re-birth

So its time for me to move on to a different blog platform. I won't go into specifics, but its just what I want to do right now. I don't like becoming stagnant and that is how I was feeling about the blog. So now you can access me from:

One Vegan Foodie.

I hope that you will all follow me over there. Don't forget to update your favorites and your blogrolls :).

chili potluck

Last night was spent busy making blondies for the chili potluck at work today. Our department can sure put together a potluck! I was super excited too because I was debuting a new type of blondie. Veggiegirl has an awesome base recipe for vegan blondies that I have been tweaking and playing around with. First off I will start with yesterday's lunch:
The last of the chickpea salad (I'm excited to try and replicate this!)

Grape juice box

Peach Medley (these are really delicious...and all natural)

Amy's Brown Rice and Black Eyed Pea bowl (so delicious!)

These are the Orange-Almond Vegan blondies...

These are the PB-Chocolate Chip Blondies...

Look at this sky! I snapped these on the way home. Don't worry, the car was stopped.

Again, beautiful!

And finally, my lunch today was a lot of repeating, except for this fruit salad I made last night while the blondies were baking. It includes plums, kiwi, and peaches. So delicious!


Ok now onto the blondie recipes. I have made the PB Chocolate one's before and am just lazy to link back to it right now. However, here is the recipe I used for Orange Almond blondies with notes following.

Orange-Almond Blondies
*adapted from VeggieGirl's Blondie recipe

3/4 c. Soy yogurt (I used Silk Vanilla)
1/4 c. olive oil
1 c. sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp molasses
1 1/4 c. flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 c. toasted almond slivers
1 tbsp natural orange extract
1/8 c. non-dairy milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare an 8 inch square pan with oil. Mix wet ingredients together, through molasses. Add dry ingredients one at a time, mixing well after each, through baking soda. Add orange extract and almonds. If mixture is too thick, slowly add milk a tablespoon at a time until you can stir mixture. Pour into pan and bake for 40 minutes, until a toothpick/knife inserted in center comes out clean.

*Notes* I would really like to take out the extract and use fresh squeezed orange juice but that will take more tweaking. For now, the extract will do. You can use less, but definitely no more than a tablespoon. I threw in less than a 1/4 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips as well. Probably dark chocolate chips would be best with the orange. I'd be careful of overloading the blondies with stuff though. Since I had the extract in the batter, I didn't need any almond milk to thin it out. The flavor was really nice with these and they smelled amazing!

shocking

I know. Two posts in one day. I am just stringing you along because this week's posting may be sporadic at best. But I did go to the food store today and also got a special item.
Here are the non-produce related items: Kashi Heart to Heart Warm Cinnamon, Ezekiel 4:9 Cinnamon Raisin, Unbleached Flour, Organic Ketchup, Natural Crunchy PB, Grape Juice Boxes, Orange Extract, Ghiradelli's Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Produce - Plums, Kiwis, Bananas, Peaches, and Muscadines. What is not pictured are about two pounds of cucumbers ;)

Couldn't resist a close up of the peach!

Finally, my special purchase...a neti pot

I am hoping this will bring some relief to my sinuses and help me to not wake at night.
On another note, I just wanted to clarify that I don't usually eat so many microwave meals. I am a proponent of if I can make it cheaply and somewhat easily why would I buy it. Unfortunately, there are times when making things to eat is just not possible. That time is now. Since all of my kitchen tools are somewhere between here and Europe, I really don't have much to cook with. Plus, I am diligent about the microwave meals that I do purchase so that I am getting whole grains and natural products. I'm going to borrow some things tomorrow so that I can make a dessert for the chili potluck at work. So keep that in mind.
I also forgot to post that I am continually trying to hone my diet to curb out items that just shouldn't be part of my way of eating. I have been without diet sodas for at least two weeks. Thus the juice boxes :). I have officially cut the following things out of my food: splenda/equal/other kind of artifical sweetner; caffeine; hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils/fats; and high fructose corn syrup. What would you like to cut out of your eating to make your body healthier?

crazy week

Going back to work has done wonders for passing time. Who would know? It also absorbs so much of my time that posting has to become sporadic. Also I am ashamed to say that last week I only worked out three times. Honestly, I think my allergies are acting up because I have been sleeping a lot and usually that's my body's way of fighting off stuff that shouldn't be there. I am also embarassed to say that I only worked out 3 days last week.
As Dr. Oz says, when you miss the turn the GPS doesn't scold you, it tells you to take the next U-turn. I took my u-turn on Sunday. I was not eating particularly bad last week, but I need to exercise. One day I forgot my camera at work, so here are the remaining days.
Yum applesauce...

A little peach and kiwi salad...

Oh boy. This was a new meal that I had not had before. I was anxious but Amy's usually delivers.

It certainly did! Some of the black beans did explode in the microwave, but other than that, this meal was outstanding. Full of flavor and not dry at the very least. Amy's does it again!


Next meal...
Healthy Choice Sweet Asian Potstickers...sadly the only one of the new HC organic/natural meals that is vegan :(

It is really good though and a lot cheaper than Amy's stuff. I can usually get Amy's stuff for $4-5 and this one usually hovers around $2.50. There is also tofu in the potstickers.

Some chickpea salad...

The leftovers of the peach/kiwi salad.


Fast forward to today's lunch...
A organic vegan Boca with spinach, sprouts, dijon mustard, and hummus on a whole wheat sandwich round...

The whole she-bang...burger with carrots and hummus.


Honestly, these Boca burgers were gross. They were tasteless and super dry. I almost wanted to add a whole bunch more mustard because I felt like I was choking each bite down. I was also craving something with some juice to it, like a peach, but today is food shopping day and that means there is not much fresh left around.

To satiate a friend who was requesting ways to cook squash/pumpkin...here are some ideas, moreso for the squash than a pumpkin. You see cutting up and cooking a whole pumpkin is a great feat and will definitely not be a quick meal. Remember when you made jack-o-lanterns and didn't realize that pumpkins were for eating. Don't worry, most people are perplexed when faced with such an enomorous piece of produce. So, for pumpkins, if you have the time, the best is to clean it and roast the thing either sliced or whole in the oven until it is tender. Then it can be made into soups or you can even use it in place of, wait for it, canned pumpkin, if it is pureed ;).
Fall brings a ton of different kinds of squashes and most people are also a little afraid of them. They do have warts so it is a little off-putting. Don't be afraid. Butternut squash is the most recognizable. But you can pretty much cook them all the same way with the exception of the Spaghetti Squash (I'll cover that later on, keep reading). So basically get your oven nice and hot, 400-450 degrees. Peel and cube the squash removing any seeds that may be inside (which is also no easy feat, you need to have a really good knife, or a clean street corner you could smash it on). If you want a comforting sweet/savory type dish, you toss the squash with olive oil, a little brown sugar (don't go overboard!), cinnamon, and if you want the last 10 minutes, throw in some halved nuts, like walnuts or pecans. Alternatively, you could just toss the squash with olive oil and salt and pepper and you would be fine. Either way, you can roast them around 25-35 minutes, tossing every so often. You can also add squash to roasts, like when you roast a turkey or ham with potatoes, carrots, and the other wonder root veggies.
Now for the Spaghetti Squash. The inside of the spaghetti squash is very fibrous and resembles spaghetti noodles. So clearly, you can use them as you would spaghetti noodles, like with a tomato sauce. To prepare the spaghetti squash, slice it in half and put the cut side up in a microwave. Microwave around 5-10 minutes until it is tender. Scrape the flesh out with a fork and surprise! You now have a pasta alternative. Great for people that have to eat gluten-free diets.

I hope you start to explore squash and root veggies as the seasons start to change. It is certainly still 90 degrees here in FL, but I'm sure some of you are starting to see the colder temps.

hi-ho

Well it was back to work today...at least for a few weeks. I successfully drug myself out of bed at 0630 this morning for my workout. I went to the gym and begrudgingly made it through 3 miles on the treadmill and then walked to 40 minutes. The AC is out at the gym and it is absolutely sweltering. After the run, I put together a leg workout as seen below:

3 sets of 15 leg press with 80 lbs
3 sets of 12 hamstring curls on stability ball
3 sets of 12 hip lifts
3 sets of 15 hip adduction with 60lbs
3 sets of 12 leg extensions with 60 lbs
3 sets of 10 hip abductions on stability ball

Then I had a delicious lunch at work:

Amy's to the Rescue

Yummy Amy's Bowl...I really recommend these as a microwave meal alternative. Cannot be beat!

Peaches...so delicious!


It was nice to be back at work. Since all of our stuff is gone, my days were filled with no-socialization and sun-tanning, work outs, and recipe project stuff. Its always nice to get a little socialization and mental stimulation in during the day. After work, some delicious dinner:
Sandwich rounds with peach preserves and AB; Kiwi!; and chickpea salad

Watermelon...almost gone.

The last of the Bonterra Cab...a travesty at best.


Mood was brightened today and I'm looking forward to a longer run tomorrow on the treadmill here in the AC. Probably work in some pushups to workout the upper body, although it is still pretty sore today. We will see how that pans out.

sulking

Today has been one of those days. One of those depressing days. I will spare you the details for now, and instead discuss my meals. I just didn't feel like working out, so that went out the window as well. I did find a delicious flavor combination that I now love! Unfortunately there are no pictures, because I just wasn't in the mood. Lucky you though, because tomorrow will be pictures from work-lunch!

Lunch was late because of appointments, but it was still delicious: whole wheat sandwich rounds with natural applesauce and AB, chickpea salad, my last two cucumbers :(, carrots and hummus. For dessert, I enjoyed a granola bar and some watermelon. It was really good and it really hit the spot since it was so late. I spent the afternoon lounging and generally being a sad-sack and worked on my recipes. I enjoyed some delicious watermelon as a pre-dinner and then experienced my new flavor combo. I have always enjoyed fruit in salads because I love the sweet/savory flavors together. As I was throwing my spinach salad together, I decided to dice half a peach and throw it in. AMAZING! It was spinach, 2 tbsp hummus, green olives, some chickpea salad, and peaches. Wonderful. I was wary that the hummus and green olives would be too overpowering for the fruit but it was great!

I think the sky will be brighter tomorrow as I slowly get out of my funk. Plus I get to hang with the awesome people at work! The plan is to run in the morning and throw together a leg workout depending on time.

productivity

I was very productive today! So now I am starting to slow down and get computer work done. I got a late start this morning because I got a wake-up call from J and we talked for a really long time. It was worth getting a late start.

So I went to the gym this morning and it was cross-training day. I spent 40 minutes on the in-line skating simulator and then had an awesome upper body workout. That simulator is really neat. I've always wanted to in-line skate because it is a great workout, but lets just say that I couldn't even really get a handle on the old-school late 80's, early 90's skating at the skating rinks. Anyway, the upper body workout was:

3 sets of 12 tricep pull-downs and push downs at 20 lbs
3 sets of 12 horizontal chest press at 30 lbs
3 sets of 12 concentration curls with 10 lbs
3 sets of 12 bent-over rows with 10 lbs
3 sets of 12 military press with 5 lbs
3 sets of 25 stability ball crunches
3 sets of 15 lower back extensions
push-ups to failure...
yoga plank flow

Then I laid out by the pool for about 1.5 hours. It was nice to just relax and feel the warmth of the sun.

I immediately made lunch once I got back to the house:

I mixed the last bit of my chickpea salad with some spinach and olives to make a little salad; cucumbers and carrots with hummus on the side.

Ran errands all afternoon: food store, frame shop, and cell phone store.

I found these at the market today! They are muscadines. You can find muscadine wine and jam and it is delicious. Muscadines are sort of like grapes, but bigger, have a thicker skin and are sweeter. They all have seeds as well but I love them.

This was dinner: more chickpea salad that I picked up at the food store, carrots and cucumbers with...

hummus...

and watermelon. This watermelon was so delicious! I was suspicious, since the season is wanning, but it was really sweet. Also, the Florida's Natural Grove House opens next month which harkens in the beginning of the citrus season! I love it when the groves are full of oranges. It makes the rotten orange smell in the spring worth it.
I am in for the night and will be completing another Rosetta Stone lesson and hopefully enjoying a granola bar before hitting the bed. Tomorrow I have two doctors appointments and then work starts on Wednesday! Whew. Its getting busy around here.

monsters

Finally, I deliver on a promise :). I did make a green monster for dinner tonight. I have been craving one because I had not had one in a while. So without further ado:


This one was made with 1 tbsp almond butter, a bunch of organic spinach, about 1/4 cup almond milk, and one scoop Amazing Grass Chocolate. I'm still full. That will hold me through a workout in the morning until breakfast. Some thoughts about this one...it was not as sweet as monsters in the past have been. Probably because I do enjoy a little chocolate soy milk every now and then. Don't get me wrong, I didn't have to choke this one down. It was good even if it wasn't as sweet. Plus it probably was better to not have all of the sugar. I also didn't have any soy yogurt to add that sweetness as well. The jury is still out as to whether I like it better, but I think I might.

I completed another lesson of Rosetta Stone and it was funny because I know I am learning it. As I was watching the PBS series, "Jewish Americans," I could understand some of the language! As a side-note, that was an excellent series. Just as good as my other favorite American Experience series "Eyes on the Prize" which is the history of African Americans in the US. Both excellent!

Workout in the morning and then who knows what the day will bring...

rain

RIP my Vietri Pitcher - this will be the last comment, because I am over it now.


Its been raining off and on since yesterday. In a way it is nice because I have a lot of inside stuff that needs to be done. I had good intentions to post last night, but frankly I got lazy and didn't want to upload my photos ;).

Lunch yesterday:

Kiwi, carrots, hummus, Vitamin water, half a peach, and cucumbers.


I also decided to try some of the chickpea salad I bought at the store. It was soooo delicious. The flavor was perfect and I think that I can replicate it. We shall see.
Dinner was Amy's Pizza (yes!), part of a peach and some vino:




I spiced the pizza up a little with ground flax seed and green olives ;).

Now we are caught up to today:

AB and peach preserves on Ezekiel bread, chickpea salad, cucumbers, and corn in the wax paper. Here is the secret to cooking corn without water. Wrap it in wax paper and microwave it for a few minutes. I heated this one ear for 2 minutes and it was perfect.

My mom gave these to me and they are delicious.

For those of you that are curious, this is the Ezekiel bread. You can find it in the freezer section with other breads. It is super yummy.
----------------------------------
Now onto the exercise. Yesterday I ran three miles interspersed with two miles of walking at an incline. I was entranced by "16 and pregnant" on MTV, which is a channel I usually will not watch. I almost fell off the treadmill a couple times because of what these kids were saying, but I digress. After the cardio, I needed to get in a lower body workout:

20 squats, 20 lunges each leg, 20 plie squats = 1 set (3 sets of these)
3 sets of 15 hip adductor at 60 lbs
3 sets of 15 deadlifts with 20 lbs

Today I decided to do a quick 3 mile run. Afterwards, I just did some abs and called it an afternoon. I will do my best to post dinner. I am planning on having a green monster, so get ready!

gone

All of our stuff is either on the way to Europe, in storage, or here to be carried on the plane. It is really strange. Also, one of the movers broke my Vietri pitcher today. Ugh. I'm glad that they still make them and I will probably purchase one and then just get a check from them when I file the claim. Its been an emotional week and I'm glad it is over with.

So to workout some of my frustrations over the broken pitcher (did I mention that it is hand-glazed terra cotta and holds 12 cups of liquid!), I decided to do my long run today instead of tomorrow. Good thing too because all 5 miles flew by. It also was nice that I could watch Ina Garten on TV because I hate running over 4 miles on the treadmill. Unfortunately, I concur with Jenna that it is way too hot to run outside here in FL. After the long run, I just did a few ab exercises and called it a day.

Pre-lunch, I had a granola bar to hold me over because I cannot run with a lot of stuff in my belly.


For my post-run lunch, I had half a peach, a kiwi, carrots with hummus, corn, and two cucumbers. Yummy. That was about 330pm so it will be a while before dinner.


I've been working on setting up a Blackberry that I inherited. I am resistant to a few devices. Cell phones are one of them, because I really hate to be that accessible. I don't want to be able to read my email at every waking moment. But there is the possibility that this phone will work in Europe and we won't have to purchase a new one.

I will begin the Rosetta Stone language program tonight and plan on dedicating at least an hour each day to learning the new language.

Tomorrow morning brings another run and a group exercise class. I will be back at work for a few weeks starting Wednesday, which is nice, because I am starting to get depressed and stir-crazy around here with nothing productive to do.