic needs with a little extra, all while ignoring a gigantic pile of other financial obligations. You know, that's how we grownups do it.

But there are a couple of things I would like to have:

A little piece of mind
A house
A better relationship with my mailbox

And I'd like for these two awesome guys to not wait until they are 30 to try to get their lives in order:

I also have "getting my shit in order" on my list of goals. So I decided to start tackling it. For about 6 months I've been slowly working on my credit - challenging old items and removing duplicates from my record. This month it was time to start the hard part. Budgeting.

Oh how I hate budgeting. I have the same reaction to budgeting as I do with dieting. It makes me want to binge.

But I have to do it. I'm not five, right? I can be one of those people - you know, the ones who say, "no, I really can't go to that show, I spent a lot last week at that other thing" or, "no, I'm going to wait until these shoes are on sale."

I've enlisted the help of a handy-dandy tool:

Not my actual account balance - wouldn't that be awesome?

I give you mint.com. Above is the app form, but I must say I use the site way more than the app. Both are free. This tool is pretty awesome. You put in your bank account info and it gathers your data. You put in your budgets that you'd like to stick to and it keeps track of how you are doing.

The feature I like best about it is that once you tell mint what a transaction is for, say...the $30 spent at King Street Bar goes to "Bars and Alcohol" then it remembers it the next time you go there!

My goal is to stick with this for at least 90 days. I hope to have the following accomplished:

A stronger foothold on my debts
Regular bill-paying (no more collection calls!)
A bit of a stronger credit rating
Enough freedom to still have a bit of fun.

I don't have enough latitude to really start saving, my debts are just to high, but I'm also hoping to have a little bit set aside here and there. I'm halfway thru the first month, and though it sucks to realize how quickly all my money goes when I'm really paying my bills and how very poor I am, I have to live in my reality if I ever hope to change it.

I'm still eating a very healthy, vegan diet. I'm eating out far, far less, but that's good because I'm cooking delicious, low cost meals like these yummy spiced potatoes. Give them a try. Your wallet and your tummy will thank you.

West African Spiced Potatoes with Greens

Ingredients:

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, diced

1 jalapeno, diced

1 tomato, chopped

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon curry powder

1 14oz can chopped tomatoes

1 teaspoon Maggi seasoning or 2 teaspoons shoyu/soy sauce

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 medium/large red or yellow potatoes, chopped

1 1/2 cup vegetable stock

5 cups kale, chopped

Heat a large nonstick pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook for two minutes, add nonstick cooking spray if necessary. Add garlic and jalapeno and cook for 5 minutes until onions are soft and starting to brown. Add fresh tomato and turn heat to medium. Cook for 3 minutes. Add cayenne and curry and cook for one minute more. Add canned tomatoes, Maggi and salt and simmer for 10 minutes. Use an immersion blender or transfer tomato mix carefully to a blender and blend until mostly smooth.

Add stock, potatoes and kale and cook until potatoes are al dente - about 25 minutes. Serve over rice or with bread.

A Simple Mother's Day

2011-05-08T15:30:00.000-07:00

When you are a single mom, Mother's Day is not about pampering, relaxation or gifts (unless you really live for those paper plate-tissue paper-glitter collages). The most you hope for on Mother's Day, is a nice, uneventful day with family - perhaps a day where nobody poops on the furniture.

I was determined to make this a nice Mother's Day. The kids and I got up early and started getting the house ready. Malcolm and Marcus cleaned (ok, Malcolm cleaned; Marcus rolled around on the floor yelling, "I'm hungry!") and I started cooking breakfast.

Around 9am, my mom showed up with my brother's girls and breakfast was all ready!

The boys' awesome table-setting skills

As you can see, we kept it simple. That's fruit salad with a simple syrup and a touch of allspice and honey (thanks Heather for the great idea) with some lemon Perrier to make mock mimosas, fluffy blueberry pancakes and tofu scramble.

The food was fantastic. The fruit salad disappeared almost immediately; the allspice was a perfect flavor addition. The blueberry pancakes were, once again, winners. I swear, the basic pancakes recipe from VWAV is honestly the best pancake recipe out there. My mom was very impressed with the tofu scramble. My sister has recently gone vegetarian and my mom has been having trouble thinking of things to feed her. I think the yummy tofu scramble gave her hope.

Every part of the breakfast was enjoyed. For once, the kids didn't complain about the lack of meat and dairy. Their only complaint was that there weren't more pancakes.

After breakfast the girls went home and it was time for the Mother's Day activity. Gardening!

We have a ridiculously small porch, but I've been wanting to get the boys to feel more connected to their food, so I bought a few small planters, a bag of dirt, and some seeds.

Marcus dove right in.

Marcus loves dirt

This picture was taken before he started giggling maniacally and began pouring dirt off of the balcony spoonful by spoonful. Even though we didn't have much potting soil to spare, mom and I stood there and watched him for a few minutes as he did a little dance and giggled, "hee hee hee hee" and with a flourish, poured spoonfuls of soil over the balcony ledge.

Mom and Malcolm got the little pots ready for the windowsill.

Malcolm's favorite person in the world, Munga

Malcolm and I lived with my mom for a while when Malcolm was little, so the two of them are very close. My mom is honestly one of the best grandmas in the world - she's fun, patient, loving and well, just all around great. They made a great gardening team.

Malcolm, carefully reviewing the planting instructions

Soon-to-be tomatoes and herbs

After gardening was complete, mom and the boys curled up on the couch to watch Toy Story 3 while I snuck in a run at the gym. I came back relaxed to a happy family.

It was a simple day - no elaborate gifts, no pampering. But the boys were giggling and we got to spend time with my mom and I felt more lucky than I have in a long time. Yes, Marcus did poop on the furniture, but even that wasn't so bad. Ok, that's not true - it was disgusting, but I can still say that it's been a winner of a Mother's Day.

Days in Dallas

2011-04-27T21:04:00.000-07:00

Miss me? I decided to abandon the gray, rainy Seattle skies and spend a little time in Dallas with my cousin Heather, her husband Corky and their beautiful new baby Yarah.

Is she not the cutest??

It was a really low key visit. A lot of family time, baby holding, home meals. I love my cousin to pieces and only see her about every three years or so.

Yes, my head is twice as big as hers.

It was great to see what fantastic parents Heather and Corky have turned out to be.

Most attractive family ever? Maybe.

You don't say!

I could babble on and on about how great they are and how Yarah is cuter than any baby in the world that didn't come out of my uterus, but I really think that goes without saying, doesn't it?

But I know what you are really wanting to know, and I am happy to answer:

I did not ride any cowboys (le sigh), although I did get quite a few great pickup lines like, "hey, wanna come get your drink on with us? It's a Saturday (at 9am)" or "if your intuition tells you to call me, you should listen."
I did find food to eat that wasn't cow based.

I was thinking I might lose a few pounds in Dallas due to my inability to find anything to eat that didn't have meat or dairy, but alas - Dallas is quite vegan friendly. And even if it wasn't, my fabulous hosts were kind enough to feed me well. Corky made us a delicious cauliflower chickpea curry with jasmine rice.

And I kept within my budget by making my own breakfasts which nobody wanted to share.


Banana, spinach, pineapple, blueberry, mandarin orange, almond milk smoothie anyone?

They also invited some friends over and there were fantastic vegetable fajitas with rice and beans. Do I have pictures? No. Why? Because, even though I was in mixed company, I couldn't resist the urge to shove all the food in my mouth with my hands while screaming "mine!" as bits of rice fell off my chin. Needless to say, there was no time for pictures.

I did a little vegan restaurant exploring in Dallas too. First stop was Jason's Deli.

This wasn't a vegan restaurant, but I ordered this giant veggie sandwich thing without cheese and it was fantabulous. It was so big (and it was only a half order!) that even my pig self had to make two meals out of it. It had roasted peppers, eggplant, onions, tomato and a great tapanade spread.

My second stop was Veggie Garden.

It's pretty much a Korean kimchi buffet that is billed as a vegan restaurant. I'd love to give it high marks, since I LOVE Korean food, but it was really Korean food for gringos. They obviously decided to take out all the spice to make it more universally palatable, but all that left you with is kinda musty tasting veggies. Maybe I'm spoiled working in the International District in Seattle where fantastic, make-your-eyes-bleed-spice, Korean food is available everywhere.

I also stopped at my first raw restaurant - Bliss Raw Cafe. The cafe was lovely.

And the food was lovelier.

Even more delicious than they look

Coconut Kale Enchiladas, anyone? They were so tasty, I ate them in about 5 minutes (don't judge me!). I don't think my stomach was happy with how quickly I downed them, but I still have no regrets. Does anyone else have problems with eating raw food too quickly? Or are you all good with "self-control". Those are air-quotes, btw.

And we all had an absolutely fantastic meal at Medina.The menu was pretty simple, but they had a few vegan options.

You know I'm all over the hummus

Heather (who is half Jordanian and regularly travels to the Middle East) says that the hummus is as good as what she'd get in Amman.

And the entrees were divine in their simplicity.

I got vegetable couscous and olive-lemon phyllos, Heather got chicken with apricots and Corky got some seafood-phyllo thing. Everyone was incredibly happy with the dishes. We all stopped talking for a while and just slowly savored the great food and wine. It was a wonderful evening.

My last day I struck out on my own and did a little sightseeing. Perhaps sightseeing isn't the right word. I got lost a lot. That's pretty much all I did. I drove around Dallas' endless interconnecting highways and swore at the GPS on my phone.

I did manage to stumble apon this great little village while I was looking for a souvenir store.

Farmers Branch is a historical park with some fantastic old homes and buildings. Almost everything is original. I spent quite a lot of time snapping pics. All the buildings were closed, so I was constantly peering thru windows to get pictures of the interiors while hoping the groundskeeper wouldn't catch me.

I have about two thousand more pictures, but this post is already crazy long isn't it? If you find yourself in Dallas, I do recommend checking out Farmer's Branch - and that's not just because it's the only place I was able to find in 6 hours of driving around the city.

But I did finally find a souvenir store! I got a cowboy hat.

I know it doesn't quite fit, but as we've established, my head is unnaturally large.

As you can tell by the bra shot, I was going for class in this picture. Did this immediately become my facebook profile pic? Of course!

I picked up some presents for the kids an a coworker who was kind enough to ~~put out my fires~~ watch over my accounts while I was gone. Nothing says "hey, thanks for doubling your workload for me for a week" like a Dallas coffee mug, right?

Well that's about all I have on my trip to Dallas folks. What? I promised you a recipe you say? I know, I know, but I'm tired, and I wanted to talk about Dallas first. Next time. If I feel like it. I DO WHAT I WANT!

Making Time For Wellness - part 2

2011-04-17T22:40:00.000-07:00

We talk about how we can do more for ourselves - more exercise, more veggies, more friends, more money. My life is filled with more (except for the more money part). Anyone who knows me knows that my schedule is packed and I'm always adding more. In the mornings I'm yelling at the kids in my best whisper voice at 6am to get their pants on and stop throwing toys down the stairs or the neighbors will eat them while trying to throw together a nutritious lunch and calculating when we have to leave so I can be only so late that my boss won't yell at me. My days are filled with trying to cram as much work as possible into an 8 hour day (which usually turns into a 10 hour day) not because anyone asked me to, but because I'm sure that when they do my E! True Hollywood Story one day, they will be interviewing former bosses who knew me when and I want to make sure great things are said. My evenings are spent cooking dinner, doing dishes, reading with the boys, folding laundry and yelling, "If you keep jumping up and down the neighbors are going to eat you!" Once the boys are asleep (after I reassure them that I was just joking and the neighbors don't really eat people) I try to read for a few minutes (or write this blog) but I usually fall asleep with a book on my face before I get through five pages.

More can be awesome, more is how people become successful.More is how I raise my kids and do my job and cook my food and everything else. It's how I keep in touch with my friends and family and get out on the town. It's also how I occasionally end up crying at home convinced I'm: a) dying, b) 100 times more fat than I am, c) a horrible parent because I don't have the patience to play Candyland more than 2 times in a row, d) going to never ever get my love life on the right track (or any track, for that matter). When I get like this I'm completely inconsolable for about 6 hours, and then I feel hungover, like after that time in high school when I drank 6 margaritas and got so sick that I knocked myself out when I banged my head against the toilet while puking.

This last Friday was one of those nights. I was surrounded by friends and everyone was having a great time and my brain just broke. I have been working so much lately and training for my first 5k and trying to increase quality kid time - and Friday night my body and mind just were not going to let me laugh at one more joke or dance to one more song or smile at one more person. I made it home and had my little fit (after checking my work email - because I'm crazy) and finally fell asleep at 2am.

When this happens to me, when I've had too much "more", I have to disconnect and get back to the simple things. Small interactions, small pleasures. I need a few days of "less" - less facebook, less friends, less errands, less shopping, less work.

I woke at 6am and shortly after, my brother called. This is my brother Aham.

He is an ass- but he's smart, funny and knows me better than anyone in the world. I'm closer to him than anybody else. When I've gone insane, he's the only one who can talk me down, because he's insane too in the same way, only louder - because he's an attention whore. He cheered me up enough that I was able to breathe. I made the drive to Seattle and took him and his daughters to breakfast.

It was a really nice morning for spring in Seattle. We made our way to the Wayward Vegan Cafe.

Aham is obviously excited for vegan food.

I love the Wayward Vegan, the food is great - homestyle breakfasts that probably have a million calories and taste divine.

The atmosphere is... well - have you guys seen that show Portlandia? That is what vegan restaurants in Seattle look like.

I was thinking about the show right as my brother said, "Oh, what a surprise. They're playing reggae." and then the best comment of the week, "Portland is the vegan restaurant of Seattle." That's a great joke by the way, in case you didn't know.

But when the food arrived, all sarcasm was gone.

Aham took one bite of his hashbrowns and said, "Very well done!" His biscuits and gravy were eaten in record time. His only complaint was that he wished the biscuits weren't so dense (I agree there).

I had biscuits topped with "sausage" gravy and scrambled tofu, with kale on the side. It was delicious, I only wish they had cut the kale before serving it. You know I love kale, but giant leaves are hard to cut thru with a butter knife. But it was delicious and I ate almost all of it.

The girls took their pancakes very seriously. We were all full and my spirits were better.

The only other plan I had for the day was some quality laundry time with my best friend Marie.

We go together like Tina Turner and Cleopatra

Quality laundry time,. you ask? You see, my washer and dryer are those tiny economy sized things at the top of my stairs. And I have these kids:

and the one on the left still poops on things. So I end up doing a lot of very frustratingly tiny loads of laundry. Marie, on the other hand, has the Cadillac of washers and dryers. So I bagged up half of my embarrassingly large pile of laundry and headed over to her house like a college student showing up at his mom's house with a duffel bag of herb-scented t-shirts.
The ride was lovely:

I'm not being sarcastic here. This is officially a lovely day in Seattle. We spent the day drinking wine and sloppily folding clothes while we giggled and gossiped. It was so very lovely. Then her husband made a lovely vegan-friendly dinner that we all enjoyed. It was a great day.

Today I was determined to continue to keep it simple. I made a simple breakfast, then I went out for a nice long walk on the Burke-Gilman trail.

I'd like to say that I take the time in my walks to reflect on life and let my troubles go; to commune with nature and shit like that. But what I really do is listen to dance music and imagine magically becoming the most amazing dancer around and showing up at the club all hot and like, "Whazzzup bitches?!" It was both relaxing and rejuvenating.

I even felt well enough to do a tiny bit of shopping.

As you can tell, this was also a weekend for less makeup

Yes, I really am that excited about my immersion blender. I had one for years but it ended up in the ex's stuff and I've really missed it (the blender, not the ex). I also bought smoothie supplies, because now that I have a nifty blender, everything is going to be blended for a while. Don't judge.

I also came up with a delicious new (blended) recipe for spiced potatoes. In the spirit of doing less, I will wait until the next post to share with you all. I'm tired of typing.

So that's it, that's my weekend of less. It's important for all of us (especially for those of us who are health-work-kid-obsessed) to take a break every once in a while. To have a day or two where we aren't yelling, "Don't poop on that!" It's good for the spirit. I feel ready to take it all on again tomorrow, and maybe apologize to the neighbors for the way that Marcus runs in the house in fear whenever they come out to walk their dog.

The Mommy Me

2011-04-14T07:56:00.000-07:00

People who know the Grownup me see me as a relatively well-groomed, professional, calm person. I do very well at work, I'm eloquent yet concise in meetings. At parties I'm witty and social.

But then there's the Mommy me. The Mommy me runs around with half her hair sticking straight out from the side of her head, teeth unbrushed, with a lollipop stuck to her ass. This is what parenthood does to you.

It takes about a half hour from when I get home for the transition from Grownup me to Mommy me to be complete. The main reason for the transition to crazy mommy town is this guy:

As you can see, he has my hair.

While Malcolm has turned into a relatively calm 9-year-old, Marcus is an exceedingly charming, funny, demanding and exhausting 3-year-old.

Last night it was just Marcus and I, as Malcolm was working on a school project with his dad. I decided to take Marcus out for dinner because I ~~didn't want to do dishes~~ thought it would be a nice treat for the two of us. When Marcus' big brother isn't there to entertain him, all pressure is on me to keep him happy while also stopping him from getting tortilla chips stuck in his throat (which he did the last time we went out to dinner and I had to stick my finger down his throat in front of a room of horrified diners).

We get to our seat, I set down my stuff and slide Marcus to the inside of the booth. I tell him I'll be right back and I go use the restroom. I get back and apparently Marcus has already ordered. "He was yelling, 'I want beans!'" the hostess explains as she puts down a large bowl of beans along with tortilla chips. Marcus immediately divvies up the chips:

and goes to town, shoving giant handfuls of chips and beans in his mouth, while I'm frantically pleading "chew first, chew first!" in the hopes that I won't have to stick my finger down his throat again.

Then Marcus notices the music coming from the bar. He nods his head to the beat a bit and then says, "Mommy, can we dance?" Marcus loves dancing.

Marcus, the great dancing blur.

Me: "Um...sure?"
So we're dancing and I'm trying to relax and be a fun mom. Then I notice that people are looking at me funny - and not funny 'ha ha'. I don't look like I fun mom. Nobody can see Marcus because he is so tiny and in the inside of the booth. I look like a crazy lady dancing in her seat in a restaurant to a Spanish version of "My Heart Will Go On".

Our food arrives and I try to avoid eye contact with my waiter. I'm trying to be composed, eating my delicious veggie enchilada while saying "chew first, chew first." but more quietly now, because I'm aware that most people can't see Marcus and I'm now a lady telling herself how to masticate.

In between bites Marcus is yelling, "keep dancing!" so now I'm trying not to choke on tortilla chips while I dance to the Spanish version of "I Love Rock & Roll."

The waiter looks like Justin Beiber and keeps calling me "Ma'am." Every time he does, I want to yell, "I'm only 30!" but I'm still dancing and I realize that he's probably calling me ma'am because it's more polite than "crazy lady." I try to compose myself and seem pretty cool, but as I'm trying to close out my bill with my waiter, I have to keep yelling, "Do NOT wipe beans on your shirt!"

But the waiter just smiles and flicks his Beiber hair and says, "that's cool Ma'am. I still do that." and all I can picture is Justin Beiber's mom yelling, "Stop that!" And that's when I realize that he knows I'm a mom, and 30 is old.

Then I get the sudden urge to cut this kids hair back to an acceptable length and I realize that I'm probably always Mommy me. Even when I'm dressed up for work, there's usually a toy car in my purse and I often find candy stuck in the arm of my jacket. I've been working stories about my kids into work presentations. My teammates have daily updates on the status of Marcus' pottytraining and Malcolm's school projects. I ceased to be cool back in 2001 when Malcolm was born. So while I pretend to be Grownup me, I'm really only fooling myself here. I'm now Mommy me: messy, shrieking, frazzled, dancing and a bit more fun.

Keep dancing!

Making Time For Wellness - part 1

2011-04-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

Whenever I talk about my diet, I'm more likely to hear "I wish I had time to prepare healthy meals" as a response. I hear you. I used to say that all the time. I'd watch these documentaries on weight loss and say, "sure, they can eat healthy - they can afford a cook!"

But we all know the truth. The truth is, you have time. We all have time. I'm a working single mom with two of the most hyperactive little boys on the planet and I have time.

So I can whine and moan about how busy I am. I can stomp my feet and yell "I DO WHAT I WANT!" which I do, but that's usually related to my fashion choices (totally justified).

I WEAR WHAT I WANT!

What I don't have time for is to be sick, tired, slow and uninspired.

This is how I feel when I'm not eating right.

Everybody has their own time management system, but here are a few rules that I try to keep:

Cook. You don't have to be a gourmet chef, but cooking at least a few meals a week will save you time and money - I promise! Invest in some great time-conscious vegan cookbooks like, Vegan With A Vengeance, Appetite for Reduction, and Vegan on the Cheap. Figure out a few go-to meals for busy weeknights.
Cook big on weekends. Fancy? No. There is no fancy anything in my house. The closest I get to fancy is when I ask Malcolm to shove the crap on the table to the far end. What I'm saying is, just cook a lot of whatever you are making. Cook with leftovers in mind. If you are going to take the time to dirty up your pots and pans and countertops - you might as well get a few lunches out of it! I like to make big sides that pack well, like kaleslaw:
And seitan for quick sandwiches:
Keep lots of fruit handy.
I bring at least 2 pieces of fruit with me to work every day. Why? Because I have a sweet tooth that makes the chubby kid in Willy Wonka look like the king of self-control. I know that when treats are being passed around at cubicle land, I better have something sweet and healthy within arms reach. And you can't beat fruit for a good dose of fiber and hydration.
Keep healthy quick-starters around the house. What are these, you ask?
Healthy fiber-filled breads
You know I love me some Dave's Killer Bread
Canned Beans
Just toss these in soups, salads, just about anything to up the protein and fiber content in your meals. Be sure to rinse them first - it definitely helps clean the flavor and reduce some of the gassiness.
Healthy, low-fat soups and veggie broth:

Kale:
Oh kale, how I love thee
I know I've spoken of my love of kale before, but you really must keep some in your crisper at all times. It's so easy to add to any meal for a lovely dose of calcium, iron and so much more! In fact, if you take the three items above, toss in a little curry powder, cinnamon and hot pepper, you have a super-quick satisfying soup.
That even the kids will love
Eat your leftovers for lunch. Cooking big (rule 2) and adding a healthy side like a kale salad (rule 4) will mean that you will always have lunches that require no more prep than tossing some food in a tupperware. You will also save money to buy more fancy ruffled scarves.

These above steps help make sure that I always have healthy meal options around. They also help minimize the amount of time I spend cooking on weeknights, so I have more time to ~~facebook~~ play with my kids.

Tempeh is for grownups

2011-04-09T14:49:00.000-07:00

These boys like a lot of foods.

But there are a few things they won't touch:

Veggie Cheese
Butterscotch
Nuts
Chicken (not really a problem in this house)
Tempeh

Tempeh is the ultimate no-go. Whenever I ask Malcolm what he wants to eat he is guaranteed to shout "No tempeh!" Now, you'd think that kids who scarf down kimchee like it's candy and will eat every piece of sushi they could get their hands on wouldn't be so adverse to tempeh. But they loathe it.

Why does it matter? Why don't I just focus on all the other healthy things they will eat? Because I love tempeh. I really do. And I want them to love it like I do so we can be one happy, tempeh eating family. I've tried everything - crumbling it into mac & cheese, covering it in hot sauce, hiding it in tacos. Nope. At one bite, Malcolm will wail, "Oh no, tempeh!" and Marcus will make an infuriating gagging noise.

Last night I thought I had it figured out.
I sliced it real thin.
I sauteed it until crisp.

I gave it a healthy dose of Bragg's and then I coated it in mole sauce.

I added some black beans and poured it over rice. I placed some kale with Bragg's on the side and served it up. Now most people would say - "Ijeoma, this is not a meal for kids." But my boys love this stuff - Malcolm routinely orders mole, both boys eat brown rice by the pound. So what happened?

They ate the kale first.
They ate the rice.
They picked out the beans and ate them.
The sucked all the mole sauce off of the tempeh and left it in a nice, uneaten pile on their plates.

I was disappointed, but I don't give up so easily. This morning I was determined to try again. I served up blueberry pancakes and a side of tempeh bacon.

They ate the pancakes before mine was even done cooking.
Malcolm said, "These are so good, I'm going to have to brag about you at school."

Then he said, "But what's with the tempeh, is this supposed to taste like bacon? 'Cuz it doesn't."
And there it sat, untouched except for a tiny nibble.

So I've been beaten. My kids don't like tempeh. I will stop torturing them. For now. I've decided to accept the possibility that maybe tempeh is for grownups.

I will celebrate it even - with a decidedly grownup sandwich.

Roasted Chickpea, Beet and Tempeh Sandwich
makes 1

Spread 1 tablespoon hummus on two slices of whole grain bread (I used Dave's Killer Bread Good Seed light and Sabra hummus)

In a skillet, brown 1 slice tempeh bacon and 1/2 cup chickpeas

Sprinkle a little seasoning on the chickpeas while they are pan-roasting

Place some fresh baby greens on the bread. Add the tempeh bacon.

Mash the chickpeas a little with a fork and add to the sandwich.

Add some roasted beet slices on top, close and devour.

This was seriously the best sandwich I've had in a very long time. If it wasn't so filling, I would have made another one and happily enjoyed it as well.

The boys were eyeing my sandwich and comparing it to their pb&j when I announced "it has tempeh."

Problem solved, my sandwich was safe from these little food thieves. Perhaps it's not so bad that they don't like tempeh after all.

Who has an Appetite for Reduction?? Me!

2011-04-06T20:14:00.000-07:00

Yay yay yay yay! I'm so excited to have this book.

That is a picture of my brand new copy of Appetite for Reduction. It's nice to have it memorialized as a pretty, clean copy - since it is already covered in food. Why? Because, since I bought this on Sunday, I have been cooking with it like a madwoman - or a ....woman who cooks all the time, I don't know. Point is - I LOVE THIS BOOK.

Things I've made so far:

Easy Cheezy Sauce
Mushroom Tibs (so meaty!)

Buffalo Tempeh (so good, I was too busy shoving them in my mouth to get a decent pic)
tonight: Lettuce Cups with Hoisin and Mustard Glazed Tofu

Make these now. I'm not kidding. Now. The tofu was so perfectly tasty, it felt like I was eating something really deliciously bad for me. But it's so healthy! Malcolm had seconds. It's that good! My 9 year old was eating lettuce cups!

I also used Neal Barnard's brown rice cooking method of toasting the rice before cooking and it made such a difference! My one complaint about brown rice is that it always seems kind of mushy compared to white rice. But toasting the rice gave it a bit of bite and kept the grains more separate. Try it! Geez, I'm really bossy today. Sorry.

Try it.

The Food Wars

2011-04-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

I'm in a battle. A battle with my son's school lunches, with my ex-husband's midwest meat and potatoes/canned ravioli/cheese everything fixation. I'm in a battle for my childrens' health. Sound dramatic enough for you?

I put a lot of effort into cooking healthy dinners for my boys and damn, it can be tough. Malcolm's dad refuses to eat food not cheese-covered and firmly believes that a gallon of milk a day is healthy for a growing boy. He is routinely fed hot dogs, canned ravioli, chips, soda and frozen pizzas on his weekends at his dad's. It's really hard to get him used to healthier fare after his weekend-long junk binges.

And then there is the SCHOOL LUNCH. Ugh, don't get me started. Aside from my moral views about the school lunch system being one of the main legs propping up cruelty-filled industrial meat and dairy producers, that shit is just bad. It's so fatty, so heavily caloric, so filled with chemicals, dyes and highly processed pseudo-food.

The truth is, I can't keep these boys healthy with only one good meal a day.

Marcus' daycare actually provides pretty healthy, homemade lunches, so I'm not too worried there. But as I was dropping Malcolm off at his dad's on Friday I announced that I was taking over Malcolm's lunches.
"But what about his milk? Boys need milk."

Rather than argue this point, (as we now know that milk is in no way necessary for children older than toddlerhood) I simply stated that the milk he drinks when he is at his dad's would be plenty and that I would make sure he had enough calcium.

So Saturday I headed to PCC in search of kid-friendly treats that would compete with school lunches and keep this hungry boy full.

In order to get Malcolm more excited about this, I had him put the sandwiches together himself, so he could pick the toppings.

I used Lightlife turkey style slices and let me tell you, they are yummy! Even Malcolm was eating pieces straight out of the bag. Definitely a winner for kids. He had a great time putting together his "mini subs" (this kid LOVES Subway).

I wrapped each sandwich and threw in a bunch of other yummies.

That's a juice box (100% juice), Annie's chocolate bunnies, apple slices and a Cascadian Farms organic berry granola bar.

Forty-five minutes later, we had a whole week's worth of lunches.

I'm hoping these lunches will help me in my battle towards acclimating my son to healthier foods. He seems pretty happy with these lunches - next week he wants to try the Lightlife bologna.

Just checking in

2011-04-02T17:41:00.000-07:00

So far, my road back to healthy living has been going pretty well. I've kept it fully vegan, and my energy level has started to come back a bit. I've also gotten compliments on my skin - ok, so I've only gotten one compliment, but I'll take it!

I started Neal Barnard's 21 Day Kickstart about 4 days ago and I'm starting to really get the hang of it. It's pretty much a vegan diet, with focus on whole foods and reduced fat and sugar. It's really weird not to count calories. But keeping it low-fat means I have to be very well prepared when it comes to food at work. I had a few days where I didn't pack enough snacks or a substantial enough lunch and I found it really hard to eat well at dinner.

Speaking of big dinners, check these boys out.

As you can see from the stack of plates, these boys can do some damage at a sushi restaurant. I had to cut them off when the bill reached $60. I mean, I'm extremely glad that these boys love healthy food (more on that in my next post), but I'm pretty sure they each had about 5 lbs of rice in them by the time the night was over. It will be a while before my budget will allow me to take them there again.

But back to work. I work in Chinatown, which means that, although there are a lot of healthy options, there are also a lot of VERY unhealthy temptations. There appears to be at least two bakeries on every block and there's a fantastic, cheap curry place right down the street that drenches their noodles in fat-laden coconut milk deliciousness. You have to come to this neighborhood prepared to do battle against cravings. I was very happy to find out that the nearby Specialtys offers an AMAZING vegan salad.

Simple, delicious, gigantic, and only four grams of fat! I had one for lunch on Friday and it seriously held me over until about 7pm. It is reassuring that I have a healthy option nearby for days when I leave my lunch in the car at the park and ride (I do this more often than actual adults should).

On my next post, I'll talk about my efforts to keep my kids on the healthy eating track!

Oh, and I made a thing!

I knitted this scarf while in Disneyland. I made it for my brother, but it's really mine now. He will get another scarf that I don't like so much.

The Best Muffins in the World

2011-03-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

Is there anything more difficult than trying to make breakfast when you have hungry kids in the house? I'm not sure there is. Every move you make is followed by "What are you doing? Is that my food? Can I eat it? Is it done? Is that mine? Is it pancakes?" I was tempted to sit Marcus' whiny butt down with some cereal this morning and be done with it right there.

But I had a banana problem.

What was my banana problem? It's a case of banana amnesia I've been suffering from. I've been buying banana's every single time I go to the store, forgetting that I already have billions of bananas at home. And while the kids and I have been eating enough bananas to keep us in potassium for the rest of our days, I still had a few VERY ripe specimens in my kitchen.

So I decided it would be worth everyone's wait if I took some time to make the BEST MUFFINS IN THE WORLD.

These cook up pretty quickly and let me say, they are light as a feather, yet moist, rich and just sweet enough. They melt in your mouth. I have honestly, never in my life had a better muffin. I probably shouldn't be sharing the recipe with you, because it's mine, muwahahaha. But something this good cannot be owned by one woman.

I let Marcus lick the bowl (perks of vegan cooking) while these babies baked, and I'm pretty sure he agrees they were worth the wait.

Marcus ate four within 10 minutes. You should really make some soon. If you don't have the coconut extract, that's fine, but these absolutely cannot be made without the coconut butter.

The World's Best Banana-Coconut Muffins

Makes 16 Muffins

Ingredients:

3/4 cup nondairy milk
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 1/4 cup white whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 overripe bananas, mashed
1/3 cup melted coconut butter
1 Tablespoon canola oil
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoons coconut extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl or cup, stir the vinegar into the milk and set aside. In a large bowl, sift together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a medium bowl combine milk mixture, bananas, coconut butter, canola oil, sugar, vanilla and coconut extract. Mix with beaters until well combined (doesn't have to be completely smooth). Add wet ingredients to flour mix and stir until just combined, do not over-stir.

Spoon batter into muffin pans, greased and lined with cupcake liners. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown.

Enjoy!

Things I love

2011-03-26T08:44:00.000-07:00

This quick little post is to talk about a few of my current obsessions in the food world.

1. Dave's Killer Bread

I know I've mentioned before that I love this bread, but it's seriously the only bread I buy. Organic, all-natural and extremely tasty - you can't go wrong with any of Dave's wonderful varieties. Each slice has extreme amounts of fiber as well, so they help me stay full thruout the morning. I'm so excited too, because they have a light variety - which is just as tasty! It's available all thruout the Pacific Northwest and is also carried in Costcos. You should definitely pick some up.

2. Green Leaf

This is, in my opinion, the best Vietnamese restaurant in Seattle - and it's only 4 blocks away from my work! It's a tiny hole-in-the-wall in the International District and it serves up some serious eats. The above pic is their Vegetarian Vermicelli. It's full of tofu, black mushrooms, fried garlic, veggie ham, radishes and more veggie goodness. It's ABSOLUTELY AMAZING and if you don't end up eating the entire gigantic bowl-full, there is something wrong with your tastebuds.

3. Finish Quantum

Ok, so this is obviously not food, but if you cook as much as I do, you need these. Ever notice how a couple of years ago your dishwasher started sucking? This is because sulfates have been removed from detergents - GREAT for the environment, bad for clean-dish obsessives like me. I have been so frustrated with having to wash and rewash all of my dishes and then picking off gross bits of icky stuck on food. I was at the grocery store and these had a really nice display. I work in marketing and am therefore highly skeptical at all ads placed in front of me, but I must say that I fell for this - and I'm so glad I did!

My dishes are clean! Even my wine glasses sparkle! The spaghetti sauce stains came out of my tupperware! I'm so happy, I'm telling anyone who will listen to buy these dishwasher tablets (yes, I am getting a lot of strange looks). I'm totally serious here. I'm not, like, sponsored by the Finish people or anything. I'm just so excited to have clean dishes after three years of frustration. Buy them, you will love them.

Back on track

2011-03-23T08:07:00.000-07:00

I'm going to ignore tonight's dinner at the local Mexican restaurant (totally vegan, but giant margarita the size of my head and bowl of chips doesn't exactly count as 'healthy') and say that this week has been going good in my return to healthy life.

Gold star for me!

Now there is of course a downside of getting back on the vegan train - detox. Getting all of the gross fat/sodium/chemicals out of your digestive system is not my idea of fun. I'm sure my coworkers thought I had food poisoning as I hobbled to the bathroom every 45 minutes. But it's starting to get better now, and my energy level is already increasing.

I'd like to say my mood has been increasing, but I'm PMSing right now, and there is no food that's going to make me feel better. Not even BBQ sandwiches:

That's fresh baked seitan smothered in bbq sauce with dijon mustard and Annie's Goddess dressing on a whole wheat bun.

Was it delicious? Yes. Did it lift my near homicidal PMS? No.

The only brief respite I had from my need to yell at everyone around me, delete my facebook, and cry about everything was the few hours that I spent at my brother's awesome variety show - The Ahamefule J. Oluo and Mike show.

It was a comedy, music, improv extravaganza of hilarious proportions.

I also smiled a bit when I ate these enchiladas.

Yes, I am that attached to food.

These spinach enchiladas are inspired by two great and very different enchiladas. My ex's mother makes chicken and bean enchiladas with cream of mushroom soup. When she first made them, I was appalled and didn't want to try them. But once I did, I was pleasantly surprised by how well the creaminess of the mushroom soup rounded out the spiciness of the salsa. The second inspiration comes from every spinach enchilada I've ever eaten. I love them all, but I wish they had a bit more...substance.

This enchilada casserole is a vegan best of both worlds. I added vegan cheese on top, but it is completely optional, in fact, not recommended. The creamy mushroom gravy adds more than enough. I only added the cheese for the kids, and they ended up scraping it off to get to the mushroom sauce.

These are quintessential comfort food: rich, creamy, filling, a bit spicy. But they are much healthier than - well the Mexican dinner I had tonight, that's for sure.

Spinach Enchiladas with Creamy Mushroom Sauce

Serves 6

Ingredients
1 pkg frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 cup diced mushrooms
1/2 yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 can black beans
2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 1/2 Tablespoons Bragg's or soy sauce
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1 cup nondairy milk
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 cup salsa verde
1/2 cup nondairy cheese (optional, I used Daiya)
12 corn tortillas

In a medium skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Once oil is hot, add onions and garlic. Cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add mushrooms. Saute, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms begin to lightly brown. While mushrooms are cooking, heat spinach in the microwave in a medium bowl for 3 minutes or until warm. Add beans to spinach. Remove mushroom mixture from stove and scoop half into the spinach bowl. Add cumin and 1 Tablespoon Bragg's to spinach and toss lightly to mix.

Return remaining mushroom mixture to the stove and turn up heat to medium-high. Add vegetable broth and remaining Bragg's to mushrooms and heat until low boil. In a small container, mix the cornstarch with the cold milk and stir until there are no lumps. Add to the saucepan while stirring, and return to a low boil. Remove from heat, stir in the nutritional yeast, and salt to taste. Preheat your oven to 375.

In a casserole dish (I think the one I used was 8x10) ladle about a half cup of mushroom sauce in the bottom of the dish. Spread 6 tortillas (or more if you feel like it) over the sauce in the dish. Layer the spinach/bean mix on top, then another half cup of mushroom sauce, then 6 more tortillas, then the rest of the mushroom sauce, then the salsa verde, then the cheese - if using. Cover with foil and bake for 30-40 minutes, until bubbly.

Adventures in Disneyland

2011-03-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in my last post, I was able to take the kids to Disneyland a few weeks ago. When happy tax return time came, a few friends and I decided to take our kids on a big trip to Disney. My boys have never been to Disneyland - in fact, we've never had a family vacation.

I was so excited to buy the tickets. I decided to make it a complete surprise and not tell them until we got to the airport. I was expecting super-excited jumping, maybe some screaming. The response I got was, "No we're not. Want to hear a joke?"

Lack of initial enthusiasm aside, they did start to get a little excited as we watched the planes pulling in and out of the runway.

And once we got to Disneyland - it was magic.

As fun as Disneyland was, I learned a few valuable lessons:

1. No matter how hard you try to safeguard against it, your pottytraining toddler will pee on you only when you are farthest from the hotel.
2. Marcus does not like carousel horses.

3. If you let your toddler into the bathroom with the Mickey hat on, there is a good chance he will accidentally drop it into the urinal and his brother will pee on it.

Bye bye mickey hat.

4. You should never EVER eat at a pirate themed buffet restaurant.

5. You will never get this song out of your head.

6. And you will never get this makeup off.

7. If you buy a bubble gun for your son, he will use it to attack any and all passersby.

8. You may have to pull your child, kicking and screaming, from this car.

9. And from Goofy's house. Hey, playing piano with your butt is fun.

10. And once Malcolm finds a ride he loves, you better love it too - cause you are going to go on it at least 6 times.

Well I think that's a nice snapshot of our 4 days in sunny California. It was definitely worth the billion dollars and I think we will go next year.

The prodigal blogger

2011-03-19T10:02:00.000-07:00

Well, um...hey there! Been a long time, no? I'd like to say that my long, long, long absence from blogging has been due to the fact that I've been too busy being fabulous to type, but that's not true. I've been busy doing the following:

working
eating bad things
drinking bad things
getting fat

I think I just lost my footing after Maui. I started eating more processed foods, more fish, some dairy - and before you know it, I had no self control and no energy to get my butt back to the gym.

Now, it hasn't all been bad. I did take the kids on our first real family vacation:

DISNEYLAND!

I have about 5 million more photos, but I won't post them now. It was truly a magical and exhausting time. I'm so glad that I got to give the kids such a treat.

In other adventures, Marcus is pottytraining. I'm not going to expand on that too much as I'm sure it's not beyond the imagination of any mother. Let's just say it's keeping me on my toes (and in laundry!).

I also redecorated my livingroom:

It's not the best picture, but I'm to lazy to take another right now.

But back to healthy living. I'm going to see my cousin in Dallas in a little over a month, and I want to be back on track before I go there. The truth is, my body is DESPERATELY craving healthier foods.

Here is my 30 day pledge:

Full vegan - no meat, no dairy
~~No coffee~~ - ok, only one cup a day
2 drink max on social outings
Candy only once a week
At least 2 blog posts a week

It all starts today. I have already started out my day with a nice tofu scramble and toast, along with a nice cup of tea. That alone has me feeling a bit better. I will post my progress as I go along.

Wish me luck!

Happy Birthday to Marcus!

2010-12-02T07:43:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to my amazing, energetic, funny and adorable son Marcus.

Marcus was born at a very difficult and tumultuous time in my life. But three years ago today I was having lunch with my good friend Shane when I laughed at one of his jokes and my water broke. I should have known then that he would bring nothing but joy and laughter to my life.

I'm so grateful for all that my boys bring me every day and cannot wait to see the men they will grow up to be.

Cold-Weather Cravings

2010-11-22T15:00:00.000-08:00

This is my first meat-free winter. Summer was easy-breezy but with this cold weather, the meat cravings have set in. My dreams have been filled with meat and sex, but mostly meat. One dream was nothing but the search for the perfect hamburger. These cravings have forced me to not cook at all these past few days - knowing that some cheap facsimile would be worse than nothing than all.

If you are a veggie eater who finds that cold weather leaves you yearning for something meatier, I recommend making your own seitan. Don't buy the store stuff, it's gross. It's pretty easy to make, and will save you a pretty penny vs the store-bought version. And your own home-made seitan, fresh from the oven, will definitely hit the spot.

There are hundreds of recipes out there and they are all pretty similar. Mine is an amalgam of different versions I've tried and liked. I like to make seitan loaves - they slice well for winter sandwiches, roasts and burgers.

I woke up yesterday morning knowing that this burger was just what my dreams were demanding (minus the sex) for dinner.

Yowza - look at that baby. Fresh, warm, savory seitan, garlicy greens and mushrooms, bakery roll. Add a cold beer and does it get better than this?

I think not.

Seitan Burgers with Garlic Greens and Mushrooms

serves 4

Seitan Ingredients:

2 c vital wheat gluten

1/3 c nutritional yeast

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 cup vegetable stock

1/4 Braggs liquid aminos (or soy sauce)

1 tablespoon olive oil

Other Ingredients:

4 bakery rolls

4 tablespoons Vegenaise

3 cups kale, chopped

1 cup mushrooms, sliced

4 cloves garlic, diced

1/4 cup vegetable broth

1/2 tablespoon Braggs liquid aminos or soy sauce

Preheat oven to 350. In a food processor, pulse dry ingredients for seitan just until mixed. Mix wet seitan ingredients in separate bowl. With processor running, pour wet ingredients into dry and mix until dough forms a ball. Continue to mix for about 30 more seconds. Remove from processor and knead by hand for about 30 seconds. If you don't have a processor, you can mix it all by hand, just knead for about 3 minutes. Dough should be very elastic. Form dough into a loaf. Wrap tightly in greased foil and place in a baking dish. Bake until firm and risen, about 45 mins to an hour.Remove from oven and set aside to cool a bit.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add mushrooms and garlic and cook until mushrooms are softened, about 3 minutes. Add kale, broth and Braggs. Saute until kale is fully wilted.

Spread 1/2 tablespoon Vegenaise on each roll half. Place 1/4 of kale mixture on bottom half of each roll. Place 2 1/2 inch slices of seitan on top of the kale mixture. Place top half of bun. Enjoy!!

Embracing fall

2010-11-20T20:28:00.000-08:00

Nice to see you all again! I apologize for not posting in forever - this fall weather can be quite demotivating up here in the Pacific Northwest. It's so dark.

But it's getting cold! Why does that make me excited? Because I'm a knitter. I've been doing a lot of knitting these past couple of weeks. We had a holiday bazaar at my work last week and I sold most of my items, but I have some new ones and I put them on my Etsy store!

You should check it out and maybe pick something up to keep your extremities warm and stylish.

I've been trying to welcome fall instead of burying myself under yarn. My nieces came over last weekend and the kids definitely brought some ~~mess~~ life to the house.

In order to get this loud and adorable group of kids ~~out of my house~~ some exercise, I sent them out back in search of fall leaves. When they came back we traced them on construction paper, colored them, and made a nice fall wall display. It really is a nice touch.

What a great way to liven up a boring, white wall. Once we were done coloring and cutting, we made cookies.

These are the Banana Everything Cookies from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. They are quick to make, and a great way to use up small bits of goodies in your pantry. Oh, and did I forget to mention that they are delicious? They are warm and hearty and perfect for fall.

My kids hate oatmeal and nuts, but 2 dozen of these babies disappeared in one day. I promise I didn't eat them all. I highly recommend that you make some. The oats and nuts make them a good work snack to boost flagging energy levels (or as the commercials say, "that 3pm feeling").

Family, Food and Fun

2010-10-26T20:03:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was family fun time. And it's never family fun time without food. I was invited to a fall menu tasting at The District lounge last week. I was pretty excited because I love ~~free food~~ supporting local businesses. I'd been to The District before, my brother has played gigs there, but I've never eaten there. My original plan was to cruise there by myself - maybe meet my next husband (or next babydaddy?). But then I got a facebook message from my cousin that morning (that's the only way my family communicates these days) stating that she was going to be in town later that day for a fellowship interview. I hadn't seen my cousin in about 4 years, so I was excited to have her and my brother join me for the tasting.

The food was...good? The tasting didn't have a very large selection so we ordered a few items off the menu as well. I didn't jump up and down about it, but it was nice tapas pricing and you could certainly do worse in the U District late at night. My favorite was the Roasted Beet Carpaccio above. The free wine definitely made everything better. I'd say my enthusiasm ranged somewhere between my cousin's:

And my brother's:

After dinner we walked over to Flower's for drinks. We had a good time catching up and joking around:

My brother is not an attention-whore, at all.

Saturday was all about kids. It was the joint birthday party for my absolutely wonderful nieces Penelope and Charley!

My brother and I are very close. I'm also close with his ex-wife. On top of that my oldest, Malcolm, is only two months older than Penelope - so the kids are very close.

I love these girls like I gave birth to them.

Charley turned 7 this month and Penelope turns 9 next month. We had a small celebration at the local skate deck.

I was very good - I turned down pizza and cupcakes, but I just couldn't turn down this:

I'm convinced that anybody who went thru grade school in America is forever addicted to these things. Orange creaminess...

I can't believe how big all the kids are getting. I still remember the baby smell they used to have. Now the girls are dreaming of boys and my boys are taking flight lessons:

More on Malcolm's first flight on a later post. I just can't believe how time flies. I'm so lucky to have so many amazing young people in my life. I get to watch them grow and see what sort of adults they will grow to be.

We Have A Winner!!

2010-10-22T06:42:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to announce that our randomly picked commenter to win the $45 CSNStores gift card is:

Hope!

Her favorite fall food is pecan pie. I must admit that's one of my favs as well. Anybody have any vegan recipes?

Hope, I will email you your gift card today. Congrats! Thanks to everyone who left a comment and became a follower of this blog. I hope to have another giveaway soon!

Peace and Comfort

2010-10-19T21:45:00.000-07:00

I spent two years in a relationship where I felt betrayed, disrespected and unappreciated. I walked around with a constant sinking feeling in my stomach that came from knowing that the thing that I wanted more than anything was eating me alive. When it all ended as badly as these things must, I spent two years mourning that horrible relationship. I raged that something so important to me could mean so little to someone else. I carried so much anger and hurt around that it changed who I was. I fed my anger and fear and sadness - literally. I would cry and eat and sleep. I tried to take comfort in the thought that perhaps my heavier self would not be attractive to someone as shallow as he had been. I wouldn't be so easily hurt. Then when I tried to lose weight it was purely out of revenge - to show this man what he missed. My life remained wrapped around a crappy relationship that doesn't exist.

When you have a child with someone who broke your heart, you can't just cut all ties and pretend that person doesn't exist. Not when you love your children and you know that your ex is a good father. Our families are forever intertwined, and though I have so much love for my ex-in-laws, it has been hard to not see them as a reminder of what would have been.

But this year when I contemplated dating again, I found myself making some of the very same bad decisions that had brought me to my current heartbreak. I realized that nobody was hurting me but myself. The anger and hurt that I was holding onto was more about not wanting to admit that I had sunk all my resources into a losing battle. That it was doomed from the start and I held part of the blame for not wanting to admit that at the beginning. I realized that it was taking all of my energy to be angry and hurt - energy that I could be giving to myself and my kids. So I let it go.

It wasn't very easy, and it wasn't very quick, but over the last 5 months or so I've let it go. This blog is part of that. This is about me and my life, which is pretty darn great. I'm happier and healthier than I have been in years. I have fantastic friends and family. I have a good job that I'm great at. I am constantly aware of how great it is to no longer have that pit in my stomach.

My ex's sister and I are closer now then we were during the relationship, especially now that her brother is (when not working together for our son) just some guy now. We even went to Maui together. She also came with me to support my brother during a comedy show that he performed at last weekend.

She is a truly wonderful person. A smart, supportive, funny and loyal friend. I'm so very glad that I met her and the rest of her family.

Honestly, I'm glad for a lot of it now. I'm so very glad that I met a man who is a good father and who gave me a beautiful, funny, energetic and loving son.

And is a great little brother to my other amazing son.

I'm so glad that I got out of an unhealthy relationship before I had thrown more years of my life at it.

I'm so glad that I learned that I have fun, loyal, true and kind friends (any friends not pictured below, please know that I love you and just don't seem to have proper photo documentation).

I'm so glad that I learned that nobody is ever worth forgetting who I am at my core. I'm so glad that I learned that I can get past heartbreak fully intact, if not stronger, without turning to unhealthy distractions. My strength, intelligence and creativity are more than enough to get by.

Now, I'm not against feeling sorry for yourself every once in a while. I think that every loss needs a little time to be mourned. And I believe there are times when we all need a little comfort food. Like potatoes au gratin, or lasagna, or macaroni.

What's the secret to getting comfort without paying later? My awesome bechamel. I use it in so many recipes. A good bechamel should always be in your comfort food arsenal.

Spiced Bechamel

makes 2 cups

Ingredients

2/3 cup onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 tablespoons Earth Balance butter

3 tablespoons flour

1 1/2 cups nondairy milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon cayenne powder

In a large skillet, saute onions and garlic in oil over medium heat until carmelized, about 8 minutes. Remove and place in blender or food processor and let cool. Return skillet to heat and add butter and flour. Stir constantly until flour mixture is a nutty brown. Slowly whisk in milk. Add remainder of ingredients and cook for a minute or so. Take 1 cup of the sauce and add it to the blender or food processor with the onion mixture. Puree until smooth. Add the puree back to the pan and cook for another 2 minutes, adding more milk if needed for desired consistency. Serve over pasta, with potatoes, over toast - just about anything!

Fall is for Pancakes

2010-10-16T17:00:00.000-07:00

I love pancakes on fall mornings. Don't they seem perfect on a lazy weekend? The air is crisp, the leaves are turning - you just want to fill your tummy with something warm and sweet and a bit spicy.

The inspiration for this breakfast came from this:

This sweet potato was threatening to take over the kitchen. As you can see, it's been hanging around for a while. I woke up this morning knowing exactly what I was going to use it for.

These sweet potato pancakes were a more than fitting use. They are warm, oh so moist, sweet and a bit spicy. Every bite is pure fall.

Sweet Potato Pancakes

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie seasoning

1 cup cooked sweet potato, mashed really well

1 tablespoon vegetable oil + any needed for griddle

1 1/2 cups non-dairy milk (I used soy)

1/4 cup brown sugar

In a large bowl mix flour, baking powder, salt and pumpkin pie seasoning. Set aside. In a smaller bowl, mix remainder of ingredients. Add to the flour mixture and stir just until combined - do not overmix. Cook on a griddle over medium heat, flip when edges are set and bottom is medium brown. Top with maple syrup and enjoy!!

Spaghetti - Kansas Style

2010-10-15T19:18:00.000-07:00

Don't forget to enter my drawing for a $45 gift card to CSN Stores! It's easy! Click here>>

Family gatherings with my extended clan are usually hectic affairs.

People are coming and going, everybody's shouting, kids are jumping. I'd like to say that we all calm down to gather around the table, but we don't. I can't remember the last time we sat at the table at all. The table is just a place to hold giant pots of food while we all fan out around the house, lounging on chairs, squeezing together on couches, sitting crosslegged on the floor. And to add a bit of excitement to it all, we are usually eating spaghetti.

Now this isn't the spaghetti that will make your Italian grandmother proud. This is the spaghetti that will make my your midwestern grandma proud. My mom's family hails from Kansas and our spaghetti is full of Americana - a thousand pounds of ground beef, ketchup, Worcestershire...I know the sound of this might make some foodies cringe, but damn - it is tasty. Now that the weather has been cool, the kids and I have been craving that hearty fare. I decided to try to work up a vegan version of this sauce that tastes meaty and hearty - without forming an inch of yellow grease on top when you put it in the fridge.

I cooked this up yesterday and it definitely hit the spot. It was meaty, thick, flavorful, and made me want to take a nice carb nap. The kids seriously scarfed it down in record time.

Kansas-Style Spaghetti Sauce

Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 8oz package Tempeh

1 cup onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, diced

1 medium zucchini, chopped

1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms

28 oz can diced tomatoes

6 oz can tomato paste

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

2 tablespoons Braggs Liquid Enzymes or soy sauce

1 tablespoon dried basil

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Instructions:

Steam tempeh for 10 minutes; set aside to cool for a few minutes. Mash tempeh in a bowl with a fork until it approaches ground beef consistency. Stir in 1 tablespoon Braggs and the nutritional yeast. Set aside.

In a large skillet or saucepan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat and saute until softened, about 6 minutes. Press tempeh mixture into the pan and let it brown, then turn with a spatula and cook the other side. Go ahead and let it get crumbly.

Add zucchini and mushrooms and cook about 5 more minutes. Add remainder of ingredients: tomatoes, tomato paste, basil, cayenne, vinegar, and Braggs. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Serve!

It's Giveaway Time! $45 Gift Card from CSN Stores!

2010-10-13T21:42:00.000-07:00

Huzzah, another giveaway! I love giving things away. I really do. Usually, I knit things and ~~force people to wear them~~ lovingly give them to friends, but for those of you not in need of a new hat, you can win this gift card! The lovely people at CSN stores have sent me a $45 gift card which I've decided to share with you (because I need ~~more readers~~ your love).

If you missed my last CSN giveaway, here's a bit about them. They have over 200 stores with just about anything you can imagine for your home. You can use your gift card for something big, like these great drop leaf tables or maybe some great dishes or kitchen gadgets.

Even Marcus is excited about this giveaway:

Ok, he's really just excited about enchiladas for dinner. But think of how awesome your enchiladas would be on your nice new table, or served in your nice new casserole dish?

"So Ijeoma," you say, "How do I win this gift card?"

It's crraazzzy easy, here's how to enter:

Become a follower of this blog, if you aren't already.
Leave a comment on this post sharing your favorite fall food.

That's it! You have until Thursday, October 21st at 10pm pacific to enter. I will randomly pick the winner the morning of the 22nd. Good luck - I can't wait to read your comments!!

Please note: gift card does not cover shipping and handling.

Art and Food

2010-10-10T10:13:00.000-07:00

Last night was filled with two of my favorite things - art and food. I met up with my friend Michelle Khazak to make an awesome trade - art for crafts. Outside of being a totally cool person, Michelle is an extremely talented vocalist and painter. I met her thru my brother on music projects they've done together. Michelle proposed a trade of hat for painting.

I must say that this is the best idea in the history of all ideas in the world.

I met up with Michelle yesterday to exchange goods. She wanted something orangey-yellow, a bit fuzzy and slouchy. The hat fit her perfectly and the color looked fabulous on her.

She's a bit camera shy.

I do think I got the better end of the deal though. Check out this great painting!

Doesn't that look great with my orange walls? She painted this based on a piece of music that I sent her. I couldn't be more pleased. She has a lot of fabulous paintings. If you like to support smaller artists (and add awesome paintings to your walls), you should really take a look at her work. You can see her gallery here and her Etsy shop here.

After chatting in the coffee shop we were having such a good time that we decided to grab dinner and drinks. Michelle suggested 22 Doors, and I'm very glad she did! We sat outside on the covered patio, and even though it was chilly and raining outside, the heaters made for a lovely and comfortable atmosphere. I should also add that the service was great - very attentive without being annoying and very friendly and accommodating.

Makes me want to decorate my small patio.

Their tapas menu had a nice selection of veggie items and prices that kept my broke ass happy.

Fried cauliflower with cauliflower and truffle puree. Yum.

Gnocchi with asparagus, olives and loads of garlic. I ordered it without feta. Sooo yummy.

The drinks were fantastic. This warm concoction was another great suggestions of Michelle's

It's called Levitation. It has

Broke as a Mofo

2010-10-06T20:18:00.000-07:00

While I certainly didn't make any extravagant purchases in Maui, this trip definitely tapped out my bank account. It's been a while since I've been so strapped until payday (which is still over a week away). I'm also PMSing, so I'm stressed, poor, hungry and in need of chocolate.

The one good thing about tight money times is that it forces me to cook all meals from scratch and try new recipes to accommodate my strange and limited assortment of remaining food items. I'm finally using the tempeh in my fridge that I've been too scared to try. I'm making seitan for the first time with the wheat gluten I bought months ago. I'm using every scrap of vegetable in my crisper. I'm eating more brown rice than any human being should.

And I'm making waffles, CHOCOLATE WAFFLES.

I was craving chocolate desperately, but had no money to go buy some. I don't usually eat chocolate, so it's not something I have in my cupboards. And honestly, even when I crave chocolate, it's usually chocolate things, like cake, not chocolate itself. And dark, fudgy chocolate. Lucky for me, I always seem to have cocoa powder left over from a previous birthday party or fancy dinner. I dug thru my recipe books and found these Chocolate Chip Brownie Waffles in Veganomicon. Due to pantry and taste constraints, I made a few modifications:

Instead of soy yogurt, I just used soy milk with a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to culture it.
Used white whole wheat flour instead of plain flour.
Used walnuts instead of pecans.
Omitted chocolate chips.

There are no words for how delicious these turned out. Okay, there are words - words like DELICIOUS, FUDGY, CHOCOLATELY, AMAZING and PERFECT. They knocked my chocolate craving out cold without being overly sweet and the strawberries added a great freshness. The kids loved them too, but I was too busy shoving waffles in my mouth to take a picture.

For those of you who have this cookbook, definitely give this recipe a try. For those of you who don't have - hahah, that's just silly, OF COURSE you have this cookbook already.

Now if you excuse me, I have a giant pot of brown rice to make.

Muffins for Motivation

2010-10-04T07:12:00.000-07:00

During this first post-vacation weekend, I wasn't motivated to do too much. But the universe doesn't care about my motivation. My mom and my brother were both moving to new residences and needed help, and Malcolm had not one, but two soccer games.

So I dragged my tired ass out of bed far too early (still on Maui time) and started making muffins. I made a giant batch and then we dashed out the door while shoving muffins in our mouths

We showed up at my mom's and the muffins quickly disappeared (my grandpa, with his Alzheimer's, can't remember much - but he never forgets his love of baked goods and he ate 5).

After a few hours of moving, we took a break to watch some soccer action.

The call Malcolm "the wall" - is that not adorable! Seriously though, nothing gets past him as a goalie or defender.

He's perfected the Oluo face of concentration.

Go Pirates!
Sometimes the excitement can be a little too much:

But at halftime big brother shows up to make it all ok - and also breaks out some sweet headbands!

Then it's back to the game. Marcus is now calm and ready to enjoy:

The headband adds extra fierceness:

The pirates are victorious!

Can I take a tiny bit of credit for such great morning muffins? Sure, why not

Banana Walnut Muffins
makes 16

Ingredients:
2 cups white whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups non-dairy milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon flax seed
2 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
2 large ripe bananas - mushed
16 walnut halves for garnish

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400. In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl or cup mix the milk and vinegar and let sit a few minutes to curdle. In another small cup, mix the flax and water and stir until gelatinous. Combine milk mixture, flax mixture, oil, sugar, nutmeg and vanilla. Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until just combined - do not overmix. Gently stir in banana and chopped walnuts. Fill greased muffin tins 3/4 full. Place a walnut half on top and pop in the oven for about 12-15 minutes until golden brown. Enjoy!

Maui Baby! Part 2

2010-10-03T11:14:00.000-07:00

Here is the second installment of my Maui Adventures

Haleakala
My friend Sarah joined us in Maui and we made the harrowing drive up Haleakala, but it was totally worth it for the amazing views:

We also spend a great amount of time in the water - sunburns for everyone!

All that running around in the sand worked up quite an appetite

And the nightlife, while laid back, was definitely fun. The guy-girl ratio definitely worked in our favor

All in all, a pretty great vacation for three friends

Maui Baby! Part 1

2010-10-01T12:14:00.000-07:00

Well I'm back from Maui and I have an insane amount of pics to share. I won't share them all (that torture is for my facebook friends) but I will break some out into a couple of posts for you.

Pre-Maui Prep

The day before Maui was spent eating all the fresh produce in the house:

That is a bowl full of noodles, zucchini, greens, mushrooms, heirloom tomatoes and whatever else I could find.

I also finally finished Marie's birthday scarf to give to her on the way to the airport:

Because every girl needs a new scarf for Maui, right?

We woke up early the next morning to catch the plane. I spotted this awesomely ridiculous article in Marie's copy of Self Magazine:

Yes ladies, pumpkins are not just for Halloween - use them to get buff! This seems like a sensible idea, doesn't it?

Maui

Anywhoo, a sedative and 5 hour flight later, we were in Maui! We checked into our room - check out this great little garden right outside our balcony:

and immediately walked down to the beach before it got dark:

This little beach was literally a block away from our room. How lucky can we get? After a bit of playing in the sand, we realized we were STARVING. So we headed to a nearby sushi restaurant.

No food pics here, it was scarfed down too fast. But I did get that drink pic (yummy lychee martini).We then stumbled drunkenly thru the grocery store in search of breakfast items and boxes of wine (we travel in style).

The next morning, my tummy was in need of a little help from both the alcohol and fish (which I usually only eat on special occasions).

Mmmm....tofu scramble, toast with guac and fresh papaya. So freaking delicious.

We then got some more great beach time! This time in Lahaina and Kanapali.

Well I guess that's enough pics for now right? More to come later!

Greetings from Maui!

2010-09-26T21:11:00.000-07:00

I won't be posting much this week because I'm on vacation. I promise to have a few full posts about my vacation when I return. Here are a few iphone pics though:

I'm having a blast! See you guys at the end of the week!

Winner Winner Chickn Dinner!

2010-09-23T17:00:00.000-07:00

We have a winner for our drawing for the $35 CSN gift certificate, it is (drumroll...........)

Heather!

I will email you your give certificate code. Comment and let me know what you get!

Thanks to everyone who participated in my very first giveaway! I hope to have more soon!

Getting Creative

2010-09-22T22:40:00.000-07:00

I've been so busy cooking, eating and blogging about cooking and eating that I haven't had much of a chance to knit (or date - but really, that's for a different type of blog). These last few days I've been bit by the bug and have been knitting more and cooking less. I also had to get an emergency root canal due to cracking my tooth in half on a cocoa roast almond (damn you, delicious almonds!) and the three hour long dentist appointments have left me cranky and craving ready-made soft foods.

This means that I've been eating out a lot more.
Yummy tofu Pad Kee Mao with my mom.

You can tell why the boys absolutely adore her. She kept them entertained while I nursed a very sore mouth and tried to swallow mouthfuls of delicious noodles without chewing. Wine definitely helped.

Tonight was pizza. We probably haven't had pizza in about 3 months. No pics of the food, just a pic of two very happy boys covered in pizza sauce. You would have thought I took them to Disneyland instead of Pagliacci.

But all this fast-ish food has given me the time to finish up this labor of love. The type of love that makes you want to stab yourself with a knitting needle. But now that I've gone thru the blood, sweat and tears I think I'll love it forever.

Pretty darn awesome huh? I've blogged a bunch more about it in my knitting blog. You can see it here if you are interested in my crafty adventures.

Operation Fruitfly

2010-09-19T20:33:00.000-07:00

This is the face of the fruitfly's best friend. Marcus' love of fruit is matched only by his love of hiding things. What do these great loves yield? Hidden Fruit. Yay.

Midweek I found our house overrun with fruitflies. They'd built condos and were working on a little shopping center on the kitchen counter. Now, I'm not vegan because of a great love for all animal-kind. I have no qualms about battling fruitflies. This is war. I embarked on hunting down apples from under the couch, banana peels from under the bed, grapes from behind the chair.

This combined with bleaching of all surfaces and setting fruitfly traps made me almost too busy to notice (as I was rushing thru my livingroom) my fruitfly loving son, sprawled out on the floor with his toothbrush crammed down his diaper, scratching an itch. Say what? Yes, that's exactly what I said. Fruitflies were forgotten for the moment as said toothbrush was confiscated and tossed in the trash. I don't even know what to say further about this other than, my kids are definitely boys. Is it bad that I was a bit proud of his resourcefulness? When he gets older he is going to be MORTIFIED that I shared this with the blogosphere. At least I didn't take pictures as some of my friends suggested. Anyways, back to the fruitflies.

Because I'm going to Hawaii on Thursday (can I get a "Yay"?) and I don't want the fruitflies to take over again while I'm gone, I'm on a mission to use up all fresh produce before I go. Extra avocado and heirloom tomatoes were just asking to be the obvious vegan standby.

Fresh guacamole. Along side some mashed black beans with melted Daiya cheese and some oven-baked tortilla chips. A nice, light lunch. One day, avocado and I will make it official and get married. You will all be invited.

Even with such a yummy lunch, snack time comes quickly and with a vengeance in my household. I had a melon that was smelling very sweet, but I wasn't really in the mood for plain old melon. I remembered some bananas that I had put in the freezer during the great fruitfly war of midweek. I decided to try for a new, refreshing snack. It was appreciated by all and was a quick and easy way to use up the entire melon.

Fresh BananaMelon Shake

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 frozen Bananas

1 medium size Melon (honeydew, canaloupe or orangeflesh melons work great), seeded and the flesh chopped

1 tablespoon Lime juice

2 tablespoons Non-Dairy Creamer

Instructions:

Place all ingredients in the blender and mix until smooth. Serve immediately.

Stuck at Home, Cooking Abroad

2010-09-18T21:28:00.000-07:00

Don't forget to enter my $35 CSNStores Giveaway! It's super easy! Click HERE>>

This little boy is in trouble. Big trouble.

I'm not going to go into what juvenile crime he committed. Let's just say it's enough for ~~the high courts~~ me to sentence him to be grounded for a week, with no new anything for a month, and a two-page letter of apology.

So this means that all of our fun plans for the weekend are canceled. No kids concert, no parks, no soccer games. We just get to stare at each other. ALL WEEKEND.

I can only stand a mopey 9-year-old for so long, so I sent the boys to the backyard to play, with the instructions to not have too much fun. Malcolm is grounded, after all.

I quickly worried that, left to my own devices, this would be a weekend trip to Couchpajamaland,

Nobody wants that. I decided it would be a good time to tackle some new recipes. I dug out an old French cookbook that I had bought in college to see what I could veganize. Since it was breakfast, I decided to try a Clafoutis.

A Clafoutis is fruit (traditionally cherries) surrounded in a moist, pudding-like cake. Since I had peaches in stock, I decided to use those instead of cherries. This is usually a very eggy dish, so I knew I was going to need to change up the flavor a bit to make up for it. The ginger and lemon definitely gives it a zestiness that rounds out the taste. This is a quick and easy dish and makes a great breakfast.

The entire thing was devoured happily. It was filling, yet light, and the ginger gave it nice depth. For a little while we forgot that we were locked together in punishment.

Peach Clafoutis with Ginger

Serves 6 (unless you have kids like mine. If you do, I will pray for your grocery budget)

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups White Whole Wheat Flour

1/2 cups Organic Sugar

1/4 teaspoon Salt

2 cups Non-Dairy Milk

3 tablespoons Earth Balance Buttery Spread

3 medium Peaches, chopped into 3/4 inch chunks

1 teaspoon fresh grated Ginger

1 tablespoon Lemon Juice

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350. Place peaches in a buttered casserole dish and toss with lemon and ginger. In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients and set aside. Heat milk and butter until butter is melted. Pour milk/butter mixture into dry ingredients, stirring while pouring to prevent lumps. Mix just until lumps are gone. Pour over peaches. Bake approximately 40 minutes, or until cake is set (but NOT toothpick clean) and top is light brown. Let cool and enjoy!

Earning My Vacation

2010-09-16T21:01:00.000-07:00

Don't forget to enter my $35 CSNStores Giveaway! It's super easy! Click HERE>>

I'm trying to keep things in perspective. My family is healthy, I have a job, my friends are great.

Screw that. This was not a good day. It just wasn't.

It started with my now 3rd day of stomach woes. I have eaten a bit more white flour and white rice than usual lately. That combined with a high amount of stress has completely shut down my digestive system. Not even my detox shake is working. I look pregnant. All the time.

I woke up this morning feeling bloated and gross. I dragged my tired, fat ass down the stairs to make some oatmeal when I heard my youngest yelling at me from his crib. Not smiling. Not happy. Screaming and demanding his favorite thing in the world.

Food. He's in the middle of a growth spurt and getting over a cold, so we are in constant snot-covered fits right now.

I put my breakfast on hold and piled his highchair with grapes, bananas and a peanut butter jelly bar. This did not satisfy. Two bowls of cereal later and the fit subsided. Did I mention that he's in a growth spurt?

I scarfed down my food and rushed to get dressed while listening to the boys argue about where they were going to sit to put their shoes on. They argue about everything right now as Marcus' favorite sentence is "Leave me alone! You not boss!" and I've turned into that screeching mom threatening to sell them to the circus.

I get to work late.That would be the highlight of my work day. I'm not going to go into detail, because it will just elevate my heart rate. Let's just say that I was putting out fires left and right. Actually I wasn't putting out fires. I was running from fire to fire with a small bucket of water and watching buildings burn down.

I'm trying to get everything at work in order so that I can have a stress free vacation next week. This is not working as the stuff to do seems to increase exponentially each day.. I've also been working so hard that I haven't been able to go to the gym. I'm sure this isn't helping my stomach issues either. Seriously, do you guys have any tips about this? I'm eating fiber, I'm drinking water, but nothing is getting rid of this food baby.

On my way home from work, I got lost. I really don't know how this happened. I work in the town I grew up in. I've never once gotten lost there, not in my entire life. I really didn't think it was possible to get lost in Lynnwood, WA. It took me 45 minutes to find my way out of the town that I've been driving in since I was 16.

By the time I picked up the kids, it was 7:15 at night. I'm not going to cook. I heated up some Amy's Mexican Casserole Bowls for the kids.

These things are delicious and pretty nutritionally sound. I don't eat them anymore since they have cheese, but the kids scarfed them down.

For my dinner, I turned to my comfort soup - since it's calming and something that my still very unhappy stomach can handle. And, honestly, I had already made it yesterday. I think I would have eaten just about anything if it meant avoiding cooking tonight. This soup is light and soothing with a lovely onion flavor - almost like a leek soup. It has extremely low calories as well. It's also insanely easy to make.

Sweet Onion & Zucchini Soup

serves 6

Ingredients:

1 large Sweet Yellow Onion, chopped

2 medium Zucchini, chopped

4 cups water

1/2 teaspoon dried Thyme

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon Truffle Oil

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Place onion and zucchini in a medium pot and add water, salt and thyme. Boil on medium heat until vegetables are tender. Remove vegetables from water (but don't throw out water) and place in a blender with approx 1/2 cup water from the pot. You may have to do this in a couple of batches, depending on your blender. Blend until smooth and return to pot with the water. Add truffle oil and salt and pepper to taste. Serve.

The kids are fed and (with the exception of a toy truck related fit) happy. I was able to put them in bed and give them nice kisses and hugs and goodnight wishes and for 5 minutes they were the angels I know them to be. They are safe and warm and I know that's all that matters. Life is pretty good, I guess.

CSN Stores Giveaway Extended

2010-09-15T06:40:00.000-07:00

Hey guys and gals! I just wanted to let you know that I'm extending my CSN Stores giveaway until Wednesday, Sept 23rd.

CLICK HERE to enter!

Keeping Things in Balance

2010-09-13T15:09:00.000-07:00

DON'T FORGET TO ENTER TO WIN YOUR $35 GIFT CERTIFICATE FOR CSNStores.com! IT'S SUPER EASY! CLICK HERE NOW!!>>

Life is all about balance. I'm trying to learn that now to break old habits of going all out on diet and exercise and then flaming out after a few weeks. I've managed to keep up this healthy balancing act for over 4 months now. It's been slow and steady progress, but I feel like these changes are going to stick.

This weekend was all about balance.
Friday. Sensible breakfast and lunch, along with a light workout, followed by

Giant pitcher of mojios! Not pictured: the 5 lbs of guacamole also consumed.
This was a fun night with my old high school buds. We've been friends for over 13 years. We get together about every 6 months or so and it's always a blast.

Don't ask about this last one. It was disgusting. I worry about my friends perceptions of their cooking abilities.After a night of drinking and eating I was feeling not so hot. But not quite as bad as my mojito drinking partner in crime - Dave:

That, my friends, is the face of regret.

Fridays excess was balanced by this:

A fantastic hike in Wallace Falls with more friends!

The best of these photos are courtesy of my talented friend Marie (above in blue).

Marie is the type of friend who reminds me to suck my stomach in before she takes a photo. I love her.

After the hike was over the girls suggested we go over to a nearby restaurant for food and drinks. I had planned a light dinner and was about to decline, but then I remembered something important. This is my life. Life isn't about missing out on fun times with the people you love just because you want that number on the scale to go down. I reminded myself that I'm a grownup, and I can actually go out to dinner and eat what I want so long as I'm willing to make up for it.

So that's what I did. There is no photo-documentation of the dinner indulgences. Lets just say that it included corn fritters, tacos, guacamole and a small bit of chocolate cake. I went to bed that night not feeling guilty like I used to - like I'd really blown it, because I new that the next morning I would start fresh and balance it out. I kept to light, yet delicious and wholesome food and got in a decent sized walk and all was right with the world.

A day of balancing in under 1600 calories.

Breakfast:

A bowl of oatmeal with a mashed banana, 6 walnut halves, So Delicious Coconut Milk, brown sugar, 1 tablespoon of flax seed and a touch of cinnamon and nutmeg. Finished with a cup of tea. Nom. Nom. Nom. So very delicious and kept me more than satisfied until lunch.

Lunch

Crumbled black bean-quinoa patty with sauteed kale and garlic in a bit of olive oil. Topped with 6 walnut halves (chopped), heirloom tomato, soy sauce and balsamic vinegar.

After my workout I was getting quite hungry, so I had a quick snack.

A small handful of cocoa roast almonds. If you haven't tried them - RUN TO THE STORE NOW. They are so good. So so so so good. They aren't the most natural, but the ingredient list isn't too scary either. And they are worth it to get a great chocolate fix along with some protein for staying power.

Dinner

Homemade dosas with curried potatoes. No. Words. For. The. Awesome.

Dessert - Oh yes, even a 1600 calorie day comes with dessert.

A handful of strawberries with homemade chocolate ganache. I don't really have to tell you that this was delicious right? I didn't think so. I like to keep some ganache in the freezer for little chocolate fixes here and there.

So here I was able to make up for some indulgences and not feel the slightest bit deprived. In fact, I felt downright spoiled. Isn't food fun?

Next post: recipe for the Dosas with Curried Potatoes!!

$35 Giveaway from CSN Stores!!! - Extended!

2010-09-10T14:03:00.000-07:00

The folks at CSN stores.com contacted me and asked if I wanted to offer a $35 gift certificate on my blog. I looked at these cute bistro sets, that would be a great addition on my deck and wished I could win a gift certificate! Being a fan of all things free, I jumped at the opportunity to share a gift with my readers. You know you love free!

Now, I did some research on CSN Stores before deciding to do this giveaway. They have over 200 stores with just about any kitchen and dining supply that a foodie like you or me could think of. Their customer feedback seems solid as well. Click here to take a look around their stores and imagine what fun you'd have with an extra $35.

How To Enter This Giveaway:

Click the Follow button (on the top right of this blog) to become a fan of this blog and
Leave a Comment on this post about the kitchen tool or appliance that has helped you the most with your healthy eating goals.

This giveaway will be open until 10pm pacific time on ~~Thursday, September 16th~~ Wednesday, September 23rd. The winner will be picked randomly on ~~Friday, September 17th~~ Wednesday, September 23rd!. Good luck!

Please note that the gift certificate does not cover shipping and handling fees.

Peanut Butter Jelly Time, Peanut Butter Jelly Time

2010-09-07T20:05:00.000-07:00

Come on, dance with me - "Peanut butter jelly time...peanut butter jelly time..."

This little boy? He loves his peanut butter and jelly.

And this little boy? He's a longtime fan.

And this not-so-little girl? Has to admit to having one or three.

She apparently must also admit to wearing those purple ruffles (I do what I want!!).

If you were to do hair tests, like they do on crime shows, I'm sure our years of PB&J addiction would show.

Our family love of PB&J means that we are constantly walking around gooey, sticky and smelling of peanuts. All household surfaces are likely to have at least one jelly-smudged fingerprint.

So what's a mom who hates cleaning to do?

Whip up a batch of these tasty (and healthy) snacks:

Peanut Butter Jelly Bars
Ingredients
Crust:
1 cup almonds
1 cup rolled oats (regular oatmeal kind)
1 cup wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 fresh dates, pitted
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Filling:
1/3 cup organic peanut butter
1/3 cup organic fruit preserves (your favorite flavor)

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350. Place almonds, oats, flour, baking powder and salt in a food processor. Process until it forms a powder. Add remaining ingredients and process until it becomes a dough ball. Divide in half.

Roll out half of the dough on piece of parchment paper until about 1/8 inch thick. Spread peanut butter on top. Roll out the other half of the dough on another piece of parchment paper until it's the same size as the first. Spread jelly on top. Using the parchment paper as a holder, gently lay the peanut butter half of the dough (pb side down) onto the jelly half, forming a gigantic sandwich. Remove parchment paper and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet.

Place in oven and bake approximately 20 minutes, or until dough is raised a bit and top is medium brown.

Allow to cool and eat whole in a celebration of peanut butter, jelly and gluttony - or cut into bars and share with kids. Your choice.

These Very Last Days of Summer

2010-09-05T10:29:00.000-07:00

While I have already broken out the fall boots here in Seattle, I still think of labor day weekend as part of summer. While the weather is cooler, the trees are still green,

and while we might not be taking a dip in the pool, we can still take a walk down to the pond.

And bikes can still be ridden.

And swings can be swung.

And there's still fresh fruit to be eaten.

This tart works wonderfully with any summer fruits - peaches, apricots, mangoes - whatever you have on hand. It's cool and refreshing, yet rich and satisfying. The cashew crust is so yummy, I could eat it by itself. We had it for breakfast and both boys had polished theirs off in under 5 minutes.

Summer Fruit Tart with Coconut Creme and Maple-Ginger Glaze

Serves 6 (if you like large slices, and you know you do)
Ingredients:
Maple-Ginger Glaze
6 Tablespoons maple syrup
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 Tablespoons water

Cashew Crust
1 cup raw cashews
1 cup oats (the regular oatmeal kind)
2/3 cup wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

Coconut Creme
1 cup firm silken tofu
2/3 cup So Delicious coconut milk beverage
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons maple syrup

Fruit Topping
2 cups fresh fruit, sliced (I used strawberries and bananas)

Instructions:
In a small saucepan, combine the ingredients for Maple-Ginger Glaze and heat until boiling. Remove from heat and let sit for at least 10 minutes. Half of this glaze will go on top of the tart and the other half will go in the crust.

Preheat oven to 350. In a food processor, blend all dry ingredients for the Cashew Crust until they form a grainy powder. Add the vegetable oil and half of the glaze mixture and process until combined. Press the crust into a greased pie plate or tart pan. Bake until light brown. Remove from oven and place in freezer. Rinse your food processor.

In food processor, combine all ingredients for Coconut Creme and process until smooth. Put in a small/medium saucepan and heat, stirring constantly, until just before boiling. Remove from heat and continue to stir while it cools, until you have a thick pudding consistency.

Remove crust from freezer. Scoop Coconut Creme onto the crust and spread until even on top. Arrange fruit on top. Drizzle with remainder of glaze mixture. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Enjoy!

My Fitness Tracker

2010-09-02T19:27:00.000-07:00

I have a new iPhone app that I'm in love with. It's My Fitness Pal:

This app has changed my ~~life~~ week. I'm not usually a big calorie sticker (which is obvious to anyone who knows me), but I worry a lot about proper nutrition - especially since I tend to be anemic. I did a search on my iphone store and came across the app of my dreams. This little baby not only counts calories, but gives you a whole rundown of your nutritional intake and goals. Worried about iron levels? Covered. Worried about calcium? Covered. Potassium? Check. It also has a website version that you can back up your app onto and update on their as well. The site also has great forums and tools (like a nice recipe builder).

Did I mention this baby is free? Hells yeah. Free.

The above images aren't mine. My current calorie goal is 1540 to lose 1.5lbs per week. You get a greater calorie allowance if you work out too - so needless to say I haven't been missing any workouts (I love dessert too much!).

Speaking of workouts, I forgot my tennis shoes today, but didn't realize until I was halfway into my workout clothes at the gym. Determined to not miss a workout, I went to my spin class in sandals. I was like "hey, I'm just sitting and pedaling, I could practically do that barefoot." hahaha, silly me. As soon as we started the standing drills the evil little bike pedals started cutting thru the thin sole of my sandals. OUCH. But I finished my hour and now I'm eating a brownie.

I'm really hoping this (the app, not the brownie) will help me feel a little more confident on the beaches of Hawaii at the end of this month.

Burning Down the House

2010-08-30T20:59:00.000-07:00

Three hundred sixty five degrees
Burning down the house

Me. Kitchens. Fire. It's sort of a thing.

When I was 11 and my brother was 10, we came up with a brilliant idea to make crayons in the microwave. My mom's brand new microwave that she had received as a birthday present (this was back in the day when microwaves were new tech and the most kick-ass thing you could get anybody). So on this unsupervised afternoon we put about 10 crayons in a cup and stuck them in the microwave for about 15 minutes.

When I returned to the microwave to check my on my surely awesome candle, I instead found a cup of flames that were threatening the ceiling of the microwave. I quickly grabbed a hot pad and pulled out the flaming cup - just as the ceiling of the microwave was collapsing into a puddle of plastic. Flames shot out the top up the microwave-turned gooey pile and up the wall. Then the potholder that I was using to hold the cup caught fire and I dropped the entire thing in a panic; sending flames shooting across the kitchen linoleum.

My brother and I were able to get the flames out within about 5 minutes, but needless to say, the microwave (and my mom's deposit on our apartment) was toast. I wasn't allowed in the kitchen again until I was about 17.

So that brings us to present day and I've obviously come a long way.

My first attempt at making Pita Chips last night. Win.

You'd think being a woman who's cooked more than her fair share of meals in her 29+ years would know to not put anything in the top rack of oven under broil and leave it unattended for 25 5 minutes. If that is what you thought, then you thought wrong.

After carefully grabbing a cookie sheet filled with 6-inch tall pita-fueled flames, and then rushing to fan smoke detectors on both floors that were screeching like Gilbert Gottfried, I did not give up on dinner and sink into a bottle of wine. Don't get me wrong, there was wine drinking, but dinner also prevailed.

I tossed out the pita charcoal and started fresh with oven-baked tortilla chips. This time I kept a close eye on them in order to prevent further flames. I made some fresh hummus, but I used 1/2 chickpeas, 1/2 cauliflower to save a bit on calories and up the veggie intake.

Pretty good recovery, don't you think?

Worried that this probably wouldn't be classified as a well-rounded dinner by the food police in my head, I decided to add a large salad as well. I put a bunch of thinly shredded, raw kale in a LARGE bowl, added a large heirloom tomato and half an avocado. I then whipped up a quick and ohhh soooo delicious dressing using this fabulous mustard:

Check out those ingredients; pretty good huh?

I whisked it in with a clove of garlic, some balsamic and some olive oil. I then tossed the whole thing together to get this beauty of a salad.

However delicious this may look to you, it tastes a bajillion times better - even after inhaling mountains of pita-flame smoke.

A Weekend of Fun Festivities

2010-08-28T18:23:00.000-07:00

It's early Saturday evening and I am exhausted. This has been an action-packed weekend so far and I must say; it's time for a nap.

It started out with Friday at the fair.

Yes, a bunch of grownups at the fair can get quite goofy.

We've gone BANANAS!!

If you look closely, you'll see that's a button, within a button, within a button. Trippy.

Zombie Michael Jackson. Why not?

Awww, bunnies!

Crazy bird feet!

After spending waaayyy too much time staring at birds and bunnies, we hit the food carts. I was NOT a responsible eater. I was not very vegan either(I know there was dairy in most of the things I ate). I had fried pickles, half a funnel cake and corn on the cob. That doesn't sound too bad, but it's on top of pre-fair bar dinner of Amaretto and sodas, chips and guac, and fried mushrooms. Yes, I ate a MILLION CALORIES. It was a fun night, but my food baby must have weighed like 10 lbs.

Saturday was Malcolm's 9th birthday party!

Believe it or not, even with the party, I was able to make pretty good food choices. I got up early and started making cupcakes. I made the vanilla cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World, but I made two fun changes. I baked them in ice-cream cones and I put a dollop of chocolate ganache in the center. I then piped a mountain of buttercream frosting (also from VCTOTW) so they looked like ice-cream cones. I served them with bowls of sundae toppings: sliced bananas, sliced strawberries, chocolate chips, pineapple, nuts and sprinkles, and let the kids put them on their cupcakes. I got so many compliments on them - nobody suspected they were vegan! They were quite a hit.

Can you tell how exhausted I am?
Marcus used his cupcake primarily as a sprinkles holder

Everytime he'd get messy, he'd run over to me and wipe his face on the skirt of my dress. I looked FABULOUS by the end of the party.

The kids also had pizza and apple juice, but I stuck to a veggie platter that I made. No pics, I was too busy on party patrol.

The kids stayed in the pool for 4 hours - we were so lucky that the sun came out today!

Malcolm had a blast! I'm so glad everything turned out great. He's spending the night at his dad's so now I'm drinking wine and contemplating cleaning this disaster of a house.

What goes better with cupcakes than cake? Nothing, that's what.

Happy Birthday to my baby Malcolm. You and your brother are the light of my life and I am SO blessed to have such a wonderful son.

Half My Cookbook Library in One Meal

2010-08-25T20:55:00.000-07:00

In these last days of summer, I decided that tonight was a good night for a real "summery" dinner. I also wanted to use some of my recently purchased vegan cookbooks (I have to justify the large percentage of my income that has been going to Barnes and Noble lately). With relatively little effort, I produced this lovely summer meal:

Doesn't it look delicious? Trust me, it was even tastier than it looks.

I made Black Bean Patties from Veganomicon served over quinoa

With Mushroom Sauce from Vegan With A Vengeance

And an AMAZING Heirloom Tomato Salad from Clean Food

The entire combination was delicious and summer perfection. The black bean patties were smoky like they just came off the grill. The mushroom sauce was earthy. The heirloom tomato salad was so refreshing. Each tomato had a different flavor and texture and the dressing was simple and light. The tomatoes were definitely the favorites of the boys too. It's rare that they eat all the veggies first!

I made a couple of mods to the recipes based on availability and personal taste. For the black bean patties I didn't have enough black beans, so I used half black beans and half garbanzo beans. I subbed the wheat gluten for quinoa. I also left out the chili powder. For the mushroom sauce I didn't have stock so I used water. I also used vermouth instead of white wine. For the heirloom tomato salad I didn't have avocado.

I think the sign of a good utilitarian cookbook is where you can sub multiple items and come out with dishes that still taste fantastic. I think that making a lot of substitutions is a great way to grow your cooking instincts as well. So grab a cookbook (or three) and have fun!

Food Voice

2010-08-22T19:19:00.000-07:00

Just like Homer Simpson, I often feel like I have little angels and devils battling over my decision-making. Also like Homer, most of these decisions are food related.

I'm going to Hawaii next month and dream of wearing a two-piece swimsuit. Food devil says, "I'm sure you will find good food choices if you go out to Mexican restaurants 3 times this week." Food devil says, "If you eat a giant plate of eggrolls at 5pm, then a giant plate of chips and guac along with a large margarita would be a sensible 7pm choice."

Fortunately, since I've changed my diet these last few months, my body revolts pretty quickly and insists that I listen to the food angel voice. By dinnertime Friday, my stomach was about to apply for amnesty if I didn't make some smarter choices. I skipped dinner because my stomach was apparently on strike. Food angel and I vowed to do better tomorrow.

But then my mom called and wanted to go to breakfast.

Can you see the little food devil on her shoulder? All thoughts of a sensible breakfast were off - especially since I really hadn't gotten any quality time with my mom in a few weeks. We headed off to The Wayward Cafe in the UDistrict. I was excited as I seriously have never been to a fully vegan restaurant before. I looked at the menu.

Food angel said, "Oh look, they have a section called light-"
Food devil interrupted, "BISCUITS AND GRAVY!"
Then the server, who also apparently works for my food devil says, "You want to add vegan sausage patties to those?"

I think we all know the answer to that.

About a third of the way thru, my stomach completely shut down. It was not going to allow any more delicious food in. No matter how yummy the herbed biscuits were, no matter how thick and savory the sausage and gravy, no matter how perfectly fluffy the tofu scramble - it just wasn't going down. Not even the kale - my beloved kale. Marcus also seemed to revolt as well.

After a rather aggressive game of "got your nose," Marcus decided to shove an entire spoonful of margarine in his mouth. Marcus' stomach soon joined mine in complete clampdown and breakfast was pretty much over. I packed up over half my plate and took it home for later.

About 4 hours later I was still feeling bloated and icky, but the food devil said, "You know, I bet you can eat the rest of those biscuits and gravy now." I tried, and failed. I felt so gross that Marcus and I both took a long nap. I don't even remember what dinner was, but it was tiny and barely eaten.

So today I woke up and I think even the food devil had a stomachache. So the food angel won and breakfast was strawberry detox smoothie.

I started feeling better almost immediately. I followed it up with a piece of Dave's Killer Bread, a glass of tea, and a few glasses of water, and I was on the road to recovery.

Since I was feeling a better, I let down my guard again. Big mistake. Food devil wants cookies. Actually, Almond Blondies to be precise. The food devil and I adapted these from the Peanut Butter Blondies in the fabulous cookbook VCIYCJ.

The Devil Loves Almond Blondies

Makes 9 bars
Ingredients:

1/2 c Maple Almond Butter
1/3 c Vegetable Oil
2/3 c Raw Sugar
2 T Maple Syrup
1/2 c Nondairy Milk
1 c Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1/2 t Salt
1/2 t Baking Powder
1/3 c Roughly Chopped Almonds

Preheat oven to 350. In a food processor, blend the almond butter, oil, sugar and maple syrup.Add the remaining ingredients, except for the almonds and process until just mixed. Use a spoon to mix any remaining clumps.Spread into a lightly greased and floured 9x9 pan. Sprinkle almonds on top. Bake approx 20-25 minutes until edges start to brown. Let cool and cut into bars.

Food devil says, "Eat 3 of them."

For the love of Saturday

2010-08-21T18:12:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, a day I love - here are a few more of my loves..

Coconut Water

Dress-Up

AVOCADO COOKIES

Quinoa

Funny Hats

Kale

My Best Friend, Marie

Sun in Seattle

Potatoes Au Gratin

Potatoes Au Gratin with Kale and Tempeh Bacon

serves 8

Ingredients:

1 head cauliflower

1/2 c tofu

1/4 c basil

1/2 t dried parsley

1 1/2 t salt

2 T soy milk

5 strips tempeh bacon, pan fried and chopped into med-small pieces

7 medium russet potatoes, very thinly sliced

2 cups chopped kale

1 c Daiya mozzarella-style cheese

In a food processor, combine cauliflower, tofu, basil, parsley, salt and soymilk. Blend until thick and smooth, like a slightly chunky bechamel sauce. Spread 1/3 of the cauliflower sauce on the bottom of a greased 9 inch baking dish. Put two layers of potatoes on top of sauce. On top of potatoes place 1/3 sauce. Sprinkle 1/2 tempeh bacon on top along with 1/2 of the cheese. Layer kale on top.

Dollop the remaining sauce on top, cover with the remaining cheese. Sprinkle on the remainder of the bacon. Cover with foil and bake at 400 degrees for approx 50 minutes. Uncover and cook until browned on top.

Enjoy!

Give a Little, Eat a Lot

2010-08-20T20:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Malcolm and I were on our own for dinner, as Marcus was having his Thursday night dinner with his dad. On these days, I usually take Malcolm out to a restaurant so we can get a little chat time between the two of us. I decided to try the new Mediterranean place by my local PCC. We walked in and I was slightly taken aback by the prices, which seemed a bit high for the suburbs. $15 for a falafel plate anyone? But we were there, and falafel sounded good, so we opted for a slightly lower-priced falafel sandwich.

All complaints about price were discarded when the food arrived in it's ginormousity.

Child added for proof of ginormousity. As you can tell, Malcolm dove in. I, too was very happy with mine, with the exception that, even though I stated no dairy, my pita was full of giant chunks of feta. I couldn't eat the whole thing anyways, so I just picked out the falafel and the lettuce and ate those. I'm serious when I tell you that the falafel tasted like chickpea heaven.

Today, was my day to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity. I was nervous and excited for three reasons: I am lazy, I am clumsy, but I grew up very poor and love the idea of helping struggling families (even in this tiny way) with fulfilling their dream of owning their own home.

Even though my employer was going to be providing lunch, I decided to play it safe and pack my own food for the day. I showed up onsite and work started immediately. First challenge was finding a hardhat that would fit my GIANT HEAD.

You think I exaggerate? After trying on all the hardhats, this is the best I could do. I am a human bobblehead doll. I spent most of the morning on my hands and knees, sanding floor joints followed by hanging some closet shelving. Don't be too jealous.

We broke for lunch and I was VERY glad that I brought my own food as there was nothing I could consume in the work provided lunches: sandwiches filled with cheese and sodas. I dug into my lunch and it was DELICIOUS.

That beauty is Dave's Killer Bread, half an avocado, roasted chickpeas and two slices of tempeh bacon. The yummiest sandwich that I've had in as long as I can remember.

My next job was a little more ~~potentially life-threatening~~ exciting. I was handed a nail gun and given the task of installing windowsills. Anyone who knows me and my clumsiness will see the potential for disaster here. I was having images of someone startling me and nails flying each and every way at lightning speed. After plenty of reassurance from the foreman that it is very hard to accidentally shoot yourself in the face with a nail gun, I was ready to go.

Muwahaha.

A few more jobs and suddenly 8 hours had flown by. The houses are looking pretty good and I'm proud to have done my small part (and proud that I didn't nail my fingers together).

Tonight it was just Marcus and I for dinner. I wanted something simple since I was tired and dirty and a bit sore. I also wanted something with vegetable goodness.

In fact, I'm still tired. I don't want to type anymore. Here is a photo journey thru tonight's truly yummy meal.

Funhouse Mirrors

2010-08-18T19:51:00.000-07:00

When I get off the elevator on my floor at work, there is a set of glass doors to the right of me. These doors will drive me insane one day. My reflection in the main doors looks good. I look tall, somewhat slim and not flabby. I smile and think "Yay! All my hard work is starting to payoff. I might even try to flirt with someone tonight - or at least not shrug off any compliments I receive."

I turn to go into the office and out of the corner of my eye, I catch the SIDE PANEL of the glass door. This panel makes me look fat. Not extremely obese - just fat enough to know that all of my work is for nothing and that no matter how hard I try I'm going to die alone in ill-fitting clothes.

I then start to second-guess all mirrors. The mirror at the gym is much more flattering than the one in the work bathroom. I have to believe that the one in the gym is the liar, since the gym has a much bigger incentive to make us look a bit thinner than we are.

I swear there's the tiniest difference between my upstairs and downstairs bathrooms. If I'm feeling a bit fat one day, I'll be sure to stop by the mirror downstairs for a bit of a boost before facing the dreaded work side panel.

I really don't know how I look anymore at all. I don't know if I'm fat. People say I'm not, but when I catch a glimpse of myself naked before I get in the shower, it's enough to make me want to join a nunnery. I oftentimes won't buy an outfit that's a bit risky without taking a dozen pictures first to make sure that I'm not fooling myself into thinking that I look better than I really do.

I won't let anyone post pictures of me on Facebook without letting me screen them first. If anyone does put an unflattering pic of me up, it is un-tagged by me in the blink of an eye.

Why do I do this to myself? Am I that self-involved to think that everyone is just sitting around discussing if I'm fat or not? No, it's just a compulsion that I'd LOVE to be free of. All I want is to put on something and not worry that I have to adjust it 100 times a day to ensure that any possible bulges are covered or that my skirt hits the thinnest part of my legs. I'd love to not have to "pose" for every picture - face to the side, chin out and slightly down, half-smile, legs crossed and torso turned like I'm in a damned pageant 24-hours a day.

Do I have a solution for this? No not really. Right now I'm trying to shift my focus into the power of my body and the way I can make my body feel and perform thru healthy eating and exercise. But don't be surprised if you see a tall, possibly-fat, half-black woman yelling at a glass door to stop calling her fat.

Horray for Summer in Seattle

2010-08-16T08:18:00.000-07:00

Even though it only lasts about 3 weeks, I can honestly say that I doubt there's a more beautiful place in the country to be than in Seattle during the summer. After yoga on Sunday I decided it would be a waste of a rare sunny day to not get outside. I had my heart set on hiking in Wallace Falls so I got to work making snacks for the trip. I decided to make Cookie Dough Sarahbars from the lovely blog of Peas and Thank You. I'm VERY happy with how they turned out:

They were so quick and easy to make - and they really taste like cookie dough! I packed a few along with a peach and some coconut water for my hike.

Before leaving I ate a yummy, carb-filled lunch:

That's quinoa, tofu, kale, mushrooms and zucchini with soy sauce. Delicious!

The moment I got on the trail, the temperature started to climb - it hit about 96 degrees and I was drenched in sweat instantly. But the heat did little to take away from the beauty of the trails:

You can see my reflection in the sign. Is it sad that I'm so proud of how much smaller my reflection is than it would have been a few months ago?

I was glad that I was alone so I could go at my own pace and soak it all in. As beautiful as the scenery is, it's quite a tough hike - at least for weaklings like me. On my way back down the trail, I decided it was a good time to rest a bit by the cool water.

I know I promised no more makeup-free shots, but who hikes with makeup on? Anyways, check out this view. How can you not be calm and happy in a place like this?

When I got home from my hike it was time for dinner. Malcolm came home from his dad's so I decided to make mini pizzas with as many veggies hidden in them as possible.

Instead of tomato sauce, I made a white sauce by pureeing cauliflower, tofu, a little soy cream cheese, basil, parsley, salt and a clove of garlic. The toppings are sauteed zucchini, vegan sausage, tomatoes, mushrooms a little Daiya cheese and some kale (on mine).

Malcolm was a little skeptical of the no tomato sauce.

But I thought it was delicious and ate my entire pizza. I will definitely use the white sauce in other dishes - I bet it would make a great alfredo.

All in all, I'd say this was a fantastic summer day. Great contemplation time in the great outdoors, dinner with one of my favorite guys. Life is good.

A Very Expensive Haircut

2010-08-15T10:50:00.000-07:00

This is my detox weekend - sort of. For the last few days, I have not had the best eating habits. I've been eating out a lot and consuming a lot of white flour, white rice, fat and other non-desirables. I've definitely felt a difference in my body, so I decided to take a few days to get my system back in balance. I also knew it was going to be a social weekend, so my goal was to balance my mornings with my social nights - ok, so it was only a social Saturday, but still.

Yesterday morning (and this morning as well) I started my day with my detox smoothie. It's lighter than my usual cooked breakfasts, but it's full of fiber to keep me going and help eliminate previous foods out of my system (that's code for pooping). Oh, and it's super yummy!

Strawberry Detox Shake

Put the following ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth:

1 banana

5 strawberries

2 fresh, pitted dates

1/4 c cashews (or other nut of your choice, like almonds)

1/4 c firm silken tofu

1/2 c non-dairy milk

1 splash lemon juice

Anyways, after my shake I went on a long walk on the Burke-Gilman trail and then rushed off to the mall to meet my friend Marie for a day together. We drooled over new fall boots at Nordstroms for a while before grabbing a drink:

nordstrom.com

mmm...leopardy. I'm really excited about the idea of sky-high boots with a flat heel. I will keep my eyes open for these at the next semi-annual sale.

After drinks Marie had to go to the salon to get her hair did. I was left to my own devices in the mall for two hours. I was barely out the door when an adorable kid working at the nearby tea shop snagged me with a free sample. It was a mate chai blend and it was delicious. I let super eager happy tea kid talk me inside to buy some tea.

Please excuse the shitty cell phone pics. If this was a decent camera, you would be able to see just how lovely this tea is. Is it lovely enough for the $20 I plunked down on a bag? We'll see.

After tea I hit up Barnes and Noble's because, like Jello, there's always room for books. I knew I had a bit of time to kill, so I grabbed a variety of reading materials and plunked myself down in a chair.

That's the latest issue of Foreign Affairs magazine, The 30 Minute Vegan, Clean Food and The No Om Zone. I picked up the No Om Zone because I recognized the author, Kimberly Fowler, from the yoga videos I used to do in high school a bazillion years ago. I read thru most of the book while I was in the store. I decided to buy that one and Clean Food.

After the book store I realized I needed yoga gear to go with my new book and, lucky me, there was a yoga store near by! I bought a new tank (on sale) and a yoga mat and then headed back to the salon to wait for Marie. At the end of this I had spent around $200 (and I'm only counting mall time - I'm not documenting my pre-mall Target trip). But these were all necessities, right?

I browsed thru Clean Food and I am so very excited to make something from it. Maybe for dinner tonight.

This morning I put on my yoga gear and did a quick workout with my new book. It felt great. Here's a crap cell phone pic of me looking sweaty in new tank while holding new mat:

Let's agree to no more "makeup-free" pictures, shall we?

I'm off for a hike today at Wallace Falls to take advantage of this fabulous weather. Time to go pack some snacks!

Kid-Free Dinner

2010-08-10T20:36:00.000-07:00

Tuesday nights the kids are not home for dinner. While I love my kids more than life, these nights are a nice break from trying to satisfy a very picky 2 year-old and 8 year-old with meals that don't contain the words "fries" "nuggets" or "canned."

These nights I tend to give in to my indulgences and buy whatever pops into my head as I browse the aisles of the grocery store. Luckily, now that I'm vegan, those whims no longer include things like pints of ice cream or packages of oreos. Tonight's kid-free dinner consisted of:

Yup that's right. Pizza. Wine In A Juice Glass. Jelly Beans.

Now, it's not as unhealthy as it sounds. The pizza is made with Naan bread covered in fresh tomatoes, eggplant, kale, mushrooms and Daiya cheese. The jelly beans are vegan which means they have ~~no calories~~ less icky processed stuff. It was a pretty quick meal too, which is great because it gives me more time to ~~drink wine~~ relax before the kids come home.

Save Net Neutrality

2010-08-07T09:47:00.000-07:00

If you've been watching the news or listening to NPR lately, you may have heard them mention the recent Google/Verizon talks and Net Neutrality. This is a big deal folks. Most free press is a joke these days, the internet is our last bastion of free and open information. This is definitely under attack if this Google/Verizon agreement goes thru.

What is Net Neutrality?

Net Neutrality is the current standard on the internet that all data is treated equally. This means that anyone who wants to put info on the internet has the same costs and delivery speeds as anyone else on that provider. This means that a blogger like myself, sitting in her livingroom, can get info out as easily as a large company like Amazon.

What are Google and Verizon discussing?

It is widely believed that they are discussing setting up a tiered system for delivery; for example, video games may be slower to access than say a run of the mill blog. In addition, companies would be able to pay more to push their data faster - basically moving it to the front of the line. It's easy to see how this could lead to a system where the data provided by big companies quickly overshadows that put out by the rest of us. Right now there doesn't appear to be anything the FCC can do about it, so we need to make sure we are vocal about this issue.

Want to learn more?

Here is a link to two great NYT articles about the subject:
FCC Chief Opposes Fees for Internet Priority
Net Neutrality

Want to do something?

Spread the word to friends and family so that they know what's going on. You can also sign a petition set up by Sen. Al Franken here:

Petition to Save Net Neutrality

Avocado MADNESS!!!

2010-08-06T19:16:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday I had toast with half an avocado smashed on top for breakfast. For lunch I had brown rice, tofu and avocado with nori seasoning.

On Thursday I had, well, the same thing. And I had a veggie Subway sandwich with avocado.

Today I had a tofu scramble and a slice of toast with half an avocado smashed on top. I had an avocado-free lunch and then I made

AVOCADO COCONUT COOKIES!!!

How did this come about, you ask? Let's start with yesterday's unfortunate events.

I was finishing up my workday when I received a call from my youngest son, Marcus' daycare. They wanted to let me know that Marcus had fell into a table and had a bloody nose. His dad was picking him up that night so I sent him a text giving him a heads-up.

About an hour later I got a call from Marcus' dad saying that Marcus was lethargic and vomiting. I told him to call the doctor and the doc said to get Marcus to the ER. I rushed to meet them there.

When I got there my little boy was in pretty bad shape. He had blood coming out of his nose and mouth and was throwing up every 30 minutes or so. He was so miserable - and me? PANICKED inside. Luckily my ex was there to keep me a bit distracted by being annoying.

The docs were pretty concerned and decided to run a CAT scan. I'm not going to go into details about how traumatic a CAT scan is for a 2-year old, but let's just say it certainly wasn't fun. After the CAT scan they got him some nausea medication and he was his old self for about 20 minutes. He took that time to cover himself in stickers.

The CAT scan showed no serious brain damage, but he does have a broken nose. It was definitely a scary night, but I'm so glad my little guy is ok! He's been running around like nothing happened today.

So what does this have to do with Avocado Coconut Cookies? Well we got home and Marcus was asleep. I had a glass of wine and a small scoop of coconut ice cream and then headed to bed. I was just about to fall asleep when suddenly AVOCADO COCONUT COOKIES jumped into my head. I've had avocado smoothies and was pleasantly surprised at how the buttery flavor of avocado adapted itself well to sweet tastes.

So today I got out basic cookie ingredients and got to work. Here is the finished product, don't let the looks fool you:

My mom came over as I was pulling them out of the oven and she was very skeptical of the ability to make cookies with avocado. But we were both blown away by how absolutely DELICIOUS these are. Seriously - fan-f@#king-tastic. The texture is dense and chewy like a macaroon and the flavor is rich and lightly sweet and coconutty. The avocado adds great depth and richness. I highly recommend making these NOW.

Avocado Coconut Cookies

makes 2 dozen

Ingredients:
1/3 cup Earth Balance butter at room temperature
2/3 cup raw sugar
1 teaspoon coconut extract
2 Tablespoons soy milk or other non-dairy milk
1 teaspoon lime juice
1 ripe avocado, chopped
2/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup white flour
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy. Beat in the extract, milk and lime juice. Add the avocado and blend until the entire mixture is creamy with no lumps.

Add the whole wheat flour, cornstarch, and salt. Mix well. Add the white flour and mix just until blended. Stir in the coconut.

Place on parchment lined cookie sheets about 1.5 inches apart. These don't spread much at all, so you can put them pretty close together. Bake for about 10 minutes until golden brown on top.

Reverie! and more weekend awesomeness

2010-08-04T20:25:00.000-07:00

Sooo...I'm just now posting about last weekend's awesomeness. It was so awesome, that I needed a little time to recoup before I could sit and blog about it. But I'm recovered now and ready to type. Let's dive in, shall we?

The Washington Bus!

Saturday I signed up to join "the Bus" in support of Nick Harper. Nick Harper is running for state senate in the 38th district of Washington. He has a strong environmental record and wants to bring a 4 year college to the north end, so I'm happy to support him. This is probably my first political outing since I had my younger son - and I've really missed it. My friend Toby is the communications director for the Washington Bus, which is an organization that works to get young people involved in progressive politics. I've never gone to any of Toby's events but I've always wanted to, so when I got the invite I jumped on it.

Everyone there was very spirited and nice and.... young. Now, I usually think of myself as young at 29 (humor me here) , but these kids were 18, 19. Here is how most conversations went:

"Hey, you went to Western? I'm thinking of going there. Have any advice?" or
"You work in internet marketing? That sounds cool. Any career advice?"

I felt fucking ANCIENT by the time the day was over. On the plus side, I felt like I was doing something to make a difference in my own small way which was nice.

One piece of advice for those who've never done political canvassing - Wear Comfortable Shoes. I had blisters the size of ~~Maine~~ quarters by the time I was done. And go pee before you leave. Ok, so that's two things, but both are very important. You don't want to be knocking on doors saying "Vote for this guy. Do you mind if I take my shoes off for a minute and then use your bathroom? No? Mind if I pee in your rhododendrons?"

After canvassing it was home to shower and get ~~whored~~ gussied up and head out to

REVERIE!!!

The handsome man on the left is my brother. The gentleman on the right is Okanomode SoulChilde, a very talented vocalist. My brother composed and conducted a 10 piece jazz-rock-hiphop-opera and SoulChilde wrote the lyrics. They worked on it for 2 years and finally unveiled it last Saturday to a sold-out house at the Lo-Fi.

It was beautiful, absolutely amazing. One girl cried thruout the entire thing. Another girl got so excited she threw up. It was a truly joyous occasion. All of our friends were there and so many music lovers and musicians. It was also my brother's birthday party!

That pic is me (center) with my friend Toby from The Washington Bus on the right and his roommate and our friend Sam on the left. Are they not adorable? They both came to my brother's show and LOVED IT.

Another awesome part of the night was that the venue had one of those photo booth thingys. I haven't been in one of those since I was 14. My friend Jason and I had a bit of trouble figuring out how to work it, but I think our pics turned out great.

After a really fun, busy and physically taxing night, it was nice to recover in the morning with a hearty vegan breakfast.

mmmm....tofu scramble from Vegan With A Vengance, tempeh bacon, Dave's Killer Bread with almond butter, and a cup of red bush tea. If that doesn't make everything all better, I don't know what will. Once I was all fueled up, I hit the trails for about an hour and a half to clear all the alcohol out of my system and get my body back on track. One thing I love about going vegan, is you can have a hearty meal like this, and instead of feeling lethargic and sleepy (like you would it's non-vegan counterpart) you instead feel satisfied and energized.

Oh and I lost another two pounds! Yay me!

New Goal Time - Getting SUPERBUFF (and a hat!)

2010-08-02T21:16:00.000-07:00

I finished one section of my fitness goal - stick to 3 workout routines for 1 month each.

YAY ME!

My first goal was 4 days of cardio a week. Most weeks I did two days of spin class and two days of elliptical or treadmill. It took a few tries - I'd get three weeks into it and then miss two workouts the next week. I had to restart 3 times before I got four solid weeks.

So now it's time for my next fitness goal. I think it's time to focus on some strength training. I will continue cardio, but I also need to get more toned. I think that 3 days a week of strength training should be good for starters. Here is the routine I was thinking of:

My Strength Training Routine

30 Crunches

20 Oblique Crunches

20 Leg Extensions

20 Push-Ups

20 Squats

20 Curls

20 Triceps Extensions

I know it's not much, but it's a good start and I'm a wimp. I may add more reps if they seem too easy. I will start this....tomorrow? I'm too lazy tonight, hahaha.

On the crafty side, I made a hat!

Click on the photo to read more about it on my craft blog.

Hi! Welcome to my life in progress!

2010-08-01T18:50:00.000-07:00

This is my first official post on my new blog. Welcome stranger. Let me introduce myself and share a very long post explaining how I got here. My name is Ijeoma. I'm a single, working mom in the Seattle suburbs. I have two fantastic little boys, Malcolm and Marcus:

These little guys are the light of my life. They give me more purpose than I could ever have imagined. They are also a crazy handful that keep me incredibly busy. I've spent most of the last 9 years focusing on getting my feet on the ground: dealing with bad relationships and various hardships while finishing my degree as a single parent. I'm sure most single parents know how easily life becomes about just getting by.

So here is where I found myself a few months ago: still overweight from giving birth to my younger son over 2 years ago, brokenhearted over a guy who really wasn't worth the trouble, in debt, exhausted, antisocial and holding a degree in political science (that I had struggled so hard to get as a single mom) yet still working in the tech industry (which excites me about as much as say.....tax accounting). This was me. A Little Fat, Sad, Tired, Bored.

Enter my friend Shane:

This is our "before" picture. Shane's been a close friend of mine for about 12 years and he's had a pretty shitty few years as well. So he's challenged me to join him and a few friends in changing our lives - setting goals and really reaching for it. He really couldn't have brought it up at a better time, as I was in desperate need of change.

So I've set 100 goals for myself, I'm not going to list them all here - I'll just bring you along as I go about remaking my life.

So far, here's the progress I've made. I've been working out for the last few months; going to the gym about 4 days a week for spin classes and time on the treadmill. I've also been sneaking in a few weekend walks and hikes.

I noticed that even after about 2 months of spin classes - I was still DYING about five minutes into it. Like, seriously considering just falling off the bike and crawling out the door as quietly as possible. And my ass really wasn't getting any smaller. I started looking at possible causes for my lack of improvement and figured that the thousand pounds of gummi bears I was eating a day was probably not helping.

I have a huge sweet tooth. This has led to more than a few extra pounds and dental problems. So I decided to tackle one of the items on my goal list: NO SUGAR FOR 30 DAYS. Oh, it was hell; absolutely awful. I dreamed about sugar every night for the first 2 1/2 weeks. But aside from the crazy cravings, I had SO much more energy! My workouts were getting better, I wanted to go outside and play with the kids more, the change in my body was great. My ass started to get a little smaller.

When the month was over, I knew I couldn't keep up a sugar-free life forever (who are we kidding??), but I also knew that I had to pick a permanent dietary change to keep my body healthy and energized. After a lot of thought and study, I decided to go vegan.

That's a real pic of some of the veggies from my kitchen. I must say that I don't think a diet has ever been more right for me than this one. I've never been a huge meat and dairy eater anyways, and going veggie has forced me to disconnect from the mega-processed shit food of many restaurants, fast food joints, and big supermarkets. I've also been very politically active my entire life (which I will definitely be blogging about here as well), so making a choice that is more compassionate, healthier and better for the environment brings me a lot closer to myself than I've been in a long time.

So here I am right now:

I'm a little less fat, a lot happier, and very excited about the life ahead of me! I'm also a crafty girl. I've had a craft blog for a few years now. You can find it here to see the stuff I make.

Well that's all for now - I have more fun things to go do!