Something to chew on

I'm watching Sunday night football right now, while reading 'The Food Revolution' and came upon this passage that really struck me:

"If I have learned anything about our true power, it is this: It does not come from our opinions. Our true power comes from responding to and nurturing life.

 Our beauty does not come from dominating and conquering and winning. It comes from blessing and appreciating and loving. Our glory does not come from being right or being in charge. Our glory comes from being who we really are.

This life we lead may be hard, may be downright agonizing at times, but it's not about finding fault. It's about finding a way of life that honors your living spirit. It's not about blame. It's about coming to a deeper understanding of who you are, and of the love and power that lie within you. It's not about pointing fingers. It's about pointing the way, whenever possible, to a thriving, healthy, and compassionate life."

Brussel Spouts!

Today wasn't the hottest day. I had many, many frustrations throughout and was very happy to be OUT of the office, but the funk I felt still persisted. So, against better judgement, I skipped they gym and headed to the grocery store, picked up some essentials to cook up a feast. (And... on the way home a nice big bottle of Cab!) I had lots of veggies in my fridge that was about to go bad so, it was time to cook it up.

The Menu:
Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms
Roasted Brussel Sprouts
Sauteed Collard Greens

Okay, so I know you're thinking, 'brussel sprouts?! EWE!'. NO, these were fabulously delicious. It was the first time I'd ever had brussel sprouts and they were oh so yummy. All it took was some olive oil, salt and papper, maple syrup and 45 mins of baking... too good to be true. Mark, Cate, and Katie: I'll make them for you and you'll be completely suprised. I promise. You will thank me! Well, maybe not, but you'll be surprised for sure. :)

I forgot my camera at the office, but here is what the receipes looked like... minus the staging ;) All very healthy, very vegan! -pictures and recipies taken and cooked from http://www.chefchloe.com/

On a side, but very important note. Please join us in prayer for Mary B. to get better very soon. Katie and Mark: I'm sending you my love and prayers from Memphis.

Flatbread with Roasted Apple, Butternut Squash, and Caramelized Onion

So, I was Ms. Betty Crocker last night, but a little (a lot) less successful. I set out to make a Flatbread with Roasted Apple, Butternut Squash, and Caramelized Onion per a receipie I found on Chef Chloe's Blog. Making a flat bread from scratch shouldn't be too hard right?! WRONG! Two attempts and an hour later, my flat bread still didn't rise. :( So, I decided I would try to roll it out anyway (last ditch effort)... and NO.. it split in TWO. Crap.

So, off to Kroger, mid recipie, to give in and buy a pre-made pizza dough. No big deal, I'll just be 'Semi-homemade w/ Sandra Lee'. She's cool too!

Next came the food processor and this awesome white bean spread that was just TOO good! I ended up munching on it with celery sticks while I was waiting for my crap bread to rise. Then came the piling on: white bean spread first, then sliced apples, then caramelized onions and the finishing touch: butternut squash from Becnel's produce stand! Into the oven it went:

25 mins later.. and VOILA! My very own vegan homemade.. okay... SEMI-homemade pizza! Who would miss cheese when you can have all of that good stuff piled on? I certainly didn't! Let me tell you, the combination of white bean sauce, baked apple and caramelized onions was a dream to taste. Everyone will like this pizza, I assure you of that! :)

The finished product! :)

Anyone have suggestions on how to make a flatbread from scratch? I need help on this one!

Vegan... let's do this

December 1st made 1 solid month of being a vegetarian! WHOO. The more I read (and I've been reading a lot), the more I am confident that a plant-based diet is essential for premium health as well for the overall health or our environment. I've become a Greenie! ;) (Though still don't believe in global warming... don't get me started on that one.) So, its a win-win situation. Best for me AND best for the environment.

With all this reading, it has become blazingly clear that in order for me to take full advantage of the plant-based diet I must also cut out ALL animal products, including dairy and eggs. Now, this one has been harder for me to stomach and implement into my life. I started consciously eliminating dairy (milk, cheese, etc) on Sunday, so I'm almost at a full week. It takes a great deal of adaptation as there are so many recipes that have cheese in it. It's in EVERYTHING. I especially had a hard time while eating out.

It was my birthday week this week so, I've done a lot of celebrating and thus a lot of eating out. Let me tell you: restaurants LOVE cheese. It's in almost every dish. 1st restaurant: I ordered guac instead of queso (easy trade) and a taco salad, no cheese, no sour cream w/ beans on top. Great choice, not so hard. 2nd restaurant: Veggie fajitas, no cheese, no sour cream. These veggie fajitas were YUMMY! Along with my 3 skinny margaritas and great company. I love my birthday. 3rd restaurant was lunch with my co-workers. There were few options without cheese, like maybe two and none were enticing. So finally I decided on a portabella sandwich. :) About half a sandwich in... I realize that I'm oozing mozzarella. CRAP. So, I fumbled. Then 4th restaurant, dinner that night at the FedEx Forum watching the Grizzlies, there were literally NO options for vegetarians and literally all dishes had cheese. So, I caved and had the spinach and artichoke dip for an appetizer and asparagus and greens beans for dinner. Personal foul. ;) Overall though, this week I only had one day of slip ups and one was purely accidental. Not so bad of a start.

My goal this week is to start cooking new things from a couple of cookbooks I snagged at the library. Wish me luck! :)

Thanksgiving

I LOVE Thanksgiving!

I love being able to take a special pause from  our 'go, go, go' lifestyle to think and reflect on how truly blessed we are and then express it to our loved ones through extra hugs, appreciative words, and FOOD!

This morning I woke to the smell of bay leaves and spices simmering on the stove. As the rule goes, if your in the kitchen- be ready to be put to work. This was no different even after only 4 hours of sleep. Immediately, I was given my list of meals to make: mashed potatoes and a peacan pie. Still in a little bit (okay a lot of bit) of a fog, I was peeling potatoes before 8am.

After peeling, cutting, and cooking, I enlisted Dad to mash the potatoes. I figure if he's the only reason we're making 5 lbs of potatoes then he can help too. :)  As I'm searching in every cabinet for the automatic blender, he's pulling out the hand-masher and mashing. Um. Okay. How about give me a couple of minutes and let the machine do it.. but no, he sat there and mashed away, by hand no less. I believe the comment was, "What you don't think I've ever done this by hand?" I guess he was feeling old Kentuck calling his name. After all, that's how they did it on the farm...  I suppose the days where he would gripe if there was a bump in the potatoes are gone.


The Peacan Pie I made! :)


So, this will be my first Thanksgiving as a Vegetarian. I can tell you as I woke up to the smell of turkey, I thought "hmm... that smells good". Driving here, there was no question that it would be a meat free dinner, which it still will be, but I can tell you.... the turkey smells good. It will be a lot of casseroles and side dishes for me, but it will be the company that will make this Thanksgiving, not food.

I am so thankful to be a part of my wonderful family. I was blessed to be raised in a family full of unconditional love. That unconditional love, the ability to make my own mistakes, little and big, learn from them and know that in the end know that my family would be on the other side helping me through, has made me... ME! I can not express into words how thankful I am for my family.

My cup runeth over.

So this Thanksgiving I will be thanking the Lord for getting me here, to this point in my life, happy, healthy and full of lots of smiles and love to give.


Mom's Beautiful Table



Blessed

I went to bed last night feeling completely blessed. I was overwhelmed by this great feeling of contentment. I really do live a blessed life full of great family, true friends and many daily blessings all around. It was a wonderful feeling and great way to end the day.

--

I've made a pact not to turn the TV on unless its to watch football. So far its been two weeks I believe. Instead I will cook with the radio on (you might catch a little jig or two in between.. and I don't mean jigger), then either sew in my sewing room or read until its time for bed. I think NOT having the TV on has allowed me to think a little more and definitely be more active in my own life. I've found great love in reading both fiction novels and my 'Green' books. I have to say a good book is much more entertaining than the reality junk on tv...

On another note, I made what I think is my favorite smoothie so far. Here's the recipie:

2 cups of spinach (packed)
1 cup of fresh pineapple
1 cup of mango
1 banana
1 cup of water

The mango really came through and the best part was that it was GREEN with a nice smoothy, creamy texture. Super yummy!

Oh good news too! Michelle's been making smoothies this past week! I brought over my blender this Saturday while in town and made some smoothies for her and Cate (I would've made some for Mark but he gave me the 'Kaya crinkle of the nose'--> so none for him!). She's been experimenting and having fun with it. So, Kate passed them on to me, I've passed them on to Michelle, not it's Michelle's turn to pay it forward! :) 

Last final note of the blog for today: Today makes my 2 year anniversary as a Business Analyst for the Target Account. This frees me up for a lot of new things! :)

Half Marathon

It's official! I'll be running the Mardi Gras Half Marathon again, but this time running the WHOLE way! I'm already up to a doable 5 mile run so now its all about slowly increasing my stamina. I have 13 weeks to do it and I can't wait.

I'd love to have everyone come cheer me on that day! Its on February 13th in the morning. There will be a free outdoor concert after to celebrate. Last year I believe Cowboy Mouth played along with other great bands.

Wish me luck! :)

Oh and if anyone else is up to the challenge its not too late!

Happy Dance

When I got back from Minneapolis last night, it was time for my happy dance in the kitchen in excitement for my blender FINALLY arrive. <insert Happy Dance here!> Geez, one would think that I lived in the Caymen Islands for how long it took to get to my house! ;)

Of couse, immediately, my greens were out (purchased from two Sundays ago but still hanging in there), then the berries, banana and orange juice and I was blending away. LOVE IT!

Mom had a glass and though I took her curiousity as skepticism at first, she was really actually liking them. I didn't catch on until she said, 'I could do these at home.' Oh.. wait. You like them?! I have a book you should read! ;)

First thing this morning, I made another batch and am half way through this morning! I'll be at Barnes and Nobles looking for 'The Green Smoothie Revolution' book tonight so that I can have some more recipies at my side!

Happy Vets day everyone!

Veggie Tales- Traveling on new Diet

On Monday I left Memphis for Minneapolis for a 2+ day business trip. I was curious on how I was going to adapt to eating 'out and about' vegetarian. I originally had put little thought into this, but as I found myself in the ATL airport with a 2+ hour layover and hungry I got a little nervous. Will I be able to find something substantial enough to hold me over?

I first begain at Au Bon Pain, mmm yummy bread. But huge line so I moved on. Sabrarro, yummy pasta... but also just pasta and red sauce, little nutrition. Pass. This is when I got nervous. Chinese? Yes, but no bc now I'm imagining all the salt making me a balloon. Fried chicken, no. Subway? No. Five restaurants later. I was still walking the terminal.

Chili's to Go! Okay, I'll go there. Then I was distracted by this little bakery that was tucked in a secluded area next to the book store. I was intrigued. They had about 10 sandwhich choices and maybe 3 pre-made salads. I was def going to find something there bc I could eat and still be able to think as it was nice and quiet. Okay. I found it, not thrilled initially, but I'll try a mozarella, tomato, basil pesto sandwich on ciabatta bread toasted. I would have never tried this before and BOY would I have missed out! It was so, so good. I might have to try this sandwhich at home! Crisis averted. :) Stomach filled. It just took some patience and faith that I COULD find something.

So, yesterday I had a portabella, avacodo sandwhich for lunch. Which was very hard to eat in company. I felt like I was a sloppy mess trying to eat this sandwhich with the avocado squeezing out one side, the portabella not cutting. So there I was with a sandwich pooping avocado and a portabella coming out whole via the other side sticking out of my mouth. Very professional, Jen! You get a A+. Note to self, only have this sandwich with the people who love you unconditionally.

Dinner was a little more sticky as we went to a seafood restaurant. Temptation forefront! It wasn't even a thought process, I was in a fancy seafood restaurant and I was having seafood. So, the Chilean Sea Bass it was with a glass of Cabernet. It was great. So, I've had my 'splurge' for the month. Thanksgiving will have to be seafood free. I need to let everyone know that they need to focus on 'real' meat like turkey and ONLY turkey. That way I won't feel tempted by shrimp and oysters, etc. Still working out my mentality on eatinng seafood and still being vegetarian. Am I being hypocritical or contradicting in my thinking or philosophy? I don't know. Thoughts?

Blender Update

So, my blender has yet to arrive. Though an LSU win over BAMA definitely had me temporarily forgetting that my blender was not on my front step (or was it the Jack?). Anywho, Monday was met with no blender and my getting on a plane for Minneapolis until late Wednesday. So, Bed, Bath and Beyond has T-minus 2 days to get my blender before they get a phone call!

BBB... shape up and send me my blender. :)

-On a side note, a had a cup of wheat grass powder yesterday to hold me over. (Thanks Anish for the save!) I squeezed my nose and chugged it like a good girl. I figured if I couldn't smell it then I couldn't taste the 16oz. It wasn't as bad as I made it out to be in my head, but also wasn't the most pleasant of drinks. Oh Green smoothies... I miss you!

Vegetarian- It's all in a name

So, I have major issues with telling people I'm vegetarian. I don't feel one with the term as it brings up negative connatations for me. To me it says, self-righeous, picky, hard to please, tree-hugger, etc. Now, I'm fully aware that these terms don't describe vegetarians. The above words are akin to stereotypes that are completely inaccurate. I get that, but I still hate saying 'I'm vegetarian' bc of the above. Will I ever be comfortable with telling people I'm vegetarian? Hopefully so.

For now, I've been telling people 'I no longer eat animal protein'. Which isn't entirely accurate bc I still have some (though much, much less) dairy in my life. I'm sure they look at me like, 'Um, okay, so you're vegetarian, right?'. But to me its better than 'I'm vegetarian'. I actually don't think I've spoken those words to anyone yet. It will be a work in progress to adapt to that term. Hopefully, soon, I will look at it as a badge of honor. As I do look at the benefits of the term. I LOVE being vegetarian, so its hypocritical for me to dislike the term. But I suppose us humans are full of hypocrocies that we must work through. This is definitely a HUGE one for me.

Any words of advice fellow vegetarians? Anyone somewhat struggle with the same thing?

Blender, blender where are you?

It's been officially one week since I've been meat free and I have to tell you, its been much easier than I ever would have imagined. I'm taken aback a little bit as to how effortless it has been. I am, in no way, (at this point) missing meat. Who would've thought?! A week ago a meal wasn't a meal unless there was a meat protein incorporated. No meat= a snack. Meat= meal. NOT ANY MOORRE! I love it.

On a side note though, I imagine going home to New Orleans I will have a very, very hard time passing seafood up. I'm thinking I might make a once a month rule or on a special occasion pass for seafood. New Orleans seafood is just too good and I love it. MMMmmm my mouth's watering now just thinking about its yumminess!

So, my blender was supposed to arrive today and well, it didn't. Humph. Hopefully tomorrow?! :) I can't wait to make my first green smoothie in my kitchen. It's like I'm 5 again and tomorrow's Christmas. I have definitely missed having my smoothies in the mornings this week. I did get a wheat grass shot from Smoothie King on Wednesday and it wasn't so bad. But at $2 a pop its not the most realistic option. So, everyone out there... cross your fingers for me that my blender arrives tomorrow along with a LSU win over BAMA. Yes, that would be the perfect Saturday!

Oh. AND a special shout out to Dave and Katie! Happy Anniversary!

Day 2

It's my official day two of being completely vegetarian. <Deep Breath>

I made my smoothie this morning first thing and it definantly didn't go as planned. My blender doesn't compare to Kate's and it showed in both the color AND taste of my smoothie. YUCK. The color was this green, brown, pink chunk of nastiness. I mustered through it. On my lunch break I rushed to Bed, Bath and Beyond and bought my very own commerical grade blender. That should solve my problem... but what to do until Friday when it gets here? Maybe I'll have to leave a bit early to venture to Smoothie King. I'm certainly not attempting another smoothie in my cheapie blender.

I've been craving a avocado-hummus sandwich for quite some time. So this was lunch. MMmmm.. if this is what no meat tastes like I'm so in! Maybe my next sandwich will be a portabella! LOVE!

 I got home ready to make my dinner to go...wait...what can I cook. I guess I need to look up some good vegetarian receipies. I need to find some that are more so veggie and less pasta heavy. I guess I know what I'm going to be 'googling' next! :)

I'm finding this whole adventure so very invigorating. Like I'm doing something incredible healthy and good for my body and my life. I can already feel a difference in the way my body's functioning. I have lost my food cravings all together, which says A LOT. Normally, I'm ravenously hungry when I get home but today I felt no hunger pain. Awesome.

Also, I've started a compost with my veggie scraps! I'm loving trying to be as green as possible and can't wait to see what's next on my list of changes!

Caymen 2010

Pictures from my trip to visit the Chavarri's!

A Fresh Perspective

I've always considered myself to be open minded to new ideas and perspectives. Though I never imagined that I would ever say what I'm about to write. I am going to become vegetarian! It started with a trip to visit my sister and her family in the Caymen Islands. One of the first conversations I had was with Kate over the kitchen counter about her wanting to become vegetarian and possibly one day vegan. I believe my response included a reference to becoming liberal, along with a scoth and rolling of the eyes. 

It's not like this was a statement that I hadn't heard before. Katie has always been the one person in our family who was going to 'Save the Planet' and protect the animals, ever the earth-enthusiast. While she was worried about eating meat because it was once an animal and in-humane, I was happily eating my chicken without abandon. Humans eat meat. It's only natural, right!? 

While I'm still not entirely convinced about Kate's perspective on not eating meat for the animal's sake. I am completely convinced on not eating animal protein for MY sake. Turns out, after reading 2 and half books this week, that there is much research to prove that eating animal protein leads to, if not promotes or encourages, many diseases, cancers and general ailment in the human body. 

The first book I read was "Green Smoothie Revolution" by Victoria Boutenko. (Buy Book Here) The beginning of the book gives the basic information as to why adapting green leaf smoothies into your diet greatly increases your overall health. She touches on the basic scientific evidence and scientific reasoning behind this statement. She had me thinking, hmm... she really does have very good points! My interest for adapting green smoothies into my life was cemented. I wanted to know more. So, the next book was "The China Study" by T.Colin Campbell & Thomas M. Campbell II. (Buy Book Here). Here, the authors go deep into the reasoning behind why eliminating animal protein from your diet is essential for your health. The scientific research they did that lead to this discovery was termed 'The China Study' as in China there are isolated populations with very different diets. In comparing the health of one population to another, they made the startling discovery that with the inclusion of animal protein, whether actual meat or casein protein (milk, cheese, etc), into a populations diet lead to increased disease, cancer, and aging. To note: the above summary is from only a quarter of the book. I mysteriously lost the book in stacks of fabulous fabric. After much searching, it was proclaimed lost for the meanwhile and my sister suggested that instead I read  "Eat to Live" by Joel Fuhrman. (Buy Book Here) This book was based off of the The China Study's research and gives readers a way to adapt the information from this study into a lifestyle routine or diet. (And I say diet in a since of an eating plan for life)

So, now comes the fun part. Adapting all of this knowledge into a lifestyle. For the past week, my brother-in-law has been making us green smoothies for morning breakfast. Let me tell you, they are delicious! The recipes from the Green Smoothie Revolution book are YUMMY (to say the least)! Waking up in the morning, I can't wait to taste another recipe. Could it be that I'm craving my greens already? For now I'll blame it on curiosity, but as I sit here 6 days later at 6 AM on a Sunday, I'm wondering how I am going to manage a day without my green smoothie. It's safe to say I'm hooked.

Lucia LOVES her Green Smoothies!