Becoming the norm

So far I really think considering that I dropped everything and become a full fledged Vegan one day, I'm doing very well. It's too early and I've had too little sleep the past two nights to remember everything I've had the past 3 days, but I think the constant menu blog may become a little boring anyhow. ;-)

I'm finding that when I'm having to find options out I've now got my 'go to' places picked out. This is a big help! I hope to find other places that also have viable options over time.

Since I've been going hectic w/o a schedule that makes any sense. I find I've missed having that hour in the AM, the quiet one where I'm boiling water for my Miso, have my grains simmering into a thick warm yum, with steam rising through the holes in my steamer making my greens tender and hot. It's a new joy for me, gives me a sense of control and peace in the morning to get it off to solid healthy start. No I can't always manage it, but the fact that I miss it when that's the case, and that I am enjoying the cooking so much when I can! Remember just a little while ago I thought I'd never have time for this!? I thought this is so much work can I really do this and it be practical? Also I laugh at how I never thought soup and greens would be a tasty breakfast and now I crave it!

I set my mind to make this a life change, telling myself "I am a Vegan" one day and believing it. Funny thing was I didn't question myself, I just did it. Now though with proof, a little time, and success... I am becoming a very good 'Vegan'. I thought I would miss so many things! So many foods I totally do not even think about? It's so surprising, especially when I never thought I'd be a person who could live w/o steak.

I've found two weaknesses, cheese dip when we are out at Pancho's (I confess if my son is with me who lives on it I will dip a chip or two). Two an occasional coke when my body is so whacked out I relapse into a life time addiction to the beverage. I think the coke will resolve itself after my body has become more detoxed. I make the commitment to myself when I do slip up that I am banished from having one two days in a row no matter what! I've been having a few dizzy episodes lately, and my girl hormones are a bit messed up. To be expected from what I've read, my body has years and years of detox to catch up on.

So I'm here now though this place between new to me and the new norm, and I'm finding myself easily slipping into this is my new norm. I have all new cravings, new snacks, new rewards, and new loves. I know which foods I really need some days even. I plan left overs in my head, and grocery lists are on my mind. Today is a pay day and I so look forward to finding what fresh greens are available this week!

So here are a few pic's. I've had some good mornings of late and early peaceful cooking is my new love. Who would have guessed. lol

Miso soup and steamed collard greens. (above)

Polenta/Millet porridge with toasted ground pumpkin seeds.

This is a mix of lentals and beans, and a mix of wild, sweet, brown and other lovely grains and rice, with a side of kale chips. Just a nice varity for the benefit of many nutrients. I put Flax Oil and Umboshi Vinegar mix over beans and rice for extra flavor and my Omega's.

The sharpening

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttdTCJxv6uw

why my knives aren't sharp. ha ha, well I finally got fed up with how my new knives aren't sharp and decided to learn what I was doing wrong. Feeling a bit uneducated here, but turns out that big long steel stick doesn't really sharpen them anyhow. lol So I need a stone it would seem to get them to the sharpness I want. So I'll be out to buy a stone on grocery shopping day tomorrow.

More posts coming, just thought I would share about dull knives. LOL

Fighting through the busy followed by the lazy. ;-)

So Sunday, I was tired and trying to take it easy. I ended up skipping a morning even my lunch meals, I thought I was going to cook, but just ran short on time. After our bible meetings, we ended up eating out. I had the Vegan Fajita's. I wish our local place served black beans, even whole beans would be nice, because I'm always missing my protein when we eat there.

We ran into some friends while there, that happens often it's a small town. So an acquaintance came up and asked me about my blog, she had just heard about it from others she was eating out with. It was nice knowing that I have readers and that they find this journey interesting enough to mention. That REALLY helps keep me accountable! So thank you readers for that, your helping me out more than you know.

Last night I also went over to my good friend Amanda's house and made a small pot of Miso soup for her, gave her a tub of Miso, and a few Daikons, dried seaweed, and an organic onion so she could use her other ingredients and make some more soon. She had the entire pot for dinner. So I'm taking that as a definite compliment that it was good! ;-)

Today I again intended to make a 'real' breakfast, porridge, miso, steamed greens. Again I got caught up in everything else. Instead of skipping eating though I had Ezekiel toast with Earth Balance spread and Organic Apple butter that is only apples, along with a small glass of unsweetened vanilla almond milk. I rarely drink anything but water so it was a treat. I would have taken a photo of my simple meal, but I had eaten half by the time I thought to do so. ha

I'm still pretty wore out from my trip, and helping my sister and trying to keep my head above water at home. My house is falling apart, we've been behind on schooling too, not to mention all the editing that is calling to me every single day begging me to put it first. I use to stay up all night to get my editing accomplished, I've not seemed to be able to force my body to do that of late. I am literally finding myself falling asleep whenever I sit down for even a few minutes. I'm pretty danged whipped right now. I've had way too many pans in the fire, some days it feels like everything I have to do in it's self is a full time job, keeping my house up, teaching the kids, my photography, and learning how to manage being a Vegan. I think over all I'm doing a pretty good job, I am believing more energy will come as I hopefully loose some weight.

Today I snacked lightly on hummus and organic blue corn chips, also had a handful of pecans and a couple prunes. Prunes are a good source of iron and I'm pretty much thinking I'm not getting enough. I did a full battery of blood tests, and other tests before I started this so I would know where I was and were I go with the changes. I've felt some big improvements in my health, I feel much calmer (making it easier to pass out when I rest lol). My heart seems happier it has this crazy beat thing it does, (had that checked out years ago it's not a murmur something else with a big name, but it's electrical and not life threatening), anyhow now when it goes a little wonky it seems it's because it's happy instead of stress. I do not get out of breath and I'm not getting so easily over heated and sweaty anymore. BOTH of those last things are wonderful when I'm working! :-)

So between the busy getting slightly more under control for now and the back lash of being too busy where the lazy exhausted person wants to quit everything and crawl in bed. I've found a way to keep going. So onto today's food photo's.

Lunch, we had thin crispy pizza because we have left over Tofu cream and it doesn't keep long so we had to eat it. Yeah like I minded! ha this is one of my favorite treats.

I added fresh basil from my own small garden, and fresh parsley to my salad from my garden. So much flavor in such little greens.

Dinner was soup al a Bob's Red Mill Vegi soup mix, I added organic carrots, onion & celery, along with half water and half organic vegatable broth, a dash of  Edens Mirin, and some Shoyu, the last few simmering moments Barley Miso. I thought it was hearty and delicious, and I had it by it's self. I ate alone though because the boys/men had Red Baron Pepperoni pizza and my daughter is at her Vegan friends house for dinner.

Topped with fresh parsley and Gomashio.

Saturday doing OK

So being home is helping. I'm starting to get a few things back on track. I had Ezekiel toast with Tahini for a quick breakfast this morning. I snacked on a few organic blue chips with hummus mid day. Then made miso soup, azuka beans, rice, and asparagus for lunch.

I went to a bridal shower this afternoon too, I had a couple crackers I'm pretty sure were OK, and 3 slices of fresh pineapple, no veggie tray or I would have had more. I was good in resisting lots of sweets and many cheesy treats.
For dinner we made an easy one that felt very 'normal', spaghetti with salad and garlic bread. Organic brown rice pasta, organic ingredient sauce YUM. To make hubby & middle son happy I told them to nuke some frozen meat balls and add it to their own plates. Worked out just fine for all of us.

I'm using Flax oil (that also has Omega 3's in it), with Umboshi Vinegar all the time now. I love the flavor and just adding a little to this and that all day I get my Omega needs met. I also am loving Gomashio it's such a great flavor. I made some fresh today and reduced the salt even more, to me it's the nutty flavor that's the best part and I like to add it several times a day. Reducing the salt allows me to freely add this to anything I want. At lunch I put just a tad too much by accident, but didn't mind the flavor one bit. ;-) With the lower salt it didn't add too much of anything anyhow.

New start

Today was fairly busy, but I managed to do better. I didn't have time to eat right this morning, so I made a peanut butter sandwich to bring on the go. I was pretty nauseated from getting up so early, it was several hours before I ate. On the way to the doctors office with my sister and nephew, she wanted to stop for a doughnut. She wanted to get me something. I was really dragging so I said OK to a muffin and coffee. I don't drink coffee but I thought a couple sips might help. They put sugar in it so I skipped the coffee even though it was already paid for.

For lunch I had Veggie Fajita's out at my favorite Mexican place. I was by myself, for the first time in a good while. I had a book I've been reading and so I enjoyed the quite meal and let myself linger as it was well past the lunch rush. It was really nice to be waited on and have no demands on me for that one hour.
I'm missing cooking though. My kitchen is a total disaster as my family doesn't clean up after themselves even in the least. You would think they didn't know what a trash can was even. ugh. So the busier I am the worse my kitchen gets, making cooking a night mare until I get things caught up. With as busy as I've been that seems nearly impossible right now.

I didn't want to go home, so I called my daughter and told her to get ready. I drove up to the house and we went shopping. She needed the outing and I needed to avoid the mess in my kitchen one more afternoon. We had a good time, and found some needed things. :-) I love retail therapy (not usually though I rarely shop), this time it was helpful, and quality time with my daughter who's been really missing me with my crazy schedule.
When it got late we stopped at Kroger and bought Amy's Vegan Pizza, and some coconut milk ice cream. We came home had pizza, a nice sized salad with my favorite Umboshi plum vinegar and flax oil dressing I mix myself. Then a small bowl of ice cream. A perfect Friday night easy dinner, after a long day of helping my sister and then shopping with my daughter.

I've worked on the kitchen and with a little more effort in the morning it will be mostly caught up. Then I can start cooking again and get some new food pictures taken and posted!

For now know that I'm back on track and relieved to be so! I do not feel right when I'm not living up to my self commitment, and I do not feel right not just emotionally but physically I can tell this is really helping me.

It's been hard though, because my meals were so few and then messed up, and I've felt so off and exhausted. To top that off my daughter who's not even over weight had dropped from a size 7 to a 3/4, and her BFF who recently went Vegan has also dropped 2 whole dress sizes. Of course they are 16/17, and I'm 42. Still! It's really depressing! I've lost some in water weight and I feel more comfortable, but I'm still in the same sized clothes. I do not have anything that looks too big for me yet.

When we went shopping she is just SO much smaller than she was. We have talked to her doctor though and been encouraged to have her eat more bread and peanut butter, higher calorie foods as she is still a growing teen, and needs her calories. So we are going to work on that, as we never expected such weight loss let alone anything this rapid.

I'm really trying to not be disappointed, but well it's next to impossible. I'm really happy for the girls. It's just more evidence of how hard it is for me to loose weight. sigh Right now just writing this makes me want to cry. ugh I really truly needs this to work for me as well. I do not want to be this heavy for the rest of my life. I know this is making me feel better, more healthy, but a little 'looking' healthy would be nice. I mean no one is going to believe I'm a Vegan if  I stay this over weight. OK enough whining.

Tomorrow is another challenging day. We have lots of activities planned, and will be on the go. Maybe I'll have the energy to get up early, clean and cook a real vegan breakfast. :-) Good night.

End of first day back on track

So tonight before I hit the hay, I just want to say I've had a total Vegan day. It's a relief and comfort to be home and back on track. We had thin crispy portobello mushroom & tofu cream pizza. So delicious, because well we had all the tofu cream left over from our Clean mean Burrito lunch.
I feel happy and content. I'm looking forward to miso soup and steamed greens in the early morning. I've got another hectic day, going with my sister to her 3D ultra sound. I have promised myself no more slips ups, and I know I can do it. ;-)
Pic is cooking for pizza:

Not a Vegan World

So how did I do on my out of state wedding trip? I know your wondering. You can decide for yourself I'm going to give you an honest run down of the past week I've not blogged.
Travel day Thursday April 15th. Miso soup, steamed greens, Rice with seeds and dried fruit. Lunch Cajun Steamers had fried oysters with curly fries, with my hubby. A treat for myself before my long trip. Now there is controversy on oyster eating & the Vegan name "Link" if your into conflict you can read up on it. For me personally I've given up so much drop it all cold right now it's my life line to normal and I won't feel bad about it. I'm already deficient in B vitamins and they make me feel better, end of my take for ME personally on the matter.
continue:
On the plane I got really hungry, I ate 2 crackers they provided and it took care of the pain in my gut but they tasted awful. I arrived at 10PM California time, everything was closed. I'd been on the plane since 4PM Nashville time. My Brother in Law tried to find something for me to eat, we ended up at a Wendy's, by the time I removed everything from the salad I wouldn't eat it was ice burg lettuce and a cold baked potato. I ate a few bites (it was 2AM my time zone), and threw it all away. I went to bed exhausted and hungry.
Friday: Early morning wake up call, they had eggs and Coco Puffs on the menu. I declined and waited. Being as we were out in the middle of a small town, my options were very limited. We had a bridal shoot to do, "Link to Bridal Teaser" by the time everything was accomplished it was 4PM California time and 6PM my time zone to my body. I'd not eaten since my lunch prior to getting on the plane, I was faint, nauseated and starving. They knew of a Mexican place that had vegetarian menu items. It was one of those small places tucked into a strip mall, and I've never had a burrito taste so good! lol I of course had them omit cheese and sour cream, and it was a BIG burrito I enjoyed every bite.
Later that evening they had the rehearsal dinner, and I again had to choose little to eat, I had some ice burg lettuce and smiled that I was being faithful.
Wedding day, Saturday the 17th. The lack of good sleep, and being hungry most of the time was getting to me, but I had a job to do and I only expect the best from myself. I was suffering with shoulder pain, and an encroaching migraine. Not a good combination, considering what I had ahead of me for the day. Again, coco puffs and eggs were the offerings I declined.
We were off very early I helped go set up the decor for the reception hall. No this is not typical for a wedding photographer, but these were soon to be somewhat extended family so I went with the flow. That was a good four hours of work. We stopped by Kmart, low and behold that was across the street from the Mexican place. Even though it was still morning, they serve breakfast, and were more than happy to make me a Vegan Burrito! YES! I was saved! Oh btw they use whole beans, so mega plus.
While everyone was getting all beautiful I indulged in a champagne mimosa with them, (thought it might relax my shoulder knot and downed a couple Excedrin) Not my favorite way to deal with exhaustion, jet lag, lack of sleep, and huge work day, but it got me through.
I started shooting pre-ceremony shots about noon. It was a beautiful day for a wedding. In between the grooms men and the brides with her maids shots, there a little time so the guys decided they had time for Carl Jr's burgers before the wedding. I was with them, so I had to go. I broke down and had a coke, I was waning and my energy just was not where I needed it to be. I felt like I was seriously cheating.
The ceremony was at 4PM, and everything ran pretty much on time. At the reception there were a couple options for me, I had a few small potatoes, a roll, salad w/o dressing. It was something and I needed something.
Sunday, woke up early, there was a special bible talk that morning and I wasn't going to miss it, as it was also being delivered in my home town congregation where hubby and kids were going. No breakfast again for me. (there was never a chance to or person available to take me shopping in the midst of all this wedding chaos so I wasn't going to be a Vegan Diva). lol
For Sunday lunch we went to a nice Mexican sit down place. Honestly I was so hungry again. I got Shrimp Fajita's. I am not going to let myself feel guilty, all they had were smashed up lard beans with cheese so the shrimp was my protein option. I've not worked this hard w/o major protein in my meals ever in my life. I'm a steak and sweet potato girl, and I use to regular go to Logan's Roadhouse for a sirloin before I did a wedding. OK yes I DO feel guilty, and at the same time I knew I needed to eat. So I did what I needed to do to keep going.
I had enough for take home, and had a repeat of lunch for dinner. Only I also did have a very small piece of  left over wedding cake and later downed a champagne mimosa with late night talk with the bride's sister.
Monday travel home day. 6AM wake up call, hit the road at 6:30AM. At the airport I had a Subway Veggie Sub no cheese no dressings. It was so good. I also bought a brownie, I ate a few bites and changed my mind about that poor decision.
On the plane peanuts lightly salted, OK I had them. Got home 6PM Nashville time, and went to Mexican with hubby and my boys. I had Vegetarian Fajita's. (no shrimp this time). I thought wow I've done alright, not bad, patting self on the back. I made it through this crazy trip and choose hunger over bad choices.
Tuesday, I was home and mostly just went hungry again, too tired to figure anything out to eat. I left the house hungry to pick up my daughter and really did myself in as far as feeling good, I drove through Krispy Kreme (the devil's donuts), and bought chocolate creme filled two of them and a bottle of water. I pretty much feel like a dog now and hate that I have to tell you I did that. sigh
For dinner I picked up my daughter (she's been taking care of my sister), and we had Genghis Grill and wow they have tofu too! I had a perfectly balanced vegan meal and it felt SO GOOD! PROPS to Genghis Grill!
We went to the store late and bought some food for the rest of the week. Wednesday morning I was up at 4AM. I spent the day helping my sister get to her and her son's doctors appointments. For some reason my exhaustion had me feeling sorry for myself, frustrated and very sick of being hungry half the time. (I don't know how super models do that! lol). I did not have time to make myself anything good, and all I've wanted for several days now was some miso soup and steamed greens (I kid not I'm actually craving this food now). Instead I found myself at McD's (my mortal enemy I don't even eat there neither do my kids for years now), and bought a chicken biscuit and a coke! ugh I ate it all, and drank a very little of the coke. Being hungry for this long is NOT serving me well. sigh
For lunch after our flat tire adventure (wasn't as bad as it could have been with a 33 week pregnant mommy and her trached toddler... thanks to Beaman Toyota who were wonderful! to take care of us quickly and w/o charge). ...We found a take out Chinese place that looked good. I ordered cashew shrimp. Felt bad about that and only ate 2 of the shrimp, but the celery and cashews were good. (although I'm fairly certain all those sauces have corn syrup or other bad for me sugars in them). ugh I also had water with it.
At this point though I'm feeling pretty bad about myself and how quickly I did the 'ok' job of staying pretty Vegan on my trip.
For dinner on my way home from my sisters, I called hubby to meet me at Cajun Steamers, I'm thinking tomorrow I'll do better and get back on track. I had my fried oysters and fried green tomatoes with him and it was nice being just us after a week. The bad thing was though that he was slow in coming and so I stopped at Sonic and ordered a Reese's Peanut butter cup blast. I knew the sugar had all accumulated and started the cravings and the constant hunger, not to mention pms was doing me in! I ate several bites (maybe a 1/5 of a regular sized one or less), and tossed the rest into the trash and berated myself. ugh grrr I thought!
Today here we are finally today! Can I redeem myself? I don't know your the judge. For me I'm going to put the past behind me and begin again w/o dwelling too much. I'm not sure what all I could have done to prevent my lapses, planning, carrying nuts with me? I don't know you need real meals to keep going and I've not had enough of them.
So I got up and delivered my daughter to her morning appt. I stopped at Kroger and filled one of those carry baskets with green organic goodies. $27. I came home ate 3 tsp of agave sweetened peanut butter while I made a pot of miso soup. It was so good! I have greens too but I've not steamed any yet. I started a pot of Asuka beans I had soaked last night, now daughter and I are putting together Vegan Clean mean Burrito's with Tofu cream. YUM! So today, so far so good. I have a plan for a Vegan dinner, and will make a porridge for over night.
I get up very early tomorrow to drive into my sisters an hour away, to take her to her ultra sound appt. She gets to see her baby on one of those 3D machines. COOL! I am thinking soup, porridge greens for breakfast, and bringing the makings for a Vegan Burrito with me for my lunch.
I can't wait to be back on track! I feel like crap-o-la! I'm disappointed in myself and I have some sugar ache in my bones a bit today. sigh
Just think about this though, this total lack of options out there. I drive through town and everything is based on a meat or a dairy. I'm excited about Genghis Grill! I know they are my new helper! OH! Miranda just walked in with her huge Vegan Burrito! MUST GO MAKE MINE NOW!! lol
I hope my honesty wasn't discouraging. I hope to inspire some reality in my journey and yours.

One month as a Vegan, it's a mind set. (favorite food list towards the end)

So tomorrow is my one month official Vegan life mile marker. Wow how time flies! I'm hooked on this big time. I can not even believe how much better I feel. I saw my Mom yesterday for the first time in several months. (her turn with my sister and the baby, her rib btw is doing much better yeah!). She said my skin is glowing, and my eyes are so clear and sparkly. Sweet!

I can see changes in my body, but really you'd have to know me to notice. So I'm not saying miracle weight loss here, but I'm probably eating way more food than I use too, only fewer calories over all I'm very sure of that. I know I've lost some inches, and am not swollen anymore at all. :-) I see wonderful changes in my daughter too, her shape has changed, she looks happier too. She also feels so happy to be eating this way.
Last night I was driving back from my sisters (an hour away), and my husband called in an order for Chinese, he actually had them make some things from scratch just for me so I wouldn't' have to cook. This is a man who when I've made changes before would wig out go to the Dollar store and bring home junk for us all. It's always been hard to make changes around here with kids and hubby. I can honestly tell you they have been WAY supportive this time, I have to thank the movie Food Inc for that one, not to mention Jamie Oliver's new TV series keeping them form forgetting what junk does to people's health.

One thing to report, how I now feel about processed sugar. I can honestly say it was Jr. High when I learned to use sugar as a mild drug. I would not eat, only sip a coke and a bag of skittles or m&m's every day. It kept me going w/o having to eat, and my mind would stay comfortably numb from the pressure I was under. So it had begun, it's been a life time struggle for me to not starve and then abuse sugar. After more knowledge I did things here and there, but always relapsed under stress, the no breakfast have a coke mid way through the day, following by a too big dinner, was a way of life for me.
Well I've not had any in my diet now for over a month. It feels wonderful, and to discover I can have sweet things w/o having my insulin spike and my head go fuzzed out and my joints ache. Wow liberation! I'm a big believer in taking into consideration the origin or beginning of things. It's been called white gold, and heavily taxed through the centuries, I think personally through my own experience it's addictive power also increased it's value to those who understood sugar as a profit wealth maker.
To now know of alternatives that are not damaging to my health is precious knowledge. It also has me respecting the process of sweet being a treat. It's laborious and more expensive to eat healthy sweet, and be vegan. It shouldn't be something you can have every day for very little money it's a drug.
I didn't realize how much better I was feeling until I had a single bite a vegan cake, that ended up not so vegan. It's icing was made with powdered sugar, sure that might be consider vegan by some but not by me. That icing hit me like an electrical impulse coursing through my body. I felt it instantly and it hurt! My neck tensed up and I got an instant headache. I asked for the ingredient list and there it was the culprit. ugh! I felt that one bite in my body for 3 days, even after sucking on an umboshi plum pit.
This is the thing though, all the sensations were what use to be normal, only I just thought I was headache and body ache person. No it was the sugar in my diet. My joints don't hurt, I'm not having headaches, no sugar crashes, no shaky days where I need something sweet to survive. I was addicted! I've told myself that truth before, now it's on a level of deep understanding and commitment to never let sugar back into my life.

Which brings me to my 2nd thing to report. How I see food, or what I see as 'real food'. Again at my sisters house, I open her frig and pantry and how much has changed in my mind set in the past 30 days! Wow! I open those doors and see nothing I would consider real food. Now my sister is a healthy person, who does not have a weight problem, in fact she never really struggled with her weight, just wasn't an issue for her. So her frig and pantry is very typical, well even likely more above board for most people. 
At the grocery store I see no need what so ever go walk down any of the isles, there is no 'real food' down those isles! I no longer am seeing boxes and bags, and chemicals and processes as food. Putting food into my body as Alicia says in her book is something we do 3 times or more a day, it's one of the most connected factors to our health of anything we do or can do for ourselves.
Now I see real food as food. It was backwards! Honestly how can in just a short time in human history did this happen? I'm old enough to have had the blessing of two grandmothers who had huge gardens and feed their families fresh farm produce they raised. My children have no clue what that would be like. I remember food wasn't processed into chemical compounds, yet over my life time I fell into the cycle of advertisers convincing me, fast convenience was food. Wow, you know your there with me, you believe it too. People around the globe eat better than we do in several respects on this front. Some rice, beans, and greens is a basic healthful meal, who knew? who forgot? who's accountable? What will I teach my family now?

I'm a little dizzy up here on my soap box. lol So I'm going to just move right on into my new favorite foods! REAL foods! tee hee

Ezekiel Tortilla fill with Tofu Cream, beans, rice, cabbage, radish, carrots, cucumber, sprouts, avacado, cilantro! I could eat one of these almost every day and be so happy.

Miso soup 1 tablespoon miso per serving
    2 teaspoon dried cut wakame (seaweed you can use other types too)
    1/2 cup chopped daikon (Japanese radish looks like a large white carrot)
    1/2 cup carrots, optional
    1/2 small onion, optional (I use leeks if I'm out of onion)
    tofu, chopped into small cubes, optional
    chopped green onions

It's very important to not 'cook' the fresh miso when you add it, two minutes on simmer to get it to melt into the broth. You do not want the healthful enzymes to be cooked to death. This has made me feel SO much better, and I can tell when it's been more than 2 days since I had some. I've not had any ill side effects from my high veggie and bean intake due to the digestive aid this soup provides. I mean I thought I would be living on Beano trying to be a Vegan. ha

Squash! I love squash in so many varieties of ways to prepare. It's amazing. I was always afraid to buy one, what the heck to do with that large hard cased thing!? ha ha and to toast their fresh seeds and eat them as snack or a crunchy topping on salad etc. YUM!

Cabbage! Green, Red, Napa, who cares they are all wonderful. I love cabbage. :-)

Zucchini, I crave this! love it sauteed.

Gomashio! (black sesame seeds and salt toasted and ground) Such a wonderful flavor to add to lots of foods. I use half the salt Alicia recommends so I can put it on more things and not get to much salt in my diet. (natural sea salt w/o iodine btw).

Tahini! What a wonderful spread on toast. This keeps me from late night snacking off my Vegan path sometimes a simple slice of healthy real bread with a light spread of Tahini. Delicious.

Umeboshi Plums, a wonder of amazing flavor and healthful aid! I have the plums, the vinegar and the paste. I love this food!

Fried Mochi! with (real) Maple Syrup! This is a breakfast for the weekend that will keep you from ever even considering you need to cheat to be happy.

Ok and the big shocker, I resisted this for the first several weeks, now I crave it. Steamed greens with my breakfast. I know! Me too! I never thought I would enjoy steamed greens with my breakfast, but it's just SO good to me now. Miso soup, steamed greens and porridge (take your pick all of Alicia's are good). Its' my breakfast of champions.

Now tomorrow I fly out to California to shoot a wedding. I'll be at the mercy of my schedule and the people I'm working with. I'm worried, because 'real food' takes time and costs money and I need to eat to not cheat. (I learned that lesson early on read back if your curious). I'll be gone from Thursday afternoon, till Monday evening.

I know two things I MUST avoid to not feel miserable, sugar and salt. I have a few things in mind to help me. I'm hoping it all works out. I'm bringing some Umeboshi plum with me in case I need it to restore myself. I know your thinking you'll be in California Vegan capital of the States. Yet, I won't have my own car, and am not staying at a hotel, rather with extend family of the bride. It's gonna be complicated. Lets hope I have way more successes in keeping to my plan than not. :-)

This was a long post, but you'll likely not hear from me for several days now. I want to say one last thing. I know this change seems so drastic. The truth is though it's been a long time coming, over the years knowledge has been creeping in, things I've heard, read, believed about food. It all came together so that when I read the Kind Diet I recognized the path I needed to be on, and so far this is exactly what I need to be doing. I do not take this change lightly, and I'm not doing it to save the planet. I'm doing this to save me, and my family. It's not easy and I have hard days where I mad about how much time things take, and how many dishes it takes (because I also gave up my microwave), but I keep going, because this is real food and that makes sense all by itself.

So thanks for reading, and have a great rest of your week, and I'm sure I'll have some stories and food pics to post when I get back.

Dinner's of my own 50/50

So the weekend went along very well! I even managed to do amazing things like make miso soup, Alicia's rice breakfast, and steamed greens on Sunday morning, AND give my daughter an up do (I've never done one, but she got lots of compliments on it). We weren't even late! Now if you are a home schooler you know we do our days in pj's all too often, so doing all of that, packing a vegan lunch, and getting myself and 3 kids out the door by 8:30AM was a BIG DEAL. I'm very proud of myself.
Sunday evening we went to the Wild Cow I had the The Prince Fielder:  Marinated & grilled tempeh or tofu, avocado, tomato, sprouts, cucumbers, shredded carrots, onions, vegenaise, & spicy mustard on gluten-free bread, with hummus and chips as my side item. Facebook Fan Page of Wild Cow   become a fan! We went as a group of 13 people (including children), and they are a small more of a lunch place, but they welcomed us and set up tables together to accommodate us. If I'm in the area I will definitely go there again. :-) I wish they were in Cool Springs! My daughter said it was really nice going there now, because she knew what the menu meant. ha If we had gone before we wouldn't have had a clue what we were ordering!
Sunday night I was in bed by 7PM and slept till 10AM. I mean I made it through the weekend, but it also kicked my butt. ha I've stayed on track though, and it's felt so good.
I checked out a book from my library, and I'll be definitely buying my own copy. Vegan Planet, great for tons of recipes, and well I knew what they were talking about because of "The Kind Diet"'s friendly easy to grasp Vegan crash course. I think getting both books is essential to a newbie like me, the Vegan Planet has a little deeper explanations on balance and benefits of some foods, as well as how long they keep etc.

To the photo's. The first one is a lunch I made. It was my first attempt at mixing it up, and well it wasn't so great. lol Doesn't even look to great. ha ha So enough said about this not so fabulous lunch.

I did though make a very successful dinner on Saturday night. Using portobello mushrooms. YUM! This dinner came out much more tastey and Miranda said was her favorite use of the mushrooms ever. She loved it. Gotta feel good about a hit meal, now if I can only remember how to make it again??? ;-/

Next post I'll making a list of all my new favorite flavors and foods. Also commentary on how I've changed my concept of what qualifies as 'food', not to mention how I feel about sugar now. Read ya later!

Friday's report

I'm going to be so busy this weekend I likely will not have time to post. So preemptively I will be having easy rice and steamed greens breakfast, with Tuna (Kinda) for lunch (both days), and dinner will be left overs on Saturday night, and Sunday night I'm so excited we are going out with friends to a Vegan restaurant near where my bible education weekend will be located. http://www.thewildcow.com/twc/ This will be a really nice reward for being vegan nearly a month now. It's too far for us to frequent normally, so I'm really happy about our plans. PLUS the amazing support of my dear friends who found the restaurant and asked us to go with them. :-)

OK back to now, yesterday I had a Superhero's breakfast with each component. I've been a bit lax and never have all 3 things at once. I had my steamed greens with Flax oil, and Umboshi plum vinegar, sprinkled with Gomashio. I eat this first, as cold greens not so tasty, often I'm not even ready to sit down yet I just get them eaten fast before they go cold. I also had left over Miso soup (I make it packed full of veggies, etc, so that I can add water the next day and fresh miso to ensure I get the digestive aid property's), along with left over millet/squash/kombo porridge. Here's a pic of a full Superhero's breakfast.

For lunch I'm not even sure right now? It may have been simple beans/rice and salad. I've got lots on my mind of things I need to be doing right now. lol So forgive me.
Dinner was definitely salad, Asuka beans, Rice a blend of two kinds with extras, steamed asparagus. It was all delicious. I had gotten my kitchen caught up yesterday and made two pots of beans, black and asuka, as well as a big pot of rice. I realize these are staples I need to just keep some made.
Dinner photo:

So today we used the rice to make a quick Alicia's porridge and steamed greens. I had lots of errands in town to run with my boys this afternoon, and have barely been in the kitchen. (so much for having it caught up yesterday ha ha). The boys wanted Sam's Club pizza, OK now this is super affordable. I can feed myself and my kids there for like $10! But by the time I got out the door I was getting hungry too, and if I stayed home to make lunch we might never have made it to town. All the way in I was debating whether or not I would be able to let them eat there and not cave myself? I decided it was worth the extra money to go to Mellow Mushroom whom I knew had a Vegan pizza option for me. I spent $36 with tip, yeah just a wee bit more than I would have at Sam's. Still I felt good, because I knew I had safe guarded all my efforts.
It's like this, this is so huge and often very hard work, that it's just not worth undermining the results. Make sense? Well it does for me right now. Whatever works to keep me on this path!
So I get home from shopping at 7PM. I've been in town all day long, with my boys in tow. Yeah, you know two boys 10&12, dragged by their mom clothes shopping. No they were super good so I'm not completely fried. Oh cute thing my youngest said today at lunch, "Mom I can tell you've lost weight, because you take up less space." LOL I've been saying how I can tell, and I feel it and the boys are like 'sorry mom can't tell yet', so it was super cute that he saw it once I was sitting in the chair. :-) I'll take as a compliment because well I'm his Mom! ha ha
OK so tired, long day, accomplished mostly what I needed to shopping. I bought two amazing things, pics in a minute. I walk in the door and my lovely Vegan Superhero daughter knew that on these bible education weekends we always have something special packed in our lunch, a treat. So she takes it upon herself to make us our Vegan treat. Let me tell you, it's heaven! Pic now:

SERIOUSLY this is SO good! I didn't even realize how much I needed a simple delicious chocolate brownie. Best part no over drugged headache sick feeling of "I shouldn't have had that'. :-) I put a single scoop of coconut mint chocolate chip ice cream with it, and it made me so happy. I'd been driving through town bombarded with fast food and places to eat all day, radio commercials about buffalo wings, etc. For over 40 years I've stopped and grabbed whatever, never really thought about it much, so it's a big change to let it all go. I was stead fast and didn't over think it but it tugs on you none the less. So I just felt her love, and relief to have this beyond good indulgence. YUM! I had left over vegan pizza slice for dinner, I'm going to have a salad too, because I just always feel better if I have one. :-) OH Page 181 for this pic above.

Today I found something I've needed, to ground my flax seeds and make Gomashio. I'm realizing how important the right tools in the kitchen are.

On the note of the right tools, my Mom if you recall the person who bought me the Kind Diet book in the first place, she bought herself a food processor. She's never had one, and she was so thrilled with it. She decided I needed one too. She lives in Arkansas, so basically she sent me to the store to buy one, and she'll get a check to me to reimburse me. ha ha, but still it's not in my budget to spend $200 on one right now. I'm so excited! I came home with it tonight as well.

It comes with a DVD to show you things about how to use one. I've not had one since I was first married and I broken that one pretty quickly. sigh. So I'm excited to have one. I know this is going to make my life SO much easier! I'm really thrilled that I can take less time and make more delicious things. :-) SUPER! It's exactly what I need to keep going.
OK my family is BEGGING me to stop blogging and get in the great room to watch Jamie Oliver's Food revolution. The men may not be eating full vegan yet, but they are definitely all about learning more about healthy eating. :-) Night!

"The Junk Run"

Last night my youngest went to bed with a migraine. He is prone to these, but I knew it was because he was very hungry. He's sensitive, and this whole 'eating healthy' thing has him thrown for a loop. One he is already a picky eater, two in the past when he was very young and they say "they'll eat when their hungry" we learned he wouldn't. Literally the child went for 3 days till he threw up bile rather than try anything other than the one food he was accepting at the time. So to watch him struggle with this change is a bit painful. He really wants to eat right, but doesn't like very much.
This morning I got up and made barley/sweet rice for breakfast. I figured I can make this happy and enjoyable. Added a little buttery spread, maple syrup, and put a happy face on it...

see the results....

A sigh of relief for one meal down.
I had mine plain, with a side of steamed greens.
Ok so today was there was so much to do. I had gas up car, banking, post office, trip to the library, 3 vegan meals to make, laundry, math & english lessons for my youngest, client emails, texts, edits. I felt over whelmed and my time in the kitchen was getting to me.
While I was out on errands after lunch, pic coming, I wanted to get 'something' anything really. I realized it's a habit if I'm out especially by myself I will treat myself. Not every time but often enough, to something anything. I get little down time and extremely small amounts of alone time. I guess it's my thing. The other day I had to go into the dollar store, so I bought some flower seeds instead of something bad for me. Helped!
Today I went to Kroger... I was in the mood for a Sonic Blast. I bought coconut milk ice cream, VERY good, few ingredients, organic. Yum. I also found vegan chicken nuggets. I know still way processed 'stuff' in my opinion, but my son needs to eat. I found a few other goodies I figured would help fill in when he isn't eating enough, and really dislikes whatever I've worked on an hour and half to make.
This satisfied my 'junk run habit' BUT hit my pocket book hard, a whopping $74. ouch! Yes eating premade vegan or easy vegan is expensive. Pic coming. I got a few goodies, a few necessity's, a few things to save my starving son from his own nature. It added up. I get too tired to make dessert after making all the other aspects of a meal, but I need to have 'something' on hand so I know it's there when I'm out and have that need to treat myself.
I think in the end I will save money over $5-$7 bucks when I'm out here and there. I think I'll also have to make room in the budget for some of these fake fast foods for my son, at least until we found other viable options. Either way, it's been a bit eye opening into habits I have, and helped me resolve to continue to make things from scratch because it keeps our meals more affordable to be sure.
So here are pic's of my lunch & dinner, and my 'junk run'. Lunch is Fried Udon Noodles Page 229 we love this meal. Dinner is Tostadas (Kinda) Page 217, I LOVED this meal. My other test today was my husband was in the mood for food himself. He took off to a place I use to always go to when I was feeling drained and needed some protein. Logans Roadhouse. He was there while I had my lunch. Well he had left overs. So he eats one Tostadas, and then pulls out his left overs and eats a burger and french fries in front of me. Kinda hard after all the work to make my meal, but I know he's not me and this is my journey. The great thing was though it wasn't until after dinner and I was cleaning it up, it hit me he had done that and it hadn't bothered me. I had been so happily enjoying this new tostadas I didn't care! :-) How amazing is that??? I don't even know! lol
So a pretty nice victory for me on this 'junk run' hectic/overwhelm, child worry day. Oh and did I tell you I can wear a pair of jeans I have that I couldn't get on this winter? Yeah, oh yeah I can not only wear them but they are loose. ;-)
THAT will keep me going on my days where I'm just plan mad I'm hungry and it's gonna take me an hour to put together my meal. Yes, the hunger is mega intense I've not had hunger like this in any of my recent memories. Veggies definitely don't leave you with full feeling for long. I'll stop talking, pics I know your thinking it. ;-)
LUNCH:

"Junk Run" no junk here though. (except that one top brand of hummus did not like it, it's all air and icky).

This dinner was followed by two scoops of chocolate coconut milk ice cream. I felt very taste and craving satisfied to be sure.

Tuesday night, so far so good

I know I'm behind on the pictures, so I'm going to make up for a few meals tonight. There are a few things we've had that I've not kept track of, as I flip through the book for page #'s to match my pictures I am reminded of them. Miranda cooked the dinner on page 221, while I was taking care of my sister and her broken rib (while pregnant days). I had the left overs and it was very good, she said it's even better fresh. Yum, but no photo. I also love Quinoa with Basile and Pine Nuts, page 224.Page 226 I had as left overs from my daughters cooking night, also very good. Love the easy parts too. Gomashio! So good! page 232, I am sprinkling it here and there now and it's wonderful, funny thing it looks sorta like black pepper so maybe if someone is a big fan maybe it will at least appeal to their visual need for black pepper. ??

OK so something I do have a photo of, I made my own version of Alicia's Magical Healing soup on page 251, back on the 25th of March and never posted pics. I added vegan veggie broth and other taste enhancers. I just found it was too bland, and needed to add some punch. I also looked up online about these strange giant green onion thingy called Leeks. You might enjoy the info as well: http://www.ehow.com/video_2261383_preparing-cook-leeks-vegetables-recipe.html  There are two short videos and both are helpful, especially when he shows you how to cut it open to keep it in one piece but be able to wash out the deep dirt inside. VERY helpful!

OK so here is a photo of all the veggies I chopped up to go into the soup, and the final out come.

It was very 'healing', I loved it and it was even better the 2nd day with a little deeper flavor.
One of my other new favorite foods are Azuki Beans!! I love them, and love to have some with Quinoa and sautee' zucchini as left overs for lunch. I think I showed you pictures of that when I made it at my sisters house.
But here is a different image,

This is from the first time I made them Page 241, using carrots as I was out of squash. My husband loved this dinner, it reminded him of Red Beans and Rice (he grew up in Louisiana).
The meal below was Monday nights dinner. I have been super busy of late, trying to play catch up plus working again now that the weather is wonderful. So Miranda gets credit for this dinner. It's Fruity French Lentils Page 245, side note my son who hates beans enjoyed this dish and ate all I put on his plate. It was like a miracle! This is a child who will throw up on the spot if something is detestable to him, so for him to eat Lentils?? Who knew! ha ha Just goes to show you never know until you try something new. The soup in the cup is Squash soup page 253, we put in a little Kuzu Root Starch to thicken it up, less than a tsp, then a side of sweet rice plain. 

So this morning I was up early, neighbors dog barking at 5AM. grrrr. I finished getting my messy kitchen caught up, (when I'm working and busy it gets insane fast). I made millet squash porridge and miso soup for breakfast. For lunch we had left overs, Azuki beans and fresh squash, sweet rice on the side.
Dinner I made something new, and I've GOT to start reading these recipes through to the end before I get half way through them. ha But that's another story.
Anyhow, tonight my daughter had friends over, and so I was hoping this meal would be friendly to their taste buds. I made Thin Mushroom "Pizzas" on page 220. Now the girls are going to kill me, but they posed so fair game right? lol They really enjoyed it! I did too, I LOVE this pizza and I needed a substitute I could 'go to' when I had a craving for the bad kind. I'm really excited as I love mushrooms and this really was very satisfying. I think anyone would enjoy this and it's SuperHero amazing. :-)

So I'll end this very long post with two happy Vegan Lab Rats. I feel really proud I've fed 4 friends total now, from Grandma to Teens and everything I've made was enjoyed and met with surprise and relief. ;-) I'm doing a little magic of my own planting seeds for more future Vegans. tee hee

Oh one final note, since I bought my groceries and have my kitchen caught up, even with a hectic schedule I've remained SuperHero at all meals since the slip up on shopping day. ;-)

Sunday making a plan

Friday I never did end up cooking. I went all day hungry, and very busy. Ended up going out to local Mexican and ordering the Vegetarian fajita's, with no sour cream so they became vegan. I was so hungry! I ate too many chips, as our waiter forgot to even take a drink order for a good 20 mins. That never happens there, so I won't complain.
Saturday I made those beans into a 'Beans and Greens' soup. My own combination of mixed beans and mixed greens, some veggie broth, a little flavor from toasted sesame oil and umboshi vinegar, and then barley miso. I had that for a late lunch. I'm not sure now what I had for breakfast? Sorry I forget right now? ugh
I had to drive to my sisters to pick up my daughter, and we went to Whole foods to pick up the rest of the groceries we needed thru the 15th of this month. (grocery total for this pay period so far is $350 between Trader Joes and Whole foods). I believe we have enough food to last us all the way through next week. We have not done w/o from my first big shopping expedition, just ran out of fresh green things, but my pantry has done well.
OK so we shop Saturday evening, and it takes only about 1 1/2 hours, WAY faster than the first go around. We got really excited in the produce, my daughter and I are learning what we like and it's fun to shop for those foods now. :-) I was starving, and should have gotten something off the hot food bar. I thought to myself, "no I'll go home and cook something we have all this food now".
That ended up being a mistake. sigh It was 8PM by the time I got home, and husband had sent us on an extra errand and then had me bring home pizza for him and the boys. Well I was putting away all our groceries, after a long day and having eaten soup, I snatch a piece of pizza. I know I could have resisted if I had gone ahead and eaten a bite at the grocery store. Hind sight, but at the time I thought I would be home much faster.
I ate a HUGE salad of so many things after that, it sorta made me feel less guilty, but not really. I've had too much of an off week and there was no way to justify that slip up.
Today I made Barley and sweet rice for breakfast, we had Clean Mean Burrito's for lunch. For dinner we had my left over beans and greens soup, baked sweet potato, salad, and sliced sour dough whole grain bread with buttery spread. It was all very good and filling.
It feels REALLY good to have my frigs and pantry full again. I think not having enough in the house, added to way too busy and being away made for a hard week for me. I'm very ready to be back on track. I have also learned that when I get something out to just go ahead and cut it all up. It will make the next meal faster.
So a few GREAT things, I've learned not to let myself get so hungry I will eat things I'll regret. I've watched my husband be very happy we are cooking and trying everything we put out there. On top of that my middle child has been amazing! He gave up milk this week and decided Almond milk was actually really good! I'm so excited about that! He is also trying more new things and being more open to my meals. My youngest is struggling a little, he wants to be more committed to Vegan than he can be right now. So we are helping him with that as much as possible, sometimes for now he just needs to eat some meat, because beans just aren't his thing. ;-)
I have take pic's just haven't uploaded. I don't mean to neglect them, just super busy. At any rate I'm doing pretty good, I feel like this is a life change not a diet. I really see myself eating this way the rest of my life. My lovely daughter has already seen results and changes that make her happy. I've seen them in myself too, but I doubt anyone else can tell I've dropped a couple pounds. It's OK, it's making me feel better and I know my clothes have more room. ;-) OK this is too long of a post and I need to get some sleep. Night

Back home, feels like a do over

OK time to catch you back up. Today is Friday. I've had some toast so far, some I bought at Traders Joe's yesterday. I'm exhausted and have so much to catch up on. I also though have some mixed beans soaking, so that I can make a nice lunch after I have my kitchen caught up. (came home to a disaster ugh).

So Wednesday I did very well. Total Vegan day, whew! My body had missed my Miso soup. I think that soup is a miracle I love how it helps my digestion. Here's a picture of my lunch, which was also what I had for dinner on Wednesday. I was still at my sisters, so I kept it simple.

Thursday, I did my best. I was up at 5AM with my sister and nephew. Then hit the road for 6:45AM to meet my husband at his office, and pick up my daughter and bring her to my sisters. I had time to go to Cracker Barrel. I knew they had oatmeal on the menu there. I got a bowl of oatmeal with pecans, and maple syrup for sweetener, since they use real syrup. I also had the blueberry muffin, probably had some egg in there, but I love blueberries and they say they are fresh. I felt pretty good about resisting all their other temptations. :-)

By the time I had my daughter settled in with my sister  and headed back to our side of the area. I figured I might as well go to Trader Joe's. I've never been as it's an hour from my house. They were pretty good. I was surprised that most of the produce was not organic, but the dry goods were well priced and had clean labeling. Definitely worth going to once a month for some things I can save on and stock up on. I enjoyed shopping there. My boys are so cute now, they both are reading labels! So we had a nice time.

It was lunch time, so I called my husband at his office to see if he wanted to eat out with us. We went to our Cajun place, and I had fried oysters. OK I know that makes me a Pescetarian and not Vegan. I consider myself a mostly Vegan, and on occasion I'll let myself have the fried oysters as a treat, but we are talking about two times a month most likely. At any rate, I enjoyed being with my 'men' as it's been a long week.

I got home with our groceries, and all my bags from staying at my sisters, to find a very messes kitchen, and dirty house. ugh So dinner was too simple, I made rice pasta and spaghetti sauce I had bought at Trader Joe's and skipped out on trying to make any veggies as even though I did two loads of dishes there was little counter space. I had to get the boys to do their school work, and the cable guy was here for most of the late afternoon.

This morning, I've been doing school with my boys, sending pictures to my sister I took while I was there, client emails, etc etc.... It's almost lunch time and I'm already to go back to bed and hide. lol I have enough things here to put together some meals though. So I'm making it work for the rest of the day. Toast for breakfast was not that stellar of choice especially because yesterday was void of veggies.

At any rate, I am working on my shopping list and recipes for the coming week. Life is not going to be slowing down. I have to get my daughter tomorrow, (that's a 2 hour trip). I need to go buy more food this weekend, we have spring has sprung yard work to do. I have an engagement session to shoot on Monday. This coming weekend we have a bible convention I have to plan meals for. The week after that I'll be flying out to California, which will be nonstop work. We are doing an engagement type session, when I get there, their wedding on Saturday, and maybe even a post wedding day session before they leave on their honeymoon. Then fly back home to get on all those edits!

Time for me to buck up and get it done. Because if I'm going to succeed and not be caught unprepared to eat right through chaos I won't be a very successful vegan will I? :-/ Not gonna let that happen. ;-) More later, hoping for a clean kitchen by days end, and a beautiful pictures of a well balanced dinner.