Thanksgiving Weekend Magic :-D

I am thankful. Are you thankful?

I don't think we stop to THINK about all our blessings often enough. I know I am as much a culprit in this accusation as anyone. But you know what? I am SO.BLESSED.

This Thanksgiving weekend was phenomenal. I spent it with my wonderful family and two of my very dearest friends who came up from my alma mater. It was a few days just so relaxed and full of love, joy, and happiness...I can't even describe it. To have people who care about me so deeply and truly is a rare thing, I know - and I cannot thank God enough for it! It was so wonderful to be so comfortable in that love, and just live life and LOVE it! We have health, jobs, food, a roof over our heads, amazing family and friends....I really could NOT ask for more and I have no business ever worrying about anything! God is so good to me.

I also had lots of time to COOK! So, be excited - I have tonssss of recipes to update you on! And I took picturesss!!! So here goes!

The day before Thanksgiving, after my friends got in, we had a Sisters Dinner - my 2 friends are sisters, and my 2 sisters were the only ones home. So, I decided to make chicken. I adapted it from a recipe I found online, but it really ended up being my own concoction I changed it so much, and it turned out DELISH!!!

Orange Lemon Agave Chicken:

• 4 organic chicken breasts
• agave nectar (I ended up using probably about 1/4-1/3 cup)
• olive oil (enough to keep chicken moist...don't really know exactly how much I used ;-)
• 1 tbsp. salt
• dash cumin
• dash chile powder
• 1 lemon
• 1 candy orange (or just a small orange)
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1 cup fresh cranberries
  

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
   
2. Remove chicken from packaging, rinse, and place in glass pan, skin side up
3. Drizzle olive oil and agave over breasts
4. Mince garlic and put on chicken
5. Sprinkle with cumin, chile powder, and salt; rub toppings around and into chicken
6. Wash lemon and orange and cut into slices; squeeze juice over chicken, then arrange the slices all over the chicken
7. Sprinkle chopped green onions on top
8. Add cranberries so everything is sitting right on top of the chicken
9. Cook for about 30 mins, and check to see if it's cooked all the way through

The next day for Thanksgiving, I made even MORE deliciousness.
First, I made the cranberry bars from Elana's Pantry, which were amazing again! They were definitely a big hit, and I saved some of the filling as cranberry sauce so I didn't have to use the sugary canned stuff- it was delish!

I also made the Pear Pomegranate Salad with Orange Vinaigrette from The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen (another one of my faves!). I would recommend making the dressing at least the day before - it's much much after it's been sitting a while!



Dressing:
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated orange peel
pinch cinnamon
(I added more orange juice and some agave too, as I found the original dressing a bit too bitter and vinegary for my taste - this helped a lot)

Salad:
8 cups mixed organic greens
1 ripe, firm pear, cored and sliced thin
1 cup pecans, toasted*
1 cup pomegranate seeds (arils)

To make the dressing, place all ingredients into a glass jar (old almond butter jars work well), and shake well.

Toss all salad ingredients together in a large bowl. Pour dressing over and toss again. Serve immediately.

*To toast the pecans: We like to use the small Native pecans - place them in a glass baking dish and toast in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10 minutes. This brings out their yummy nutty flavor and increases the crunchiness. Watch them carefully, you don't want them to brown too much or burn, just be lightly

My sister made an edible chocolate peanut butter pie that was INCREDIBLE too. I don't know exactly how she made it, but I do know she made the crust out of crushed Corn Flakes and melted Earth Balance, and pressed it into the pie pan. The filling was chocolate tofu, coconut milk, and peanut butter. OH SO GOOD!!

The next day, I made a Butternut Squash Tart from Simply Sugar and Gluten Free as an edible alternative to the sugar-ridden pumpkin pie my brother had made, and let me say, it turned out AMAZING!!! Everyone REALLY loved it!

Butternut Squash Tart *slightly revised*
serves 8 – 12

Crust (my own concoction because I didn't want to make the flaky gluten free crust she called for):

• 1.5 cups raw pecans
• 7 pitted dates
• pulse these in vitamix or food processor until COARSELY ground
• add 1/3 cup melted Earth Balance and 1/4 tsp salt
• mix well
• press into bottom of tart pan and up sides to create crust
  

1 (3 pound) butternut squash
1/3 cup agave
3 tablespoons mascarpone cheese at room temperature
3 eggs
1 teaspoon good quality cinnamon

Place a rack in the middle of your oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Peel butternut squash, remove seeds, and chop into one inch cubes. Place in a large sauce pan, fill half way full with water, cover and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until squash is fork tender. Drain squash in a colander set in the sink. Let squash cool slightly.

Place squash in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process squash until it’s a smooth puree. Add agave, mascarpone, eggs, and cinnamon. Process until smooth. You’ll have about 5 ½ cups of puree.

Transfer the butternut squash puree mixture into the tart pan. Fill as full as possible without having it overflow. Place in the oven on the sheet pan and bake for 22 minutes. Rotate the tart 180 degrees and bake for another 23 minutes or until the squash filling is set. You can tell by wiggling the sheet pan slightly – if the middle doesn’t wiggle it’s done.

Let cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

As you can see, my Thanksgiving was FULL of wonderful food, family, and friends, and I couldn't be happier :-D It was even BETTER that I was able to make all these delicious, healthy alternative to normal foods. And you know what? Even our guests LOVED the stuff I made - they said it tasted completely normal, or often even better than normal, sugary, processed stuff! Just goes to show ya - you don't need to eat death to eat delicious :-)

God bless everyone, and remember to be thankful ALWAYS - it will keep your priorities straight and your outlook on life positive.

Having been properly chastised...

Sooooo, I know. I haven't posted in a long time. Again. I was down visiting my friends at college again this weekend, and my dear friend was kind enough to bring this to my attention (not that I didn't already know... ;-) But anyway, since he has reprimanded me, I thought I better get crackin!

The only problem is...I haven't been eating anything normal or interesting. For some reason, a lot of my health problems are coming back. I get sick almost every time I eat again now, which hasn't happened for years. And it shouldn't be happening, given everything I have been doing and continue to do to keep it under control. It is very frustrating, and I would appreciate prayers if you can spare some :-) I'd like to get this figured out and fixed, if possible.

Sooo instead of posting stuff about food, I'm going to share my latest discovery. Well, not really latest, haha, but it's a great one!

So I am pretty much an all-natural health hippie, if you hadn't noticed. I hate using ANYTHING with chemicals in it - it freaks me out. And I've always had bad skin, and I've tried just about everything out there to make it better, and nothing ever really worked. I actually went on antibiotics for about 2 years before I knew the horrors of antibiotics, and that helped my skin a lot - unfortunately, that's what originally DESTROYED my stomach. Sooo I'm not doin that again.

Anyway, I'm always looking for products that are ACTUALLY all natural. Not the ones that SAY "All Natural" and then actually contain DMDM Hydantoin (a preservative that releases formaldehyde into the product. Um, I'm sorry, but last time I checked I wasn't trying to transform myself into that cat cadaver I dissected in Anatomy and Physiology...)

I couldn't find any good face washes that didn't irritate the heck out of my skin or have chemicals in them, so I decided, "Hey, why not try making my own?" Ahhh, the wonderful world of Google :-D Seriously, you can find out how to do ANYTHING on the internet. I did some searches, found what ingredients were common among a lot of the recipes, and whipped up a batch. And you know what? Nothing I've ever used has made my skin so SOFT, non-oily, and clear. Now, I'm not going to claim a miracle. I have bad skin anyway, and this didn't cure it, but it helped SO much more than other things I've tried! And it's not full of JUNK THAT WILL KILL YOU!!! And it's so cheap and easy!! AMAZING!

Seriously, people rely on chemical trash WAY TOO MUCH. I am absolutely convinced God gave us everything we need in nature. That doesn't mean I'm not thankful for modern technology and scientific discoveries - I am - but people rely on them way too much and over-use them. Nature is beautiful, and safe, and it WORKS.

So I will now share with you my miracle recipe for, as my family calls it when they see me walking around with it on, "Breakfast Face Wash" :-D

Breakfast Face Wash

• Take some whole grain oats (organic is great if you've got it!) and put them in a coffee grinder (this is great for absorbing oil and exfoliating)
• Throw in a few coffee beans (to help constrict pores and improve circulation)
• Grind well
• Pour in some honey and whole organic milk until mixture is a good consistency - you should be able to rub it on your face without it just running off. Let it sit for a while and it will get thicker as the oatmeal absorbs the moisture, and you may have to add some more milk. The fat in the milk, and the honey, are both great for moisturizing your face.

Rub on your face and leave on for a few minutes - usually about 10 - then rinse off with warm water, then splash your face with cold water, and VOILA! Your face will feel smooth as a baby's butt. Although I've always wondered why you would want your face to feel like the back end of a tiny human....but that's another story for another day.

Anyway, I hope this has been enlightening and that it works for you. I love it! I just mix up a small batch and keep it in the jar in the fridge (you can't make a lot b/c it will rot).

Oh, and my lovely roomie told me about another face mask she loves, which I haven't tried yet, but it's supposed to tighten pores and help get rid of red spots leftover from old acne. Apparently you just take egg whites and add a bit of lemon juice and let it sit on your face for a while. I'm going to try that soon too!

Well, I must go now, my lovely readers...if you exist...live long and prosper.

....and do yourself a favor and stop using regular cosmetics. I will put up another post soon about exactly why...but to give you a small taste of how horrific cosmetics are (since there is actually no regulation whatsoever as to their ingredients), let me just tell you a lot of them contain ingredients such as....wait for it.....ANIMAL POOP.

On that lovely note, sweet dreams! ;-D

Migraines are the devil.

SoooOOOooooOOOo....I got really behind on posting because I was struck down by a migraine when I was trying to get caught up in the first place. So then, the next day, I had that weird "migraine hangover" feeling when I woke up. After I get a migraine, I always just feel like it happened because my body is horribly toxic for some reason (even though I don't really eat toxic food...ever...well sometimes I cheat I guess, but it shouldn't effect me THAT much!!) ANYWAY...I woke up and just wanted to GET THE JUNK OUT OF MY BODY. Sooo...I made a smoothie.

***WARNING: THIS SMOOTHIE IS NOT FOR WEAK, PANSY, WANNABE-HEALTH FREAKS - HARDCORE HIPPIES ONLY!***

• Smoothie: 1 frozen banana, 1/2 cup crushed pineapple, a ton of flax seeds, some ice cubes, and Garden of Life Perfect Food - this is a Greens powder, and supposedly the BEST you can buy. But I tell you what...you can SURE tell it's good for you!!! This is definitely not a smoothie you make to enjoy....but MAN did I feel good drinkin' it! :-D

I have also been making smoothies with organic cabbage in it - another good antioxidant organ cleanser to add in.

Today for breakfast, I made The Spunky Coconut's Grain Free Pumpkin Pancakes - and they were great!! :-D Very Fall-y, which I LOVE! They were very light and fluffy, but almost like...whipped egg-fluffy. I don't really know how to explain it. They weren't bread-y. But they tasted deeeeeelicious! Now just the age-old problem of finding a pan that actually doesn't destroy pancakes when you try to flip them, doesn't burn them, but also won't KILL you if you cook on it. Hmph.

Anyway......I think that was about the only interesting thing I really ate this weekend. Busy, busy, busy! Still trying to find money for nutrition school and a place to live in Cali..............any offers??? ;-)

Baking Time!

***SORRY This is so late! I started typing it last week and was smote by a migraine in the middle of it, so I went blind and was not able to finish it....but here it is finally!!***

SO. I baked a lot this weekend/week! There were several recipes I wanted to try, and they all came out really well! As far as the regular food I ate...um...haha I got kinda behind on my posts! I'll just try to tell you the interesting things I ate, to give you good ideas maybe.

Breakfasts:

• smoothie - organic cabbage, frozen mixed berries, 1/2 banana, flax seeds, ice cubes, water
• smoothie - 1/2 cup organic plain yogurt, crushed pineapple, banana, flax seeds, almond milk
• banana pancakes made from leftover waffle batter from the weekend

Lunches:

• sprouted grain wrap with roasted chicken, cucumbers, spinach, Garlic Goddesss dressing, and a kiwi
• leftover taco salad
• Cuban pork, black bean, rice, and plantain wrap (this was WAY too carby)

Dinners:

• chicken, onion, pepper fajita
• mini portabello mushrooms sauteed in Earth balance and garlic salt, with shredded chicken, and a cob salad with homemade yogurt dressing - a bit of plain, fat free organic yogurt and a squirt of key lemon juice
• ground beef in red sauce over random organic greens and sauteed mushrooms, and santa claus squash boiled, with a bit of honey and cinnamon drizzled on top

Ok, NOW for the exciting part.... I already posted about my carrot cake I made (I'm adding pics to that post too now, if you want to check them out.)

BUT I also found a recipe for cranberry bars on Elana's site. Have you ever worked with fresh cranberries before? I mean, I'd always seen those Ocean Spray commercials with the guys standing in the cranberry "pools" or whatever the freak they are...what are those?? How do cranberries actually GROW? Hmm I'm gonna have to look into that...

ANYWAY - I'd seen those commercials, and thought how cool it would be to be walking around in a pool of cranberries. I mean..AWESOME! So when I made these cranberry bars they use fresh cranberries, and let me tell you...the are SO MAGICAL to work with!! I mean, I was washing them, and they're all floating in the big silver bowl, and they're shiny and such a beautiful color, and so winter-y...AGH it just made me so happy!!! And then when I was COOKING them - good night!!! They smell AMAZING, they're so COOL, and they just start popping and sizzling...haha I LOVED it! :-D They're just so happy!

So yes, I made these, and they turned out AMAZING! Just the right amount of tart and sweet...I'm DEFINITELY making these for Thanksgiving! And the best part, as always? - I CAN EAT THEM WITHOUT REGRETS!!!! Man....it's the small things in life ;-)

Gluten Free Cranberry Bars

1 cup raw pecans
5 dates, pitted
1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
6 cups fresh cranberries, picked over (discard bad ones)
1 cup agave nectar
1 tablespoon orange zest

1. Place pecans and dates in a food processor and pulse until coarsely ground

2. Pulse in oil and salt until mixture begins to form a ball

3. Press crust into an 8x8 inch greased baking dish

4. Bake at 350° for 8-12 minutes until lightly browned

5. To make cranberry topping, place 4 cups cranberries, agave and orange zest in a pot on the stove

6. Bring mixture to a boil, then cover and reduce to a simmer 10-15 minutes, until cranberries start to dissolve

7. Add remaining 2 cups cranberries and cook covered for 5 more minutes

8. Remove mixture from heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes

9. Pour mixture over pecan crust

1. 
   

10. Allow bars to set for 60-90 minutes

11. Serve

1. 

Fall Festivals and Birthdays

So here's my post for the whole weekend - I tried quite a few new recipes that turned out really well!
Saturday, I went to a Fall Festival for our housing area, and it was SO NICE because the weather was perfect! And my little sister won a Chik-fil-A gift basket 30 seconds after we got there...haha it was awesome :-)

I woke up Saturday morning and decided to make a breakfast burrito. So, I sauteed up some onions and yellow peppers, a bit of potato, and mixed it with 1 scrambled egg and 1 organic sausage, and wrapped it up in a sprouted grain wrap with a bit of shredded cheese. It was sooo good! I love breakfast food!

For lunch, it wasn't very healthy...they had hamburgers, which I ate without a bun, and some chicken nuggets from Chick-fil-A, plus some pickles...mmmyeah.

We had a really late dinner because we went to 5:30 Mass and then people were out...we didn't eat till about 9 pm, as we were watching the football game. Anyway, we decided to have breakfast for dinner too - a true American tradition! We had the same egg thing I had for breakfast, minus the wrap, and my sister and I tried The Spunky Coconut's grain free waffles, while everyone else ate regular white flour death waffles. Mine turned out really good, they were very tasty with a bit of Polaner's Black Cherry 100% fruit jam on them, but they weren't really like waffles at all - they were very soft and floppy, not crispy at all. We actually used leftover batter this morning to try them as pancakes, and I liked them better that way (of course that had nothing to do with the fact I threw a few chocolate chips in them.. ;-)

I keep trying to cook on non-death pans though, because I know Teflon will definitely kill you, but all these non-nonstick pans are so hard to cook on! The first batch of pancakes were completely obliterated. Then I tried putting a TON of coconut oil on the pan (I had just used Earth Balance at first), and it worked a lot better, luckily. Still though...does anybody know of better pans that won't kill you??

Let's see...today was my youngest sister's birthday...I was pretty sure she was 7 the last time I checked, but apparently she's 15. How does this happen, when clearly I haven't gotten any older??

Breakfast:

• 5 lil pancakes, made from leftover waffle batter

Lunch:

• Taco salad - organic romaine lettuce, black olives, canned corn, cherry tomatos, shredded Mexican cheese, dressing made of salsa and sour cream (not the best health-wise, admittedly), crumbled Fritos, chunked Mexican flavored organic chicken

Dinner:

• Garlic roasted chicken
• sweet potato casserole (mashed sweet potatoes, agave, honey, eggs, cinnamon, with a toasted pecan topping, baked...I'll get the actual recipe lol)
• fresh corn on the cob
• Grain free carrot cake with cream cheese frosting - This turned out really well too! I would make some changes though...it tasted more like carrot muffins, so I might put more sweetener in next time. Also, it pretty much EXPLODED when I tried to take it out of the cake pan, so I'd suggest parchment paper in the bottom. Really good though, very moist! I'll post pics later too :-)
  

Flourless Chocolate Banana Cake

Tonight, I stayed home with my youngest sister to just hang out and watch a movie (not that me, in all of my lameness, normally actually go OUT on Friday night...). BUT, we decided to watch a movie, and shared the sentiment that we wanted to gorge ourselves on food that was bad for us. Deciding that wasn't EXACTLY a good idea, I decided to check out Elana's recipes for some legal junk food (aka, CHOCOLATE). I found this recipe for Flourless Chocolate Banana Cake, and it came out LOVELY. Light and fluffy, chocolatey - really hit the spot! My aunt is visiting, and has recently gone gluten-free as well, and she loved it too :-) It was a quick and easy recipe, and all the ingredients were readily available in the house, so it was great.

Flourless Chocolate Banana Cake (Gluten Free)
3 large eggs, separated
¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
½ cup agave nectar
¼ cup grapeseed oil
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 bananas)
½ cup cocoa powder

1. In a vita-mix, whip egg yolks, agave and salt on medium for 1-2 minutes
2. Add grapeseed oil and mashed banana and blend for another minute or two
3. Blend in cocoa powder
4. In a bowl, whip egg whites to stiff peaks
5. Gently fold contents of vita-mix into bowl with egg whites
6. Grease a 9-inch springform pan and pour batter into pan
7. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes

Breakfast:

• 2 pumpkin almond flour pancakes
• smoothie - frozen cherries, 1 apple, handful spinach, flax seeds, ice cubes, water

Lunch:

• 1 can Campbell's Southwestern Vegetable soup (I've gotten really lazy about making my food lately...I just don't have the motivation, energy, or memory to actually pack a lunch the night before. Soo...basically, I wake up, realize I have no lunch, and throw a can of soup and a bowl in my car. EPICFAIL.

Snack:

• apple with sunflower seed butter

Dinner:

• 1 basa filet pan-fried in Annie's pomegranate dressing and Ken's Asian Sesame dressing mixed
• spinach salad with walnuts, pear, raspberries, and dressing of fig vinaigrette
• 1/2 cup rice pasta
• Chocolate banana cake!

Snack:

• 1 fried organic egg

I hate money.

So...today I began to delve deeper into the financial aspect of nutrition school. The Natural Chef training costs about $10,000. There are no scholarships offered, no sort of financial aid - just 1 payment plan, in which you have to pay them $2000 a month. Even the admissions woman I spoke with today admitted that is "pretty much impossible." I've been looking for scholarships for over a year, and haven't found/gotten anything. My high from being accepted has now turned in to a horrible depression over the fact I might not even get to GO if I don't find about $4,000, and QUICK.

Apparently, the only way I could get school paid for is if I were unemployed. The government could pay for it ALL. I figured it out with my dad, and I would get way more money by NOT WORKING than by working my butt off like I have been. This concept is sooo BIZARRE to me...that it might be more fruitful for me to be unemployed. WHAT THE HECK.

So I'm checking out my options...but uh...if anyone has a few extra thousand dollars they wanna throw my way, go for it! ;-)

Breakfast:

• 2 pumpkin pancakes - approx 2 cups almond/flax flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 cup-ish canned pumpkin, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, 1 tbsp agave nectar, and water added until proper pancake-y consistency
• 2 Applegate Farms breakfast sausage links

Lunch:

• leftover chili from a few nights ago
• big spinach salad with grapes, dried figs, cashews, and cranberry balsamic vinaigrette
• some Jimmy Johns "skinny" potato chips (yeah, not the best...at all....haha I caved)

Snack:

• 2 Kashi granola bars

Dinner:

• 1 organic chicken mild Italian sausage link, sauteed peppers and eggplant, 1/4 cup couscous
• 1 healthy peanut butter cup, made by my lil sister - in a little muffin tin, put some finely shredded coconut, then organic peanut butter with a bit of agave mixed in, then some of that chocolate soy pudding, and put in freezer - delicious!!!
  

Every day I hear more and more positive feedback about the field of work I'm planning on going into. It is SO reassuring!!! Today, I had an offer to financially back a healthy restaurant if I wanted to move back to my hometown and start one. !!! Can you believe that?! So freakin sweet! I have so many options and possibilities..I really can't wait to see what ends up happening! I had thought of opening a restaurant, but I know statistically 8 in 10 restaurants fail, so...yeah not sure about that one. We'll see!
I'm also excited because my friend who I work with is getting SUPER in to all-natural health. She has been looking up these studies and facts and texting me with things such as "OMG, my shampoo is full of CRAP that is KILLING me!!!" And I just smile and nod knowingly, because though it's old news to me, it is shocking to newbies to the natural movement ;-)

SoHOOO anyway, here's the menu from today:
Breakfast:

• protein smoothie - huge handful fresh spinach, handful almonds, 1/2 banana, 1/2 apple, almond milk, 1/2 cup plain organic yogurt, ice cubes
• 1 slice cinnamon raisin Ezekiel bread

Lunch:

• breakfast burrito - 2 organic scrambled eggs with red and orange peppers, spinach, in a sprouted grain wrap
• 1 apple

Snack:

• leftover carrot salad from last night

Dinner:

• Mediterranean beef soup - made from leftover steak from last night, with homemade beef broth, random organic greens, eggplant, carrots, and some spices...I think cumin and tarragon perhaps?? I could have just made that up...helpful I know, right? ;-)

Snack:

• almond crackers and 1 Organic Valley cheesestick

That's all, folks! Now to go pass out...

Chocolate tofu...mmMMMmm!

I am still SO EXCITED about nutrition school :-D AND today I booked a ticket for $230 ROUNDTRIP all the way to California! So I can go visit before I actually up and move out there...I was trying to be tough and trusting and say, "Oh, I don't need to spend the money, I'll just trust God and move out there!" And then, after consulting with those close to me, I realized how unbelievably stressed out I would be come moving time, and that that would destroy my health beyond reason, soo....it's not worth saving the money. Plus God threw that amazingly low fare in my path, so I did it. It will be really good - I'm excited :-)

Breakfast:

• protein smoothie with chocolate tofu (I normally avoid soy, but this looked AMAZING), 1 banana, almond milk, 1 tbsp peanut butter, ice cubes
• 1 slice cinnamon raisin Ezekiel bread toasted

Lunch:

• leftover chili from last night

Snack:

• organic apple with sunbutter

Dinner:

• Pan-fried organic steak and onions, carrot salad, corn on the cob - SOOO good!

Snack:

• small bowl oatmeal flakes cereal with almond milk
  

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I couldn't think of a better title for this post. Because GUESS WHAT.

I JUST GOT MY ACCEPTANCE LETTER FOR NATURAL CHEF TRAINING IN THE SPRING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm officially GOING!!!!! All the way out to California!!!

Oooooh, dear sweet goodness! I will have SO many amazing recipe ideas and magical goodness once I'm there......... :-D :-D :-D I can.not.WAIT.

Oh yes. YES!!!! Oooh man...now I just have to find somewhere to live, a job, some way to PAY for it..haha...ha.....ummm....God will provide. *tries to suppress freak-out session*

ANYWAY...My metabolism has kind of recovered from my college nostalgia weekend, so I'm back on track now. And heeeeeeere's what's on today's menu:

Breakfast:

• smoothie: big handful of spinach, 1 tbsp peanut butter (should have been almond butter, but I couldn't find it in my semi-conscious state in the morning), 5 fresh strawberries, flax seeds, ice cubes, almond milk. I've recently found that you actually can't TASTE spinach when it's in a smoothie! Especially if you put it in with an apple, flax seeds, and a squirt of lemon - GREAT power smoothie!!!

Lunch:

• Tropical Smoothie - asian chicken salad, smoothie with no sugar (can't remember the name of it..the one with orange, mango, banana...)

Dinner:

• Chili with great northern beans, soybeans, garbanzo beans, sauteed carrots and onions, organic vegetable broth, Spike, garlic, white pepper, mustard greens, ground organic turkey - YUMMM! With 1 slice Ezekiel Bread.

Ok...now to go frantically search for affordable housing in California...is that possible?

My body hates me.

Sorry I haven't posted in so long...I have been gone all weekend visiting my friends who are still at college. I had already forgotten how NUTS the schedule of a college student is...my body is so incredibly WHACKED OUT right now it's not even funny. I haven't slept or eaten normally since Thursday night........my metabolism is in major rebel phase right now.

Hopefully I will be back to normal by the end of the week, and then I'll start posting again...because my eating schedule this whole weekend has been anything BUT exemplary ;-)

Breakthrough!

Today was possibly one of THE most exciting days of my life. Ok, all things considered, not really, BUT, I was realllllly excited this morning! I decided to whip up a batch of almond flour pancakes, sans recipe. I ground up some almonds and flax seed, added some cinnamon, ground cloves, nutmeg, 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1/4 tsp salt, 2 eggs, a squirt of agave nectar, and a couple tbsp of water, and about 2 tbsp coconut oil. I stirred 'em up, put them in the pan with coconut oil, and....could it really be? No, surely....but yes! THEY CAME OUT WAY BETTER THAN THE ONES I MADE FROM A RECIPE!!!! They actually stayed together and were light and fluffy, yet substantial. I take this as a very exciting sign that my innate cooking skills are coming to fruition! YAY!!!
On another note, I guess I'm starting one of my phases where I'm ravenously hungry for a few weeks straight, so I ate a LOT today. Haha don't judge. ;-)

Breakfast:

• 2 almond flour pancakes
• smoothie with 1 small plum, 1 banana, flax seeds, ice cubes, apple juice

Snack:

• 1 large organic carrot on the way to work (yes, I was already hungry by then)

First Lunch:

• more leftover chili
• half of a container of leftover salad from last night

Second Lunch (I feel like a hobbit or something...):

• One Fresh Stir Fry - quinoa, chicken, broccoli, carrots, water chestnuts, cashews, citrus sauce - yummmmmmmmmmy!

Dinner:

• The rest of my salad from lunch
• rest of stir fry
• another large almond flour pancake
• pear
  

Paranoia strikes again

So today I thought my friend/co-worker had been kidnapped and/or murdered. She didn't come to work for 2 days or answer any calls or texts, and her mother hadn't heard from her either, so it was kind of a legitimate freak-out fest I had. I literally got to the point today where I envisioned her mother calling me, sobbing as she stood in a pool of her daughter's blood. Or the police showing up at work to question me about the last time I saw her. And the Facebook status I would have to make asking for prayers because my friend had just been officially named a Missing Person.

My imagination is kind of over active sometimes. Turns out, she just has a sleeping problem and kinda slept for 2 days......at least she's still alive ;-)

That was pretty exciting though! Doesn't happen everyday!

I had to add that story because I ATE nothing exciting today, and you have to have SOME excitement to read about, right??

Breakfast:

• 1/2 cup organic oatmeal with unsweetened dried cranberries and walnuts
• a mug of magically delicious Gingerbread tea because it was sooo cold out!

Lunch:

• leftover chili from last night

Snack:

• 2 Kashi granola bars

Dinner:

• hamhocks and greens; mixed greens salad with spiced walnuts, mandarin oranges, bleu cheese; acorn squash with Earth Balance and honey

Wax paper ≠ Parchment paper

Ugggh, I have been SO BAD about posting lately! But life has been crazy. Well, not that it isn't usually....but it's been GOOD crazy, in that I've spent a lot of time having a LIFE and SOCIALIZING with people!! Aren't you proud?! Instead of just working 24/7. T'was good :-)

Anyway, the title of this entry (profound, I know) is in reference to a recipe I tried today. A newly-discovered gluten-free friend of mine (the gluten-free is newly discovered, not the friend) was in town this weekend, and was lamenting over the fact that it seems there's nothing she can eat. BOY, DO I KNOW THE FEELING. "But there is hope!" sayeth I. Namely, ALMOND FLOUR. This seriously has been THE GREATEST THING SINCE SLICED BREAD. Not that I can eat sliced bread anyway...but you get the picture.

SO, I was going to see her one last time tonight before she left town, and I decided to make her a new almond flour chocolate chip cookie recipe I found. Well, we whipped them up, but we don't have coconut sugar, so we used agave nectar, which made the dough too runny. On top of that, genius me used WAX PAPER instead of PARCHMENT paper on the cookie sheets. So the timer rings, I open the oven, and out pours a huge cloud of smoke, followed by runny cookies covered in melted wax. EPIC FAIL. Unfortunately I didn't have time to remake them, so friend went without amazing gluten free cookies :-( I shall give her the recipe, though. My sister made more after I left, and they turned out pretty good - careful though, because almond flour recipes burn SO QUICKLY. Ours were a bit toasty, and...non-dense for my taste. They were vegan, so had no eggs (I think they might have been better with them).
Anyway...the recipe is saved on the other computer, so I'll have to add the link later. It wasn't the best recipe anyway...but definitely very decent. And would probably work better if you actually FOLLOWED the recipe, instead of always being a rebel like me ;-)

Sooo the moral of the story: wax paper does not fare well in the oven.

Breakfast:

• 2 organic eggs, 1 slice almond rice bread with pepper jelly

Lunch:

• nitrate/preservative-free roast beef, spinach, tomatoes, organic mustard, canola oil mayo on a rice wrap
• passion fruit coconut water

Snack:

• organic granny smith apple with sunbutter

Dinner:

• vegetable-y chili: carrots, celery, onions, ground turkey, chili beans, kidney beans, mustard greens, garlic, Spike, chili powder, crushed tomatoes - SO GOOD - an original of my mommy's, to cater to my vegetable-dense dietary needs :-)
• stewed cinnamon apples

Then I went out with friends for a birthday, and I had a slice of cheesecake, minus the crust........which was a really bad choice. Not as bad as it COULD have been, but.......ooooh is my tummy rebelling now. Hmm. Perhaps a fiber smoothie is in order.

Cupcakes for breakfast :-D

That's right. I did it. I ATE A CUPCAKE FOR BREAKFAST. Because you know what? You can DO those things when you make good-for-you treats!!! :-D

Breakfast:

• smoothie with 1 apple, 1/2 cup yogurt, flax seeds, handful almonds
• 1 deliciously magical cupcake made last night :-D

Lunch:

• spinach salad with organic chicken salad w/grapes on top, with organic Green Garlic dressing on top
• grapes
• another cupcake

Dinner:

• stew with organic greens, sauerkraut, organic turkey sausage, and potatoes
  
• cucumbers
• yet another cupcake (don't you dare judge me)
  

Cupcakes and Sprinkles = MAGIC

OK. So I have been craving chocolate cake like NONE other. Then, the other day, I found this recipe for a grain free, easy to make, CHEAP cake, and decided I HAD to try it. My sister and I made it, and ended up making cupcakes, because who doesn't love cupcakes??? They're just so HAPPY! And I can't remember the last time I had eaten one...so I was very excited. And yes, the recipe freaked me out because the main ingredient is great white northern BEANS. I was like, "Ok...that sounds SICK." But when the cupcakes came out of the oven, they actually LOOKED and FELT like cupcakes!!! I would never have known they were not made out of white death flour! AMAZING. I would, however, next time put a bit more sweetener in them, actually. I changed the recipe a bit, so I'll post below how I made it. I made it chocolate instead of pumpkin spice. I really recommend these! :-D

Add to food processor:

2 cups cooked white beans (Great Northern), room temperature, so they don't cook the eggs

5 eggs

1/2 tsp chocolate raspberry liquid stevia

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup honey

Puree well.

Add:

1/4 cup coconut oil, liquified

1/3 cup almond flour

1/4 tsp sea salt

1.5 tsp baking soda

1.5 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Puree well.

Pour into greased and floured cupcake tins

Bake at 325 degrees for about 35 minutes. (I like to check to see if it's done by inserting a knife into the middle. If it's comes out mostly clean, it's done.)

For cupcakes: Fill 3/4 full, and bake for about 20 minutes.

Frosting:

Puree:

2 cups walnuts, almonds, and cashews

2 tsp cinnamon
dash nutmeg
dash ground cloves

2 tbsp honey

1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp almond milk
1/2 cup coconut
1 tsp vanilla extract




THEN...the most MAGICAL part of all....I MADE SPRINKLES. Organic shredded coconut, with a drop of food coloring :-D

Frost the cupcakes, sprinkle on the "sprinkles", and VOILA! You have an amazing, delicious, ridiculously happy cupcake that is completely guilt-free and edible to ME! Ahhh it's the little things in life... ;-D
(p.s. Does it bother anyone else when people spell "voila" as "wa-la" or something of the sort? IF YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THE WORD IS, DON'T FREAKING TRY TO USE IT.)

My sister, enjoying the magic of healthy cupcakes :-D

"Will you make dinner tonight?"

"Why of COURSE I will, Mother Dear!"

Clearly, that's exactly what I said to her.

....

Or something like that at least ;-)

ANYWAY, yes, tonight I helped out by making dinner. We had most of a roasted organic chicken left and a bunch of random veggies that needed to be used up, so I decided to use this recipe for spiced chicken and rice stew from another site I love, Whole Life Nutrition. I did change the recipe a bit, though. For the veggies, I used carrots, parsnips, turnips, and some random leafy greens we got from the organic co-op we are part of. I also added a can of garbanzo beans, and I used spaghetti sauce because we didn't have any tomato paste. I also didn't put in any rice, because I can't really eat grains.

It turned out SO WELL though!! The stew had a delicious middle-eastern flavor to it, and was very hearty and immune-boosting as well - GREAT for this horrendous flu season.

In addition, I made a salad with:

• organic romaine lettuce
• shredded apple
• diced dried dates
• raisins
• sliced almonds
• dressing made of sesame oil, a dash of balsamic vinegar, a bit of pomegranate juice, and some salt and pepper

Yum yum! I highly recommend it.

In other news,

Breakfast:

• 2 organic eggs with a bit of shredded organic cheddar cheese and some diced tomatoes, scrambled
• 1/2 cup oatmeal with coconut oil, raw milk, flax seeds

Lunch:

• homemade chicken salad made with organic chicken leftover from last night, a little scoop of canola mayonnaise, sage, salt, pepper, rosemary, and some apple chunks. Served on cucumber slices

Snack:

• protein smoothie - 1/2 cup frozen strawberries, 1/2 frozen banana, flax seeds, handful of almonds, 1 tbsp almond butter, almond milk

Now I have to go pass out...I was out till 2 am because I finally got to go to my first real live college football game! Woohoo!!! And of course, we sat in the student section, so we were standing for like...6 hours straight or so. TIRED. But happy :-D

Have a great Monday!

News Brings Lingering Nausea

Sooo, in the car this morning on the way to Mass/work, I heard that Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. At first I thought, "Surely this is one of those morning shows making fun of the fact he's done NOTHING since he got into office." I quickly realized this was false - somehow, some way, the committee got it in to their ridiculous brains that this WAS actually a good idea. And legitimate. That Obama should receive this once-prestigious award for his "intention" to bring peace, hope, solve world hunger, cure cancer, and turn the world into a magical land where everyone eats rainbows and poops butterflies.

But I digress.

Anyway, upon hearing this horrendous news, I nearly projectile vomited all over my car. This nausea didn't leave me all day, so...I ate weird stuff. Haha that was the point of the story.

Breakfast:

• smoothie with almonds, flax seeds, banana, ice cubes
• 1 slice sprouted grain cinnamon raisin bread with fig jam

Lunch:

• salad with leftover oriental beef/cabbage/random organic greens stir fry on top

Snack:

• hard-boiled egg
• 1/2 banana with almond butter

Dinner:

• almond flour pancakes with stewed apple cinnamon topping

Ok, these turned out surprisingly well too. I used a recipe from the ever-amazing Elana's Pantry. I did alter it a bit tho - I used about 1/2 a cup flax meal I ground, and only 1 cup almond flour. After I mixed it all though it was really watery, so I ended up adding a bit more flax/almond flour, just till it was a bit thicker. I also added cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger, to make them kind of spiced flapjacks. I fried them in coconut oil instead of grapeseed oil. Also...she says to let them fry on one side until bubbles appear in them and pop, then flip them. Well, I did that, and they were completely black. The next batch, I didn't wait as long, but then they kind of exploded a bit in the pan when I flipped them. Sooo..I don't quite have the cooking time/method figured out. BUT, even the ones that looked burnt tasted just fine, and...hey, they'll get smushed up in your stomach anyway, right? ;-) Then put some stewed cinnamon apples on top, and YUM! Protein-filled pancakes that are hearty and delicious, and grain-free!

Ohhhh Heaven :-)

I just realized I never wrote what I had for dinner on the last post, haha, and it was really GOOD. My mom made kind of a vegetable-filled chili - beans, corn, fresh okra, and beef. SO GOOD.

Sorry I didn't post yesterday...crazy day. I actually don't really remember what I ate....leftover chili for lunch tho, and a spinach salad with walnuts, dried figs and dates, and olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette. YUM.

Today....

Breakfast:

• 1/2 cup organic oatmeal cooked in raw milk (SO GOOD!) with 2 tbsp coconut oil and flax seeds
• smoothie with 1/2 apple, flax seeds, ice cubes, a squirt of lemon juice, and some cinnamon

Lunch:

• Siesta Key salad at Red Elephant - sliced ham, apples, pineapples, cinnamon walnuts on top with balsamic vinaigrette dressing

Snack:

• pumpkin pie muffin

Dinner:

• "Spaghetti and meatballs" - spaghetti squash with homemade turkey meatballs, spaghetti sauce, and grated raw goat cheese on top
• broiled fresh cauliflower and broccoli - tossed in olive oil, lemon juice, garlic salt, pepper, Italian spice blend - LOOOOVE!

And now, for your edification....read and be appalled. AND STOP ASSUMING THE USDA GIVES A DANG ABOUT WHAT YOU'RE EATING.

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/10/05/beef-industry-gets-a-closer-look-as-story-of-paralyzed-woman-hit/?icid=main|main|dl3|link3|http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/10/05/beef-industry-gets-a-closer-look-as-story-of-paralyzed-woman-hit/

Rosemary

Rosemary is just such a SPLENDID spice, don't you think? It's so fresh and crisp tasting, and there is just nothing like the smell of it when you walk past a bush of it and catch a good whiff. MmmMm! I like to use it in a lot of things, por ejemplo, the chicken salad I made for lunch today!

Breakfast:

• smoothie with 1 apple, handful almonds, flax seeds, 1/2 c organic yogurt, ice cubes
• 1 deliciously magical pumpkin pie almond flour muffin made last night *HEAVENNNN!*

Lunch:

• chicken salad:

1. 1 can organic chicken
2. some diced apple
3. some chopped walnuts
4. a dash of rosemary
5. spritz of lemon juice
6. drizzle of olive oil
7. squirt of balsamic vinegar
8. salt and pepper

• sliced cucumber from the garden, to eat with chicken salad instead of using crackers
• 1/2 apple

Snack(s) yeah I guess I was hungry today...

• banana and homemade almond butter
• bowl of peanut butter Puffins in raw milk (which is aaaamazing!)
• another delish pumpkin muffin

So today was a pretty good food day. It's so bad....when I was gone all summer, I was SO GOOD about my diet. I really almost never ate a single bite of anything I wasn't supposed to. Now, I'm back home, there's TONS of blacklisted food in the house, and often not much or ANY food I am allowed, and my mom makes stuff that's kinda borderline....and just like sin, I start out small - "Oh, it's ok if I eat this wrap, it's only a LITTLE bit of gluten...and I can eat ONE dark chocolate once in a while.." - next thing you know, I'm eating entire loaves of French bread in one sitting and dunking an entire bag of oreos in a huge pitcher of milk. Suicide by gluten and sugar intake.

....ok, so maybe it's not quite THAT bad ;-) But you catch my drift. So I'm trying to be better again, very strict and ACTUALLY not eating anything I'm not supposed to. Mums is making a huge health food store run tomorrow, which should increase my chances of success greatly :-D And I'm actually working out every day, even if it's only for a little while, which will also help my blood sugar calm the heck down. *crosses fingers*

Anyway...I gotta go read about how to become rich so I can afford my highly organic lifestyle when I'm on my own ;-) Peace out!

Jimmy Johns, I love you

I love subs. They make my heart sing and just satisfy my hunger in a way nothing else does. However, I'm not actually allowed to eat them anymore, so I haven't had one in a long time. Jimmy Johns, however, is freakin AWESOME. Because they have a little thing called an "Unwich." If you've never had one, all they do is make their subs but wrap it in lettuce instead of putting it on bread. Perfectly legal for me! And SO UNBELIEVABLY YUMMY!!! Why don't more sandwich places do this?? It just made my whole day better - sitting outside on the porch in the PERFECT weather, eating the closest thing to a sub I'm gonna get.......yeah, life is good :-D

Breakfast:

• Smoothie with 1/2 c frozen berries, 1/2 banana, 2 tbsp vanilla rice protein powder, handful of almonds, 1/4 c flax seeds, almond milk
• 1 slice sprouted grain cinnamon raisin bread with sunbutter on top (like peanut butter, made out of sunflower seeds - actually VERY good!!)

Lunch:

• Jimmy John's Beach Club Unwich *Angels singing melodiously*

Snack:

• apple with sunbutter

Dinner:

• Organic beef and veggie stir fry, and some leftover super chip dip with corn chips
• 1 slice cantaloupe
  

I hold sunlight and swallow fireflies...

....well, not literally. The song just came to mind, and it's like the most magical phrase EVER...I mean, can you imagine HOLDING sunlight and SWALLOWING fireflies??? Wow. WOW.

Maybe it's just me.

Aaaanyway...

To catch up with food! Let's see....

In the past couple days, I've had a deeeelicious salad with leftover curry chicken on top and sliced grapes, dates, figs, and a cranberry balsamic dressing I made. We also had chicken enchiladas, which were delish. I made more of those amazing protein bars I posted in the beginning.

Today, here's what I had:

Breakfast:

• protein bar in almond milk with 1/2 peach on top

Lunch

• salad with 2 hard boiled eggs on top, black beans, black olives, cherry tomatoes, and a bit of spicy ranch dressing. Yes, ranch dressing is horrible for you, but I was in a hurry and didn't have time to make something, so I just threw on a dash for a bit o'flava flav.

Snack:

• homemade protein bar
• Kashi granola bar with peanut butter on it

Dinner:

• wrap with melted cheese, preservative free turkey, lettuce, tomatoes, black beans

AND in other exciting news...IT'S FALL-Y OUTSIDE so I get to go on long bike rides and skates and frolics.........healthy food, healthy weather, healthy amounts of activity...life is good :-D

Brief synopsis

The past few days have been, in a word, NUTS, so I haven't been able to post daily. SO I'll just tell you the exciting things I ate:

• Indian-inspired chicken marinated and grilled in a yogurt curry sauce with mango mint chutney, curry vegetables, and grilled naan - AH-freakin-MAZING.
• Salad with leftover curry chicken and homemade balsamic vinaigrette dressing
• Scrambled eggs with sauteed red peppers and tomatoes
  
• Protein/fiber smoothie with almond butter, almonds, 1 banana, 1 slice pineapple, 1 tbsp coconut oil, flax seeds
• Salad with spring greens, mandarin oranges, strawberries, grapes, pear, dried cranberries, grilled shrimp, toasted walnuts, and a gorgonzola dressing - OMG SO GOOD!!

Yeahh that's pretty much the exciting stuffs. Does anyone have any requests of stuff they want to learn about, types of recipes they want ideas for...? Anything?

Mmmmm Thai food! :-)

Ya know, if you do NEED to eat out, Thai and Vietnamese restaurants are usually a pretty safe bet. I just ask for Vietnamese food with more veggies and less rice, and I'm good to go!

Breakfast:

• 2 organic eggs, 1/2 a peach

Lunch:

• Chicken pad thai with my daddy :-)

Snack:

• A bunch of red grapes and raw pumpkin seeds

Dinner:

• 1 serving Pot roast (about the size of your palm)
• 1/2 a baked potato, green bean/tomato/cucumber salad
• 1 slice cantaloupe
  

Don't try this at home

Today was one of the worst days meal-wise I have had in a long time. It was the first time in...gosh...as long as I can remember...that I actually REFUSED to eat something it was so bad. Normally I'll choke it down no matter what as long as I know it's good for me. They were these unidentified organic greens, cooked in balsamic vinegar, beef broth, garlic, and onions, and I swear it was burdock or something poisonous. EW. Anyway, here's the day.

Breakfast:

• 1 smoothie with 1/2 cup sunflower seeds, 2 tbsp rice protein powder, 1/2 frozen banana, 1/2 cup frozen berries, water

Lunch:

• I forgot to pack a lunch last night, and had like 30 seconds this morning, so this consisted of 1 cold turkey burger and some cut up cucumbers, peppers, and tomatoes. Luckily, I called my dad and he mentioned he was meeting my sister for lunch, so I was invited along and got a chicken burrito out of the deal ;-) Not the healthiest thing, but not too horrible either.

Dinner:

• This is where the terror occurred:
• Pork in homemade barbecue sauce
• burdock/hemlock/poison ivy stew
• Because the veggies were so bad, I made some delicious green beans instead:
• *Sautee fresh garlic in olive oil briefly; add in green beans, rosemary, some lemon juice, salt, pepper, and walnuts, almonds, or cashews. All 3 are good, but I like the walnuts best. Sautee up until green beans are tender, but I like 'em still kickin a bit ;-)
• 1/2 cup Coconut milk mint chocolate chip icecream with flax seeds on top
  

Snack:

• 1 organic apple with peanut butter

Aaaand our house is pretty much outta food right now...so tomorrow probably won't be very inspiring either lol. Sorry! With 5 jobs now, I've been having trouble finding the time to figure out exciting food to eat. It's kinda just survival instinct at this point.

Monday

Breakfast:

• 1/2 c frozen berries, almond milk, handful of almonds, flax seeds smoothied it up
• 1 home made protein breakfast bar
• 1/2 peach in almond milk
  

Lunch:

• Salad made of some bizarre organic green I can't remember the name of...w/cucumers, radishes, and some turkey chunks on top (we had "Thanksgiving dinner" the night before for my bro's b-day)

Dinner:

• A wannabe-vietnamese dish: shredded lettuce with rice, beans, tomatoes, peppers, a couple bits of steak, broccoli, and 2 fried eggs on top. Actually pretty good!
• some crispy red grapes - mmmmmmmmmm my favorite :-)

Bed-time snack:

• A banana with chunky peanut butter and raisins on it (none of which I should have eaten - WAY too carby/sugary, too fatty/fungus-y, and non-organic raisins are just chock-full of pesticides. But I was starving and exhausted when I got back from ballroom/swingdancing at 11 pm)
  

Un-Lameification

Hear ye, hear ye. There have been accusations of this being a lame blog. I will not mention any names *mary* but I resent such comments. In an effort to un-lameify my blog, I am now posting this entry.
I haven't written in here in a while because, honestly, I feel that my meals HAVE been extremely lame the past 2 weeks, and completely uninspired. And then that would just force you (if there ARE any "you"s out there who actually read this...) to to read about the half an apple and awkward jello smoothie that I drank. I've just been traveling a lot which doesn't afford time or creativity for good meals. BUT tomorrow begins a new week, so I promise to make a better effort to eat exciting healthy things again and post them for you.

But I don't want to keep posting stuff if no one reads it either. Because I have better things I could be doing with my time (like working my 5 jobs...or sleeping).

Anyway.........here is my attempt at un-lameification:
Hot Pockets

Have a nice life, everyone.

ADD to the Max

So. I get these ideas where I'll be all gung-ho for about, oh...a few days. Maybe a few weeks, even. For instance, keeping a journal while studying in Europe. I had every intention of writing in it every day. It lasted for 2 days. When I was little, I did ballet for about a month, then got bored of it b/c I was only 4 and they wouldn't let us do stuff I thought was cool enough. Same w/gymnastics - I didn't want to be on the stupid balance beam on the floor - I wanted to be doing backflips from the high bar!!! And Brownies too, same story...yeah, I'm basically too ADD to ever finish anything.

Which brings me to the fact that I definitely haven't been posting in here every day like I wanted. Partly b/c life has been crazy, and I haven't been really eating ANYTHING inspiring or good at all, so it's just embarrassing to even TELL you what it's been. Really, it's mostly been random meals of like...an apple and almond butter and some yogurt. Dumb. And this weekend won't be any better, b/c I'll be traveling.
BUT...since I'm traveling, I spent all evening baking delicious magical goodies to bring with me on my trip!

First, I made more of those AAAAMAZING breakfast bars I posted before - except this time they were a little dry, so I added some pineapple juice to them, and used dried unsulfured apricot for the fruit. YUMMM! And on Elana's site, I found another recipe for almond flour/flax meal muffins. And LET me tell you ....first, I am AMAZED at how well they turned out! The actually rose, and don't fall apart, and FEEL like real muffins!!! Mine were sadly kinda tasteless tho, but we can easily fix that. I would recommend probably using coconut oil instead of olive oil, maybe putting more dates in it to make it sweeter, or adding some agave nectar. Or make cinnamon apple muffins, I think that'd be good too.
http://www.elanaspantry.com/bran-muffins/
And tomorrow morning...I'm makin WAFFLES!

...ok, no I'm not. I just had to say that. Really, I'm making this Greena Colada, and I'm sooo excited :-D


Ummm ok. Just wanted to post SOMETHING. But I'm going to bed now.

*P.S. for Erin M., I am tagging entries that remind me especially of you and are full of magical things you would love, with "Roomie Love." Read, cook, enjoy, and relish in the gluten-free goodness!! <3 <3 <3

Today, class...

Sooo the past 2 days have been so utterly crazy and un-inspired foodwise, I'm really not even going to waste your time by writing what I ate. Because it will not help you at all.

Instead, I shall write of the importance of whole food supplements! YAYY!!! And of supplementation in general.

SO. Our soil has been ridiculously depleted by the over-working of fields, the pesticides and herbicides sprayed on them, etc. They lack most of the vitamins and minerals that used to be found in soil. Thus, when we plant food in this soil, it then grows into nutritionally-deficient crops. Because of this, it is impossible to get all the vitamins and minerals we REALLY need solely from what we eat. Can't be done. Add on to that the fact that all the environmental toxins we come into contact with have greatly decreased our bodies' ability to absorb nutrients, and you have a big problem on your hands.

Due to a lack of nutrients, many people find themselves lacking energy, getting sick often, feeling like death in general, etc. Luckily, though, there are some pretty easy things you can do to start feeling better! The first is to EAT BETTER if you eat junk right now. On top of that, though, here are the 3 major supplements you'll want to add to get you feeling tip-top!

1. Whole food multivitamin/mineral - Good brands are Rainbow Light, Standard Process, Jarrow, Biotics. Whole food vitamins, as opposed to synthesized vitamins such as Centrum or something, are VITAL. Whole food vitamins, believe it or not, are made from real food, but concentrated so you get all the goodness in capsule size. Synthesized forms of vitamins are actually stereoisomers, which means they are the mirror image of the actual vitamin found in food. And guess what, kids? OUR BODIES CAN'T USE THEM. You will pee 'em right out. AND they are also made of petroleum too, which is just disgusting. Who wants to eat petroleum?? Whole food vitamins are the wayyy to go.
   
2. Vitamin D - Recent research has been showing that this is incredibly important in helping to prevent all sorts of diseases, especially cancer (had a HUGE impact on breast cancer statistics). Amazingly, most of the population is hugely deficient in this vitamin, greatly because we're taught to fear the sun, so we don't produce as much as we should. Even if you do get sun though, you're likely deficient. 1000mg a day will do wonders - I like the liquid or emulsified Biotics Bio-D Mulsion 1000 because your body can absorb it more easily than solid form - 1 drop a day!
3. Fish oil - hugely important for cardiovascular health, immune health, and BRAIN FUNCTION, for all you students! Omega 3's are where it's at! You can also get these from flax oil. If you get fish oil, make sure it is a good mercury-free brand, not some cheapo Walmart brand. Nordic Naturals is excellent, as is Standard Process, Jarrow, Nutribiotics. And you might want to buy ones with lemon oil in them, and take them before you go to bed, else you'll be burpin' up fish taste allll day long, and let me tell you...that is not a pleasant experience.

Those are the BIG 3. I would also HUGELY recommend a good Probiotic tho - it will SERIOUSLY get rid of almost any stomach ailment you have, plus boost your immune system amazingly. If you still lack energy, Klamath Blue Green Algae worked WONDERS for me! I took a couple in the morning, and then if I needed an extra boost I'd take 1 or 2 more in the afternoon. FAN-freakin-TASTIC.

Ok so that was my little lesson for today...though writing all this made me want sooo badly to go into detail about every subject...but THAT, my dears, will have to wait till another time. Cause I got me an FSU vs. Miami game to watch!

TTFN,
Karen

Saturday, Saturday

Today was kinda weird...I go through these phases where I'm constantly starving for about a month, then never hungry for about a month...well today must have started one of the "never hungry" phases. And I was out shopping w/my mums all afternoon, so lunchtime got kinda whacked out.

Breakfast:
This was magical :-)

• 1 homemade gluten-free rice waffle topped with peach slices and a handful of blueberries
• 1 homemade organic turkey sausage patty

Lunch/Snack:

• 2 slices hormone/nitrate/nitrite-free bacon, tabouli, tomato and cucumber slices
• 1 homemade protein bar

Dinner:

• Grilled organic orange garlic vinaigrette chicken
• Grilled zucchini, yellow squash, and red peppers

Snack/Dessert:

• 1 bowl mint chocolate chip coconut milk icecream with half a banana - can I just say how much I LOVE this stuff?? It is completely dairy AND sugar free - it uses coconut milk and agave nectar, and it's creamy and delicious AND won't kill me!! :-D Things like this excite me so much....
  

Slight Epic Fail

Soooo today my grandma paid for us to go to Red Lobster for dinner. One thought of the magical fluffy goodness of those cheese biscuits they have, and I KNEW today would not be a day when the diet was strictly followed ;-) But the rest of the day was good, so here ya go:

Breakfast:

• 2 organic eggs cooked with Earth Balance (dairy-free, non-death butter substitute that actually tastes like butter!)
• smoothie with 1/2 cup frozen berries, almond milk, 2 tbsp rice protein powder, flax seeds
• 1/2 nectarine

Lunch:

• Spinach salad with cucumbers, handful of blueberries, some walnuts, and a bit of feta cheese crumbled on top. I made a dressing of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and a splash of agave nectar (to make a sweet-ish dressing like raspberry vinaigrette, without all the sugar)
• 1 homemade protein breakfast bar

Dinner:

• Maui Luau pineapple grilled salmon and shrimp with steamed broccoli - DE-LISH. I highly recommend this!
• And yes...I admit...I ate one of the fluffy dream-wonder cheese biscuits. And I savored every moment :-D

Aaand there you have it! Not too exciting today. All day I have been thinking of all this amazing important stuff I want to write about and inform people of here, but tonight, I am too tired. We went to the Downtown Get-Down and a coffee place and stuff and now I just wanna crash. But be on the lookout - b/c I'm EXCITED about these posts!!!

~Karen

My Brilliant New Idea...

So today I was sitting at work enjoying my AH-mazing home made lunch and thinking how great it was to eat my own delicious healthy food. And then I started remembering how often people would ask me for tips on how they could eat healthier, and *eureka!* an idea came to mind! "I shall start a food diary/blog and post it," sayeth I. That way, I can keep better track of MY diet (which at this point in my life is extremely restricted and specific), people can read it and take tips if they want, and if I'm posting it for the world to see, I will be less likely to cheat on what I eat lol.

So every day (in theory), I will post what I eat. Mind you, I eat no gluten, sugar, little to no dairy, mostly organic...you get the picture. If you want to make any of the recipes I use, you can alter them and use wheat flour, dairy, etc. if you can tolerate them. The main point of my diet is this:

• TONS of servings of veggies a day, mostly fresh
• 3 servings of concentrated protein (eggs, fish, meat, etc) preferably organic
• 2 servings of fresh fruit a day (if you have blood sugar problems) - i.e. 1 apple and 1 orange
• Good fats, such as avocado, nuts, seeds, olive oil, coconut oil
• Very low carb - I can only have 1 serving of whole grains a day, which = 1/2 cup rice, quinoa, etc, or 1 slice of sprouted grain bread/rice tortilla. If you DO eat gluten and grains, NEVER EVER EVER NEVEREVER EVERRR eat white flour, processed snacks/crackers/cereals, etc. EVER!!!!!! It will kill you.
• Drink tons of water
• Eat small meals every few hours to keep blood sugar stable

Obviously, if you're at school on the meal plan you can't eat exactly what I do. BUT it is definitely possible to basically follow the rules so you DON'T feel like death and get fat and then complain how bad the food is when it's largely your own dang fault ;-)

Ok that's all I can think of for now...so here goes my food diary for today!

Breakfast:

• 2 organic eggs
• Smoothie made with 1/2 frozen mixed berries, a few tablespoons flax seeds, handful of almonds, some almond milk, and a squirt of agave nectar (if you've never tried this, you MUST. It is an all-natural sugar substitute with no gross aftertaste, AND it doesn't affect your blood sugar!! LOVE <3>

Lunch:

My lunch today was SOOOO lovely - a Mediterranean delight :-)

• 1/2 cup plain, lowfat, organic yogurt with half a nectarine slice into it and a handful of walnuts and sunflower seeds
• Spinach leaves and carrot sticks with homemade hummus* and tabouli on top (I either leave out the bulgur wheat or substitute quinoa for it in the recipe)
• A couple organic dried mission figs and dates

*Hummus recipe:

• 1 can garbanzo beans (add the liquid if the hummus is too dry)
• 1 tbsp olive oil (to taste also)
• 1 tbsp. tahini
• 1 clove-ish of garlic (basically just add to taste)
• some lemon juice
• salt and pepper to taste
• sprinkle some paprika
• maybe a nice roasted red pepper...mmmmm delish!
• Throw it all in the blender or food processor and whip it up!

Snack:

• 1 AMAZING grain-free protein breakfast bar I made. I found the recipe at Elena's Pantry, which is a great site full of healthy yummy recipes. I kinda winged it with the recipe tho - instead of what she lists, I used sunflower seeds, flax seeds, slivered almonds, coconut, and bits of figs and dates. I also used coconut oil instead of grapeseed oil. I'd recommend using less than 1/4 cup of agave nectar tho - they are wayyy too sweet. Oh, and I ground my OWN almond flour! I threw some almonds, flax seeds, and cashews into the blender and VOILA! You have just what you need and you didn't have to pay like $20 for a bag of almond flour! These bars are SO YUMMY and chock-full of protein, and have NOTHING bad in them! :-D Ahhhh I love stuff like this...

Dinner:

This is always more lax than my other 2 meals, b/c I get home from work and my mom has made dinner. She tries to keep my dietary restrictions in mind, and on the whole does a great job, but sometimes allowances are made because I don't want to be rude and refuse dinner after she's worked so hard to make something she thinks I can eat. SO tonight I believe the menu is...

• Curry pork with apples, onions, cabbage
• Basmati rice
• Corn on the cob
• Roasted cauliflower

Snack:

I'll probably eat some veggies and hummus, or make a rice protein shake smoothie. :-)

And drink tons of water.

So this is what a basic healthy day of food looks like. Notice that nowhere did I mention McDonald's, Taco Bell, pizza, or chocolate. All the food is fresh, delicious, full of nutrients, and will actually HELP your body, rather than harm it.

So come follow me...if you dare ;-D