vegetables|Chia Seed Me

Feb 7, 2011 Posted by candice on Feb 7, 2011 in Thailand, dinner, our life, recipes, snacks, the hubs, vegan | 12 comments

go get ‘em husband

Good morning!

I honestly cannot believe how quickly the weekend flew by…seems like it just started.

On Saturday things warmed up a bit around here, and some of the snow started to melt off. By late in the day, many of the streets were almost clear…but there’s still tons of white everywhere else! Apparently (I never watch the weather) there is more snow headed this way in the next few days, but we shall see!

I know I’m beginning to sound like a broken record, but Saturday and Sunday we spent a lot of time organizing and packing. The story of our life these days. I have to admit it feels sooo good to get it done, though. We are still a long ways from being packed, but I think we did finally finish the office for the most part after being buried in boxes and files for the last few days.

Saturday night I got inspired to make a stir-fry. When I asked the husband what he wanted for dinner, he said something I thought I would never hear him say: “How about something besides mexican?”

I thought I was dreaming. Did he just say he didn’t want mexican food?!

So stir-fry it was!

I chopped up bell pepper, onion, broccoli, carrots and cabbage and stir-fried it in about one tablespoon of olive oil until it was tender. Then I tossed in some frozen edamame (did you know edamame has the same amount of protein as roasted turkey?) for protein.

After it had cooked for a little bit, I mixed together about two tablespoons natural peanut butter, two tablespoons tamari, a couple teaspoons rice wine vinegar and some water to thin it out. Honestly, I just kind of guessed at the proportions and tasted as I went. I poured the sauce over the veggie mixture and continued to cook them for another 5-10 minutes.

In the meantime I cooked some buckwheat (soba) noodles, and when it was all done I poured a big spoonful of veggies over the noodles….and that was it! Easiest stir-fry ever.

Stir-fry reminds me of Thailand so much. During the last few months we lived there, I literally ate stir-fried veggies in some form every. single. night. No exaggeration. Always on top of brown rice. Granted I wasn’t a vegetarian then, and I used fish and oyster sauce (Thai style) for flavoring, but it was still so good. Really takes me back:)

cooking with friends in Thailand

Anyway, on Sunday the husband and I went to lunch with some dear friends of ours from our college days. They are several years older than us and have three of the cutest little kids. During our time in Campus Crusade for Christ at OSU, Dan discipled Jonathan, and Debbie discipled me. They have always meant so much to us and have walked with us through some of the most important decisions in our life. It was so nice today to catch up and spend time with them…we’re really going to miss them when we move.

Debbie and I / Dan and Jon – about five years ago

Other than packing throughout the afternoon, I also made some Super Charge Me cookies for the husband. While he ate cookies, I enjoyed a leftover vegan cinnamon roll. This morning someone brought cinnamon rolls to Sunday School, and ever since then I’ve been craving one. I can honestly say that these rolls are one of the best vegan baked goods I’ve made yet. The day after I made them, I realized that unless I wanted to turn into a giant cinnamon roll, I needed to put them away for awhile. So into the freezer they went. A couple of times since then I’ve pulled one out and heated it in the microwave for about a minute and a half…and it’s always just as good as when it was fresh out of the oven.

You really must make these if you’re a cinnamon roll fan!

So that’s the weekend in nutshell – only two more weekends left until moving weekend!

Last thing – I have to give a shout-out to my better half. Today is the husband’s first day at his new job, and I am so dang proud of him. I’m so thankful for all the hard work he has put in over the last several years to get us where we are. This is just one more step we get to take along the path of our life. I’m going to miss him now that he’s leaving earlier, getting home later and not coming home for lunch (tear), but I know he’s going to love his new role…and he’s totally going to rock it! Go get ‘em husband:) I love you!

Did you have a good weekend?
What’s your favorite vegetable?
I think mine would have to be spinach…or maybe snap peas. It’s really hard to narrow it down, though!

christmas number one

Well, I have to say that McCoy family Christmas weekend was an epic success.

We started the weekend off strong on Friday night when my mother-in-law announced that there would be intermittent BINGO going on all weekend – with prizes to boot! At random moments one of my parents-in-law would make the call “it’s BINGO time!” at which point we’d all gather round for a chance to win.

This is my mother-in-law completely in her element – bingo by her side

and a grab bag of prizes just within reach:) love it!

Saturday morning we got up first thing and got to cookin’! It has become a yearly tradition for us to make meals for older folks in the church and then take them with us as we go caroling from house to house.

This year we made bean soup, corn bread and banana bread. The phrase “how many McCoys does it take to _____” was thrown out a lot throughout the morning:)

Another important event on Saturday was the celebration of my MIL’s birthday! So so thankful for her:)

the original mccoy family:)

After a couple hours of visiting and caroling, we headed back to the house to get dinner ready. I am the only vegetarian in the family, so many times I will either just eat the sides that are made or I’ll roast up a batch of veggies. I went with the latter this weekend, and even threw in some potatoes and edamame. Protein, check! Carbs, check! Veggies, check, check!

I coated them with a mix of olive oil and random seasonings. Unfortunately I went a little heavy on the red pepper, but other than that they were pretty good!

While we enjoyed dinner, little Miss Olive enjoyed chewing on her new favorite toy given to her by her grandparents:)

And then it was time for gifts. My mother-in-law completely goes over the top with the gifts – she and my father-in-law do so much for us. It’s seriously outrageous. We had a great time – I love getting to watch people open gifts…so fun. And opening some myself wasn’t bad either I suppose:)

Unfortunately my mother-in-law had a bit of hard time this weekend because on Thursday night she was rooting around in her closet for something and a five pound dumbbell fell and landed on two of her toes. I felt so bad for her…I think she was in more pain than she would let on…but of course it didn’t stop her from serving all of us all weekend. It’s just who she is:) I hope I can be as sweet and selfless as she is when I have children someday.

All in all it was a great Christmas with the family. It’s kind of nice to have one Christmas done, but still have almost two weeks of Christmas fun to go…I like it!

Merry Christmas from us! Jon, Candice and Olive

Olive refused to look at the camera. I think she was a little bitter about the sweater.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Stay tuned tomorrow for round three of the perfect vegan sugar cookie + a discount offered from one of the coolest online boutique stores around!

happy day

Happy Birthday to the best sister in the world…

taken 3 years ago in Thailand: my sister and I on her birthday with two of our favorite Thai friends, P’Dew and P’Nong

Love you!

Also, happy 2 year vegetarian birthday to me!

Getting better all the time:)

(go here if you’re interested in hearing more about why I eat the way I do)

roll with it

Hello.

Even though Tuesday’s are my favorite day of the week, today has been kind of a stick in the mud. There is just a lot going on and a lot of things the husband and I are thinking through right now…but one thing I’m thankful for is that we get to do it together.

So, instead of talking about the less than stellar parts of the day, let’s talk about the highlights!

I made it to the gym this morning in time to lift a few weights (today was arms) and get in a 35 minute workout on the treadmill. I did a little incline walking, non-incline speed walking and running. And then I came home and had an cold and creamy green smoothie.

For some reason green smoothies have been missing from my life lately, and I’m not sure why. But today I got a serious craving, and it really hit the spot. Refreshing.

A few hours later the husband surprised me with a lunch date at “the bread place.”ahhhhh.

This sandwich was stacked with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, cucumbers, sprouts and pesto. One of those kinds of meals that you finish and then wish you could relive every. single. bite.

Or is that just me?

Anyway.

Do you ever have those nights when dinner just doesn’t seem to come together very well? For every meal you think of to fix, there is some reason why you can’t make it happen. You’re out of hummus. Or the bread is molded. Or you forgot to pick up that green pepper at the store.

Or you char your kale chips to a crispy black.

Whoops.

The kitchen was quickly filling with smoke, so I snatched the baking sheet out of the oven and raced it out onto the back deck. Suddenly have no idea why I was standing outside in the cold, barefoot with a smoking hot sheet of blackened kale in my hand, I balanced it on the deck railing and hightailed it back inside!

Whew!

And now, 3 hours later, I’m remembering that I never went back out to retrieve it. Our neighbors must think we are so weird.

Anyway, so dinner ending up looking like this.

roasted potato rounds, corn, steamed broccoli and steamed green beans

This meal was seriously lacking in protein, but by this point I really could have cared less. Sometimes you just gotta roll with it.

What did you have for dinner tonight? Let’s hear it!

a big bowl of mustard

Hi!

I love Wednesday evenings. Don’t you just love Wednesday evenings? It’s the first time of the whole week that we’re on the downhill slide to the weekend.

Wednesday night’s also my yoga night. The 5:30 class that I teach caps off an entire afternoon of tutoring, and honestly tonight I was just so tired all I wanted to do was collapse on the sofa. But alas, as with most other times I feel that way, yoga is precisely what I need.

This morning I made it to the gym and did a 20 minute run at 6.0 pace and then hit the weights. I’ve decided I’m going to knock out a short cardio session + weights on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. Tuesday and Thursday will be just cardio days. So far I’m liking the schedule…granted today is only Wednesday.

While I’m liking the schedule, I’m not too sure how my muscles feel about it. So far they won’t stop complaining. But I know it will get better. That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it

Anyway, this morning was so busy with random tasks that I didn’t have time to eat breakfast.

Didn’t have time to eat breakfast!

This is not normal (for me). Or acceptable.

And now it’s 10 pm. I’ve had dinner. I’ve had froyo. I’m still wanting to snack on something.

Rest assured, I’m not hungry. But you know how they (who is “they” anyway?) say that people who don’t eat breakfast, eat more throughout the day? I’ve never really given that theory a test run, but after today I totally believe it! I have no doubt that my urge to keep snacking all night long is correlated to my lack of breakfast this morning. Especially considering I worked out.

Anyway. Onto more important things. I figure I’ve teased you long enough about this out-of-this-world creamy squash soup, eh?

ooooooh, ahhhhhh.

Looks delicious?!

Or looks like mustard in bowl?

I’ll let you decide.

Outrageously Creamy Squash Soup

Ingredients

1 medium sized kabocha squash (Okay, okay, any squash will probably work)
2 cups low-sodium vegetable stock
1 cup water
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup vegan sour cream
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp all spice
1 tsp sea salt

Directions

Cut squash up into wedges and lay on a baking sheet. Roast at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes, or until a fork pierces it easily.
Once squash is tender, allow to cool (or burn yourself if you’re impatient like me) before peeling or cutting skins off.
Put squash in a blender or food processor. Add the rest of the ingredients and process until smooth.
Pour into a saucepan or a microwaveable safe bowl and heat through before serving.

I would also highly suggest holding out a few pieces of roasted squash to snack on while the soup is whirring. Do it! Do it! Do it!

Hope you guys have had a fantastic start to the week. Onward to Friday!

P.S. Don’t forget to enter my giveaway. I’ll love you forever!

P.S.S. I’ve updated some of my tabs at the top, and I’d love for you to check ‘em out when you get a chance!

P.S.S.S Are you supposed to add more p’s or more s’s in these kinds of situations?

Do you have a workout routine/schedule that you stick to? Or do you just wing it?

getting real

Tonight the husband and I got a serious hankering for some diet coke. So, we decided to take an evening walk down to the grocery store before dinner.

It is quite ironic that we have three (yes, three) cars, yet we walked to the grocery store. But I love our walks. With the husband working evenings on our business, we don’t have as much time for them as we used to. I miss them.

Once we got there, I sat outside with Olive, while he ran inside for the goods.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about contentment. I am the world’s worst about getting in too big of a hurry all the time. While I love the idea of slowing down and enjoying life as it is now, I don’t practice it very often. I’m always wishing for the next thing. Always thinking that things could be just a little bit better if only…

Lately I’ve really been struggling with this, and the last couple of days I’ve actually been able to recognize how detrimental this is to my life. I count myself very blessed to be in the stage of life I’m in. I’m so thankful that Jon supported me in leaving my job so that I could pursue what I’m passionate about. And I’m tired of surrendering to discontentment and allowing fear to defeat me. I’m slowly starting to realize something about myself – I’m afraid of being successful. I think that part of my discontentment at this phase of life is due to not allowing myself to succeed.

I allow three things to defeat me on a daily basis: procrastination, being paralyzed by fear and making excuses. I’m still diligently trying to figure out why I allow these things to interfere with my goals and dreams, but I’m working on taking steps toward overcoming them.

The other night Jon and I laid awake for hours, him letting me hash out every angle of this struggle. I’m so thankful that he pushes me to challenge myself, to take myself to the next level, and most of all to believe in myself. I don’t know why he believes in me as deeply as he does, but sometimes that’s what keeps me going. Before we went to bed that night, he walked me into our office and made me put down my new commitment on our chalkboard closet door. Everyday when I see it, it reminds me that I really am stronger than I think I am.

side note – the coloration on this pic is way off. Our walls are not bright yellow:)

It’s so normal in the blog world to always focus on the positive, and I really don’t want to be a downer, but surely I’m not the only one who struggles with this? Am I alone in being my own biggest obstacle to achieving everything I want for my life? Sometimes I just ask myself “why are you procrastinating on the things you care about most?” “Why are you not focusing your intentions on the things that are most important?” “And why do you spend more time wishing for things in the future, rather than living in the present?”

So that’s me lately.

And so as not to leave on a dreary note, here’s some amazing fall food that has been warming me through and through:)

Making homemade pizza crust

The best thing about this crust was the process of making it. There’s something therapeutic about making homemade bread.

Unfortunately it was a total fail. I used too little yeast and didn’t let it sit long enough + I used all spelt flour when I probably should have incorporated in some white flour.

Even with leftover veggie spaghetti sauce from the other night and shredded vegan cheese, it still tasted terrible.

The side of broccoli saved the day! Sprinkle on a little sea salt, and you’ve got yourself heaven on a plate.

I also used that same leftover homemade spaghetti sauce in a mix with kidney beans and sauteed swiss chard. All piled on a tiny bed of pasta. The sauce was definitely the star of this show.

Oh wait.

I take that back. The kabocha squash ruled again! I seriously cannot get enough. I actually bought a whole ‘nother one this afternoon. I’m thinking maybe soup this time…

Yes, I think soup could be just the thing.

let’s clear things up

Hello!

This morning…I juiced.

But before that I went on a 3.5 mile run. It was a decent run – not the best I’ve ever had, but certainly not bad. I love those moments when I hit a high in the middle of my run, whether caused by my current tune, something to do with the scenery or just a good strong and steady stride, it’s just so sweet. We didn’t make great time – I think we finished in about 38 minutes, but I’ve just been less worried about time lately. I would honestly rather just enjoy running than be super worried about how fast I’m going.

Anyway, so I came home and showered and then got to juicing. I know I mentioned a few weeks ago that I had switched cleansers to Burt’s Bees because I wanted to start using all natural skin care. I’ll be doing a full review on it later as I want to give it a little more time before I form a final opinion. One thing I don’t think I mentioned before is that I felt like it was a good time for me to make the switch because I was having some serious breakouts on my face. I haven’t had a problem with breakouts since high school, and I’m not really sure what’s going on. But I figured since my face was already broken out, it would be a good time to change my skin care system, since switching can often trigger a breakout. Might as well get it all over with at once.

Not sure that was the best idea. I’ve been using Burt’s Bees for about 2 weeks now, and my face has progressively gotten worse. I honestly don’t think that BB is specifically the problem. I think there was already a problem, and so far BB just hasn’t miraculously cleared up my skin. It has gotten so bad, though, that I finally called the other day and set up an appointment with the dermatologist. I’m seriously feeling desperate!

Anyway, I woke up this morning and was washing my face when it occurred to me that I should really try every natural remedy I can think of before I end up with a prescription cream of some sort that is full of chemicals and most likely expensive on top of that. After just a little bit of researching I came up with a few ideas that I’m going to begin implementing.

Drink a lot more water – I drink water with most meals, but often forget to drink it in between
Eat more raw foods like fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds (read: lots of juices, green smoothies and salads)
Eliminate (with a few exceptions) refined sugar and coffee
More yoga – yes, I think this matters. It helps relieve stress and tension, which has a positive effect on my skin
Not wearing makeup whenever possible - this is kind of a catch 22 because I want to avoid makeup so my skin can breathe and begin to clear up, but I also have more of a desire to wear it because my face is so broke out. Not sure exactly how to handle this other than I won’t be wearing makeup anytime I’m at home
Continue to wash morning and night with Burt’s Bees
Use tea tree oil on blemishes
Stop touching my face! I have a bad habit of doing this.

I just felt so compelled today to do whatever I can to take care of this problem.

Breakfast. leafy greens + 1 beet + 1 carrot + 3 celery stalks + 1 apple + small piece of garlic = one amazing juice

After my juice, I did an hour yoga session. I’m learning to turn my planning for classes into awesome classes for myself. I pulled out all the stops, even using my lavender scented cloth:) A couple of hours later I had a snack plate.

Newman’s Own spelt pretzels

natural almond butter

homemade salsa

carrots and celery sticks

And for lunch I opted for a green smoothie. This contained 2 handfuls of spinach, 1 container of soy yogurt (we’re out of almond milk), 2 heaping tablespoons Vega Shake and Go Smoothie, half a banana, 1 tbsp chia seeds and ice.

For an afternoon snack I veered from raw and ate up a cinnamon raisin Ezekiel english muffin with 1 tbsp almond butter.

Plus I drank lots and lots of water all day long! Many trips to the bathroom ensued.

For dinner Jon and I grabbed salads from Chipotle on our way to buy groceries. Mine included lettuce, black beans, grilled veggies, 3 kinds of salsa and guacamole of course!

Overall I already feel much better today. Even though I can’t tell a difference on my face yet, it feels good to know that I’m going everything I can. I would love to be able to cancel that dermatologist appointment in a week.

Well, now that I’ve laid out all my problems for the world to see, I must be headed to bed;)

Question: have you ever had problems with your skin, whether acne or something else? Any ideas for natural treatments?

perfect pepper puzzle

This morning Jon and I rolled out of bed just in time to head out for a run. I was absolutely determined to have a good run…which can actually be quite dangerous:)

The weather was decent this morning – in the high seventies with a very light breeze – so off we went. And praise the Lord – it went well! I have been feeling so discouraged about our training, even to the point of thinking to myself “why the heck are we doing this?” Have you ever been there? Thankfully this morning restored my faith in believing that I really can train for and run a half marathon.

Before we headed out I honestly didn’t have a clue what I was going to do to help matters, but throughout the course of our run I tried several different tactics.

What worked:

Paying extra attention to my form. Sometimes when I’m running, I find that I sort of hunch over and stoop my shoulders and back. Today I kept checking in to make certain that my back was straight and my shoulders were down away from my ears. I used a move that I do in my PiYo classes often: scrunch your shoulders up toward your ears as high as you can, and then release them down and back towards the floor, elongating the neck. This helped tremendously today!

Break up the run into smaller segments. Not rocket science right? The thing is that I usually do this with longer runs, but never with shorter runs. I go into shorter runs thinking “well, it’s short already!” But I have to say – in certain conditions, three miles can almost feel like a long run. In fact, I’d rather do a long run over a short run anyday. That’s anyday…not everyday, mind you. ha! This morning, however, I kept telling myself things like “only .4 more miles until one mile is left. You can run one mile easy!” Sounds kind of silly, but it totally helped my mindset. And Jon’s.

Frequent updates on mileage. Sometimes I try to just zone out during a run and not think about the time. Today, however, Jon and were both starting to struggle, so I was giving updates every half mile, and then every .2 miles towards the end. I was somewhat doing this for Jon, since he wasn’t wearing the Garmin, but it totally helped keep my motivation and energy up as well.

Breathe. Again, rocket science I know. But sometimes I really truly forget to breathe. I’ll realize that I’m either holding my breath or breathing very short and shallow breaths. Today I focused on getting frequent deep breaths in, and I didn’t get near as winded throughout the entire run…even at the end.

Stretch. We all know it’s important to stretch after a run, but what about during? At about the halfway point, we both agreed that our legs felt pretty much like lead. So, we stopped and stretched it out for about 30 seconds. When we took off again, I felt much lighter and faster.

I’m not saying these tactics would work for everyone, but they definitely helped change my game this morning. We finished in under 30 minutes including a short walk/stretch break. For us, this was a great improvement!

After our run, I waited awhile for breakfast because I just wasn’t that hungry for some reason. Very uncharacteristic of me. When I finally got hungry awhile later, all that sounded good was a bowl of cereal. I usually shy away from cereal for breakfast because it seems to go right through me, leaving me hungry soon after. But I decided to go for it anyway.

Kashi Heart to Heart, Peanut Butter Puffins, sliced banana and soy milk

I love cereal so much…I wish it just was a little bit more filling. A couple hours later I was already ready for lunch. Jon had to work through lunch today, so I was flying solo.

I decided to throw together a quick concoction – and stuff it in a big bell pepper!

Bell pepper first. I cut the top off, cleaned out the insides and set it on a cookie sheet in the oven at 400 degrees.

For the stuffing, I decided to start with a grain as a base, and after some inspection of the cabinets decided on bulgur. Bulgur is one of my favorite grains because it’s easy to cook and so nutty! Plus, 1/2 cup has only 75 calories but boasts 3 grams of protein and 8 grams of fiber. Into the boiling water it went.

After studying the fridge for a moment, I pulled out some leftover canned corn and leftover chickpeas and dumped them in the skillet.

Protein…check!

Hmmm….I still need some greens. That’s an easy one.

Oops! Leaf overboard!

Lastly, I added 2 tbsp of homemade hummus for creaminess and flavor + 1 tsp oregano and a sprinkle of salt and ground red pepper for a little kick!

By the time this mixture was cooked through, my bell pepper was nicely browned and wrinkled. I carefully (it’s hot!) filled the pepper with the creamy bulgur mixture, stuffing it in deep to make it all fit. Then I stuck it back in the oven for another 15 minutes or so, turning on the broiler for the last couple. I just love the broiler. It soothes my impatient soul.

While I waited, I cleaned up the skillet and cutting board and said hello to this little visitor:) She’s not dead, I promise.

When the pepper appeared super brown and wrinkled, it was ready to go!

Perfect.

With a sweet and juicy peach on the side.

So, so good. Sorry dear…you totally missed out on this one;) The pepper was perfectly soft and somehow the random flavors I threw together fit like a perfect little puzzle. And I love the way the boiler makes the exposed part of the stuffing a little crispy!

After lunch I decided to book it to the coffee shop. Without some lunch company, the house gets a little too quiet. I’ve gotta get some work done and prepare for a call with an Outbox client this evening.

Hope you’re all having a great end to your week – let’s finish strong!

Random Question – what are you most looking forward to about fall?

gotta love the swag

Friends, I’m in the midst of a crisis.

Since I got my Canon DSLR camera back in April, I’ve been uploading all my photos into iPhoto. Unfortunately the file sizes are huge, and they are overtaking my macbook! I’ve finally decided to start uploading to Flickr instead, but I also am going to have to move all my photos over from iPhoto as well.

This process is going to take forever. I’m just so deep in this hole. Not only is my computer moving slower than ever, but the process of transferring the photos is going to slow it down even more. Argh!

Okay, rant over. Thanks for listening;)

warning: if you aren’t a dog lover, just glaze over this next part:) and don’t think I’m crazy.

First things first – Olive wants to say Happy 1st Birthday to her cousin, Bentley!

We still love you little B, even though you chewed up 2 of my retainers this summer.

This morning has been so productive! Don’t you just love super productive days?

First, I went for a four mile run. I planned to go to the gym, but the second I stepped out onto the porch, I changed my mind. It had to have been about 80 degrees. And there was even a cool breeze. I couldn’t pass up the chance to run outside. Unfortunately my Garmin wasn’t quite as thrilled apparently and didn’t find its satellites until well in the run. I know I ended up at about 4 miles, but have no idea what my time was. O’well!

Before I went I had a piece of canteloupe, sans salt and pepper

Once I got back, it was still cloudy and breeze, and our scraggly yard was giving me the eye. I couldn’t resist the nagging and immediately changed shoes and revved up the mower!

About an hour later I finished, a sweaty, hungry mess. Seeing as how it was after 10:30, though, I opted for a little snack instead of breakfast to tide me over.

I got this herbal water in the HLS swag bag, and I am now obsessed. I must find a place to buy these. They have no added sugars or preservatives, and the water is infused with a perfectly subtle ginger lemon flavor.

These pistachios and dried pineapple are also from the swag bag, courtesy of Oh Nuts. The pistachios were great, but I wasn’t a huge fan of the pineapple. I don’t like added sugar on my dried fruit, and this definitely had some. I don’t know why companies always feel the need to add so much sugar to their dried fruit!

Anyway, I answered some emails and before I could turn around twice it was lunch time.

My sister bought me this garlic olive oil from The Olive Tap. It gives off just a nice, subtle hint of garlic. Judging from her description I really wish I could have visited the store too.

I mixed 1 tbsp+1 tsp of garlic olive oil + 1 tsp water to 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp seasoned salt and a sprinkle of ground red pepper.

I filled a gallon sized ziplock bag with sliced sweet potato rounds and asparagus, and after adding the oil and seasoning mixture, shook until I couldn’t feel my arms (it really is an exact scienceJ I then dumped it out onto a cookie sheet (don’t forget to spray it!) and roasted at 400 degrees for about half an hour. Don’t forget to stir and flip occasionally. I actually think the asparagus was a bit too soft, so you may want to take it out after 20 minutes or so.

I toasted a piece of Ezekiel bread and spread it with Earth Balance to have on the side. Plus, another piece of canteloupe with salt and pepper.

Dessert was an Adora Dark Chocolate Calcium supplement disk from the swag bag. Love these. lol. What did I eat before HLS?

I just wanted to give a quick shout out to my awesome co workers from my teaching job. I stopped by the school for a visit yesterday and loved getting to see everyone. These people are a huge reason why it was so hard to leave, and I’m going to miss them dearly!

my best friend, Teri, Bryan, and me

two of our awesome librarians!

Meghan taught in the classroom next door to me and was a fellow first year teacher. This girl is a hoot!

And again, Teri:)

Well, I’m off to get some work done! I’ll be back tonight with my fourth and final HLS recap! If you missed ‘em, here is recap 1, recap 2 and recap 3.

signing off + giveaway winner

Hey!

Today has been busy, busy, but I think I’ve gotten everything accomplished – at least the things that were crucial! Now I’m scrambling around trying to finish getting packed and out the door.

As promised, I definitely filled up on veggies at lunch.

whole wheat lavash wrap filled with squash, cucumber, broccoli slaw, pinto beans, hummus, sliced pear (why not?!) and balsamic vinegar

Kind of an odd combo, but tasty. Too bad you couldn’t have seen me eating it – it was an absolute mess, falling apart like crazy and broccoli slaw going everywhere! I also had a side of leftover roasted brussel sprouts.

Okay, I gotta run. We have to drop Olive off at a friend’s house for the night and hit the road!

But first I’ve got to announce the winner of the Operation Beautiful book! The winner was chosen using random number generator from random.org.

PR_Cal

This week has inspired me. I’m going to make some positive changes and would love a copy of the book to help.

My post-it is:
My body relies on me for nourishment, I will be there for it.

Congrats, and I hope you enjoy the book! Email me (candice@chiaseedme.com) your contact information, and I’ll get it shipped to you!

Thanks to all of you who entered! I highly recommend picking up a copy of the book if you haven’t already – it truly is a great read.

I’ll see you all in Chicago! Have a great night!

let’s celebrate

All was quiet on CSM last night. I just needed a little bit of time to unwind and disconnect from everything. Jon and I took Olive and went on a walk, which we haven’t done in awhile bc we’ve been so busy. I’ve missed our walks so much!

Yesterday afternoon I took a trip to a new Farmer’s Market on our university’s campus. It was fairly small, but each farmer had a good array of fruits and veggies. I was hoping to pick up some swiss chard, and while they didn’t come through for me on that, I did score all of this

cucumbers, zucchini, bell peppers, tomatoes, canteloupe, squash

I love all the different shapes of produce you find at the Farmer’s Market. When food is grown naturally, you don’t get the perfect, uniform look that you see in the grocery stores. It reminds me of how fresh and natural these veggies are. Beautiful!

It also reminds me of us as humans. We are all so different in shape and size…and that is something to celebrate! It’s our individuality and uniqueness that makes us beautiful. I know I need a frequent reminder of that! All too often I find myself envying someone else – their job, their body, their personality – but I try to redirect my thoughts to focus on what I love about myself!

squash the size of my arm!

This morning I got up and enjoyed a bowl of plain soy yogurt, fresh berries and raw oatmeal before heading off to PiYo class!

A little while after getting back home I snacked on a whole wheat tortilla and some salsa. I usually try to base snacks around fruits/veggies, but when a serious craving strikes…I have no choice but to listen!

I’ll be spending the rest of the day working on Outbox tasks and practicing PiYo. Things are moving along with preparing to teach. Slowly, but surely.

Tonight Jon and I are going to make a run to the city, so I can look for a dress to wear to the Healthy Living Summit cocktail party! Hopefully I’ll be able to find something on sale! Wish me luck:)

What is one thing you can celebrate about yourself? It can be something about your body, personality…whatever! And you can’t avoid commenting on this post because you don’t want to answer the question;) We all have wonderful amazing characteristics, and it’s good for us to remind ourselves of those things.

I’ll get the ball rolling: I love that I have a high sense of compassion for people. My heart breaks so deeply when I see other people hurting.

Ready…GO!!

the mailman = my best friend

The mail man is my new best friend!!

Yesterday when I got home from tutoring, a much anticipated package had been dropped off.

Jon and I have had our DSLR camera for about 4 months now, and I still don’t really know how to use it. I mean, I shoot using the manual setting, but oftentimes it’s just a shot in the dark (on more than one level:) on whether or not it comes out a good photo. I’ve been wanting to take a photography class since we got our camera, and now that I’m working part time helping Jonathan with Outbox, I have an even greater urgency to improve my photog skills:)

Enter Nicole Hill Gerulat. Nicole is the writer and photographer of A Little Sussy, and she offers online photography courses. I signed up to take a month long course throughout August to learn everything from lighting to staging to the inner workings of my camera and beyond! I am beyond stoked about it…and I’m counting the days ’till August! Nicole writes the reference book herself, and I jumped for joy when it came in the mail. The front cover makes you want to just devour it!

Also causing me to literally jump for joy was the sweet mail man’s delivery when I got home from Turbokick today…

Okay, okay. So he didn’t deliver this exactly. But I went from picking the box up off the front porch to spiralizing a potato in about 12 seconds flat. No time for photos, people…I had to get this baby going!!

I spiralized my little heart out.

First I made some curly fries for the husband.

I mixed up one tablespoon of olive oil + 1/2 tbsp of seasoned salt + a heavy sprinkle of ground red pepper. After placing the fries in a gallon sized plastic bag, I poured in the oil and shook it like a mad woman. Last, I dumped them out onto a greased cookie sheet, spread them out evenly and baked them for about 30 minutes at 375 degrees, flipping them ever 10 minutes or so.

I think I could go into business making curly fries for my husband. He LOVED them!

S is for spiralizer!

Next I made some zucchini noodles.

I was planning on eating them raw, but as I was putting the potatoes in the oven, I got the bright idea to soften them up a bit by adding a sprinkle of kosher salt and black pepper and baking them for about 20 minutes at 375 degrees.

Then I topped them with some leftover Easy Vegan Crock-pot Pasta Sauce.

Eeek (said in high pitched squeaky voice:)!!

with a side of plain soy yogurt and fresh blackberries

Best. lunch. eva.

CSN stores sent me this spiralizer, and I’ll be doing a full review soon! I promise…you’ll be wanting one by the time I get done with you:) And you wanna hear the best news? I’m going to be giving one away!

I’m off to get some work done….see you guys later on!

Have you ever taken photography classes? Is that something you’d be interested in?
Have you ever used a spiralizer or eaten anything created by using one? What did you think?

second time around

Thank you all for the wonderful comments this morning! You guys totally made my day! Well…you and Foodbuzz lol.

I really do appreciate your support tremendously. ChiaSeedMe would not be the same without you.

After yesterday’s 7 hours of driving and 8 hour certification class, I just could not pull myself out of bed on time this morning! I slept in until Jon left for world at 8am, then finally lured myself out of bed by envisioning a refreshing and energizing juice. mmm.

1 beet, 1 apple, 1 pear, 2 carrots

Totally did the trick:)

I also managed to make it to the gym and crank out a 5k on the treadmill. It was a tough run…but I’m really trying to start pushing myself more. Instead of focusing on the discomfort, I want to focus more on the satisfaction of sprinting that last mile….or running it 20 seconds faster. Whatever it may be. It really worked today, and I felt so great!

Lunch was leftovers from the other night.

stir-fry veggies with bulgur, chick peas and chias

I had mentioned before that this stir-fry sauce I made was a total fail…but honestly, it tasted better today than it did the first time. I kinda liked it!

Later on I snacked on a brown rice cake with natural pb, sliced banana a chia seeds – one of my favorite snacks:)

Dinner tonight was leftover enchiladas. muahahaha.

Today when I met with Mohammad for our tutoring session, he had some bad news to tell me – he’s moving! This was totally out of the blue. Basically (we learned that word today:) he just isn’t happy with the classes he’s taking at the institute here, so he’s moving to OKC to attend a different one. Wednesday will be our last meeting together. I’m really going to miss it because I’ve been enjoying tutoring a lot!

So, you guessed it. That leaves me jobless once again. And once again, I’m just trusting that God has something better for me. It’s not easy, but I’m turning away from lies and believing truth. Something that I’m getting to work on a lot lately:)

In other news…

…this little guy left us yesterday. While Olive certainly has a little more peace in her life, Jon and I are kinda missing him.

Well, I’m off to cuddle with the husband. What a great day it’s been; let’s try to top it tomorrow!

And a couple questions for you guys because I love getting to know more about you! What better way to find out more about you guys than hearing about your lovable fur babies? Or lack thereof;)

Are you a dog person or a cat person? Or neither?
What kind of pet(s) do you have and what are their names?

all in a day’s eats

Eek! I can’t believe I’m just now getting around to posting.

I have been pulling some seriously late nights this past week, and it needs to stop! It’s causing me to be so exhausted during the day. I just love staying up late, though!

Lunch today was simple.

Two slices of Ezekiel bread, Morningstar black bean burger, hummus, a healthy dose of sunflower sprouts, and rotel tomatoes. Yum!

And the biggest watermelon spread ever! I promise I didn’t eat all that…at least not for lunch;)

I’m pretty sure I’m going to morph into a watermelon before it’s all said and done. That or a sunflower sprout:)

I had totally forgotten that yoga was tonight until I started craving it this afternoon. Then it hit me! So, after tutoring I went straight to class, and did some lovely sun salutations, half series and child’s poses. love. love. love.

Since I knew I’d be getting home sort of late from yoga, I spent some time this afternoon chopping up veggies and making a stir-fry sauce. So, when I got home all I had to do was dump it all in the wok and cook some bulgur!

I included cabbage, bell pepper, pattypan squash, carrots, onions, zucchini and sunflower sprouts. Obviously I added a sprinkle of chia seeds to top it all off!

The most important thing about stir-frying veggies is timing. I always put my carrots in and let them cook for a bit first (same story with broccoli if you’re using it); then I add bell peppers. Soon after the peppers I add in everything else except for the sunflower sprouts, which I toss in at the very end.

I would give you the recipe for the sauce I made, but it needs some revamping. It involved low sodium tamari sauce, garlic, olive oil, maple syrup, seasoned rice vinegar and ground red pepper; it was a bit bland unfortunately, so I’ll spare you the details. The incredible veggies were the star of this show!

Dessert was a brown rice cake with a thin layer of Maranatha Chocolate Almond Butter spread. This stuff is just like eating icing. It is so good!

With a cup of decaf iced coffee on the side.

Well, I hate to cut this short, but I gots to gets to bed!

Tomorrow is a special day here, but I’m going to wait ’till tomorrow to tell you why! Any guesses?!

day at the market

There are only 2 days left in my chia seed giveaway. There will be two winners, and currently the entries are low, so get over there quick ’cause you have a great chance of scoring some seeds! I’ve also posted the amazing benefits of chias and here are some posts with ideas of how to use them if you’re interested.

What a lovely Saturday morning we’ve had here at CSM headquarters:)

We managed to rise and shine this morning in time to hit up the Farmer’s Market. We haven’t been in awhile for various reasons, and it was much more impressive today than ever before! I was in heaven!

We made up a little early morning to-go snack before heading out the door

repeat from yesterday – brown rice cake with natural pb and sliced banana. With a sprinkle of chia of course!

There’s nothing like the Farmer’s Market to get a person excited about eating healthy and fresh! Everything is just so beautiful and natural.

swiss chard! I’ve been dying for some swiss chard, but none of our grocery stores have it. This one is huge!

Thai basil- I feel a stir-fry comin’ on:) muahahaha

eggplant in the back. in the front is a variation of squash called Patty Pan Squash – have you heard of it?

lemon cucumber. The word on the street market is that it tastes just like cucumber- we shall see!!

fresh tomatoes in the sunlight

giant squash:)

tiny red bell peppers

best find of the day – sunflower sprouts!

Here is what I actually came home with – sunflower sprouts, cabbage, patty pan squash, swiss chard, blackberries, red potatoes, giant zucchini, lemon cucumber, Thai basil and regular basil.

I am most excited about the sunflower sprouts! Here is some info from the farmer

Amazing little guys! I’m dreaming of putting them in green monsters, wraps, salads….the possibilities are endless!!!

Two years ago I never would have believed you if you’d have told me I’d be so excited over a plant. lol.

After the market, we stopped for some coffee at one of our little local coffee shops. Actually, I was a barista here for a summer in college, so I have a special affinity for it.

iced decaf americano with a splash of soy

I’ve become obsessed with iced americanos lately. I’m not sure why I had them add soy today because I really like it better straight up. It just wasn’t quite strong enough today.

We drove around, scoping out garage sales for awhile, but didn’t find anything good:( Now I’m off to clean clean clean! Our house is way overdue for a deep cleaning, and I’m just the girl to do it:) See ya later!

What is something that is true about you now that you wouldn’t have believed had someone told you in the past? Spill it!

one week later

Happy Friday friends!

First off, I want to remind everyone to enter my 100th post chia seed giveaway!

I’ve had a couple of people ask about ideas for using chia seeds – click here for some of my past posts that include chias. I’m working on a page of ideas for using chia seeds, as well as the amazing benefits…it should be up soon! I’ll keep you updated:)

Before piyo this morning, I ate half an apple pie Larabar to tide me over until breakfast; however, after I got home I was busy working on some things, and I just didn’t feel that hungry. Me not being hungry for breakfast is about as likely as snow in the middle of July. It happened, though. And in true intuitive eating fashion, I didn’t eat again until lunch!

You know, though, that if I miss out on breakfast – lunch simply must be epic!

In this salad went

2 huge handfuls of baby spinach, chopped
1 tbsp chia seeds
1/2 summer squash, chopped
about 1/4 cup black beans
1/4 cup corn
generous dousing of balsamic vinegar
3 medium canned artichoke hearts, chopped
Morningstar black bean burger, cut into bite sized pieces
dollop of hummus

When I make my salads, I always throw all the ingredients (minus toppings – in this case black bean burger and hummus) together into a big bowl and mix it all up. Then, I dump it onto a plate or bowl and add the final toppings. My salads are always huge, so this makes it easier to mix everything up!

Confession: I have a huge problem with building things. Ex: stir fries, salads, plates at a buffet (oops!). My eyes are always 10 times the size of my stomach. Today I had to reserve about 1/4 of the salad mixture for later because it was embarrassingly huge. I mean, I’m not ashamed of big salads, but today’s was just unreasonable;)

It was delicious, though!

This held me over for several hours while I ran some errands, planned some stuff for my tutoring session with Mohammad, worked on some Outbox tasks and answered some emails.

A little later, the hunger monster called again….snack time!

One of my favorite snacks – a brown rice cake slathered with natural peanut butter and topped with sliced banana. mmmm.

It has been one week since I officially resigned from my teaching job. And I just want to say to anyone out there who is dealing with a big decision like this – it does get easier! You will be okay!

One week ago I didn’t know heads from tails as far as this decision was concerned. I ended up making my final decision by deciding which way I was leaning to 1/2 millimeter more than the other…and then closing my eyes and jumping in with both feet. It was dreadfully difficult. There were times when I honestly felt like things were never going to be okay again. I knew that wasn’t true, necessarily, but I just felt so confused and distraught over the whole situation.

I can honestly say that now, 7 days later, I feel happier and more confident than ever. Seriously, today was like rainbows and sunshine. I know that every day will not be that way, but the overwhelming feeling that I made the best decision I could have ever made envelopes me. Everything I do, whether laundry, washing, dishes or just fixing Jon breakfast feels happier and freer than it has in a long time. I don’t expect things to be perfect, but I also feel that no one should have to live day-to-day with dread and unfulfillment.

Again, for any readers who are going through a tough decision, just know that if you follow what your heart is telling you and turn your back on fear…you will be so thankful that you did:) Remember…if you’re not scared, you can’t be brave.

Not sure what Jon and I will spend Friday night doing…but I promise that it will be relaxing!! We always take Friday night off from work and just spend time together. Amen to that.

Have a great night!

what does “food with integrity” mean to you?

Hellllooooo!

You guys had some fun comments on this morning’s post about kickboxing and yoga classes. It seems that most of you have tried kickboxing at some point or another and LOVED it. So exciting to hear the changes you’ve seen through kickboxing!

I was a busy busy bee today. I keep wondering…how did I ever work a full-time job? Haha. only kidding. I guess I just never met up with friends over lunch, worked out 3x over the course of one day or talked to my sis-in-law on the phone for an hour and a half. doh.

I met my friend, Grace, at Chipotle for lunch today; we had so much to catch up on! And we caught up over some dang good food, I tell ya. Chipotle is where’s it’s at!

vegetarian salad with black beans, grilled veggies, 3 kinds of salsa and guacamole! nice.

Chipotle is one of my favorite restaurants because I feel good about eating their food. The following is a quote from their website regarding what “food with integrity” means to them:

It means serving the very best sustainably raised food possible with an eye to great taste, great nutrition and great value.
It means that we support and sustain family farmers who respect the land and the animals in their care.
It means that whenever possible we use meat from animals raised without the use of antibiotics or added hormones.
And it means that we source organic and local produce when practical.
And that we use dairy from cows raised without the use of synthetic hormones.

I love that:) It makes me really think about what “food with integrity” means to me. Honestly, I feel like I’m still working toward my own definition of the phrase. I’ve been a vegetarian for over a year and a half now and mostly vegan for about 6 months; one huge reason why I eat the way I do is because I can’t feel good about eating food that has been produced by unethical means. Food Inc. is one movie that set me on this path, and I’m in the middle of a couple of books that are continuing to help shape my ideas and beliefs about having integrity with my daily diet.

The more I learn and discover, the more passionate I feel about making a difference. Even if it means that I give up one new food item each month, to me that is an accomplishment that I can feel proud of. Many people often say to me “I can’t be a vegetarian/vegan because I can’t give up X” or “it’s just too hard, I’m afraid I would fail” or “I can’t buy organic because I can’t afford it.”

I want people to understand that it’s not about being perfect. It’s not about never having ice cream again or never eating real cheese again…or even never eating steak again (if that’s what floats your boat:). It is about doing even one small thing to make a difference. Such as eating vegetarian one day each week. Buying organic, free range chicken fifty percent of the time. Or eating one vegan meal each day. Or just giving up red meat except on weekends. Those are just some ideas.

My husband has said before that he can’t be vegetarian because he can’t give up Chick-fil-a sandwiches. Eat that Chick-fil-a sandwich if it’s what is holding you back! In no other area of our life do we say “if I can’t be perfect then I’m not even going to try.” Why would we say that about our diet?

I will be honest…I have eaten real ice cream in the past few weeks. I’ve had real cheese in the past month. But those have become the exceptions in my life. I feel good about that, and I don’t beat myself up for the imperfections. Perfection is boring anyway;)

Let’s take steps together to throw out labels and do the best we can each day to improve our health and make our world a better place for our children and our children’s children. That’s what it’s all about!

This afternoon was by far the busiest part of my day! I met Mohammad for a tutoring session before rushing off to power yoga. Yoga made up my 3rd, yes 3rd trip, to the gym today. I think it put me over the edge a bit. My arms were still feeling weak from my class this morning, and I just didn’t have much left in me. I pushed through, though, and by the end was super glad I went. Always am with yoga:)

For dinner I decided to whip up a quick spaghetti dish

with tempeh, my love:)

veggies…

whole wheat pasta…

and my new favorite Bove’s Organic mushroom and wine pasta sauce. yippee!

And a wonderful dinner such as this wouldn’t be complete with out some veggies

green beans - straight from my mom and step-dad’s garden. Sauteed in olive oil with chopped onions, garlic powder, sea salt and black pepper. To die for. I’m not even kidding. Thank you mom and Clark:)

I just kept picking at these green beans all night, finally resorting to moving them to the fridge so I’ll have some left for later! I might dream about green beans tonight. I need help.

First thing tomorrow morning I WILL have up the 100th post giveaway contest. You must stop by because you don’t wanna miss it!

What does “food with intergrity” mean to you? Do you think the meaning should be universal? Or do you think it can be different for every person?

What small thing could you do to make a difference without feeling the pressure of perfection?

Can’t wait to hear your responses!

***just FYI – I have now moved my blogroll from my sidebar to a tab at the top. Check it out for some of my favorite reads!

say cheeeeze!

Gooood morning! I was up and at ‘em fairly early this morning – I’m meeting my mom in the city to hang out for the day, and I have to leave in t-minus 20 minutes. eek!

Jon and I got in a good, strong 2.5 mile walk this morning. We set out with intentions to run, but were such chatty Cathys the whole time that we ended up walking. I dare say that going on walks with my husband is one of my favorite things in life. I think I’ll try to slip in some online yoga tonight…I’ll letcha know which video I end up using, but I’m thinking maybe this, which was suggested to me by Maggie via Heather. Thank goodness for blog friends, right?!

Last night I went to my power yoga class, and by the time I got back home it was after 7, and I was famished. I decided to whip up this little recipe for Vegetable Couscous + Cheeze Sauce that I had seen on Angela’s site a couple of days ago.

I followed Angela’s recipe, but I did make a few adjustments. First off, I halved the recipe because I was running low on nutritional yeast; I still had leftovers. Also, I had to keep adding water as I stirred the cheeze sauce because it kept getting too thick. In the end, I still would have liked it a little thinner and will likely add more water next time I make it. Thirdly, I used about half the hummus and half the Earth Balance.

For veggies, I used sauteed broccoli sprouts, chopped carrots, chopped onions and chopped bell pepper. Lastly I sprinkled ground red pepper over the top before I inhaled ate it.

All in all it was just as amazing as Angela raved. I will definitely make this again, and I’m super stoked to have leftovers of the sauce awaiting me in the fridge. muahaha.

I also treated myself to a side of steamed broccoli:)

Okaaayyy, now that I am officially 5 minutes late already, I gotta jet. Sorry mom!

See you guys later!

what a dad!

Yesterday we had such a great time. My FIL has two favorite restaurants, so he very graciously let me choose between them for lunch. Between IHOP and Golden Corral, I went with GC and ended up being pleasantly surprised!

Have you ever been to a Golden Corrall? If not, let me paint a quick picture for you.

Walk in. Get drink. Pay for buffet. Find booth. Go wander through the endless buffet. Try to narrow choices down to what can fit on one, possibly two plates. Sit down. Eat said plates of food. Go back for more if you’re so inclined. Try to narrow down from dozens of dessert options. Eat said dessert. Waddle out.

I ended up with two plates full and a side of fruit. I was a bit nervous about finding healthy options, but there was no reason to be afraid. Check it out.

Plate 1: huge pile of romaine, green peppers, onions, zucchini, carrots, grilled red and yellow bell peppers, steamed baby carrots, steamed brussels (yay!) and a side of honey mustard dressing

Plate 2: peas, corn, baked sweet potato w/pico, more steamed carrots, guacamole, best tasting roll ever

grapes, mandarin oranges, watermelon

I ate almost all of the salad, most of plate 2 minus about half the sweet potato and a good portion of the fruit. Even though I had no room left, I managed to savor two bites of carrot cake, which was just meh, and two bites of apple cobbler with vanilla ice cream. I’m sure you can imagine how I felt by this point….oh buffets.

We spent the afternoon going to bookstores and then, believe it or not, stopped for some froyo a bit later. What can I say? We gotta treat our dad right.

All in all we had such a fun time, and I am so thankful to have Brad in our life. A few fun things about my FIL: he loves God, he loves to take random candid pictures, he is always there for us, he loves dots (the candy), the Beatles, golf and Ernest Tubb.

Thanks, Brad, for being such a great father and father-in-law. We love you!

this girl knows what she wants

So, I’m not the only one who knows exactly what I want in my food.

For awhile now we’ve been having trouble with Olive not being able to um….let’s just say “hold down her food.” It finally dawned on us yesterday that she might just be trying to tell us something. Maybe losing your lunch at least once a week for no apparent reason isn’t totally normal.

After a short visit to the vet, we decided to change her food. You can’t just change it overnight, though. You see, if we switch her cold turkey lamb, we’ll risk having problems at the other end. The trick is to sift in the new food just a little at a time and after about a weeks time be completely done with the old food. Well, that only works if the ahem person involved agrees to continue eating the old food. As opposed to only picking out the new food kernels of course.

Exhibit A. This is what we found after having incorporated the new food in with the old. If you look closely you can see that there are bits of food under her bowls. She also had trailed it all across the kitchen floor. So, we decided to do a little test to make sure it wasn’t a fluke.

Exhibit B. Olive is given an Olive sized bowl each of California Natural (the old food) and Prairie (the new food).

Exhibit C. When given the go-ahead, Olive immediately goes for Prairie.

Exhibit D (not pictured). Trickster Dad stops Olive mid-gulp and quickly switches up the bowls to see if she chooses the same one again. Of course she does.

Lastly, dad gives Olive the California Natural bowl and scowls as she turns her nose up at it. He then proceeds to give her the Prairie bowl, which she immediately devours.

Folks, we have a verdict. Now we’re left scratching our heads and wondering “has she been throwing up as an act of rebellion because she doesn’t like her food? or is she allergic?” We may never know.

Onward and upward. Today Jon and I proudly made it out of bed in time to get in a workout. We had planned to break our sweat at the gym because it is so dang hot outside, but we were pleasantly surprised when we stepped outside and it felt only like a cool 80 degrees. Without hesitation we abandoned our gym passes and headed to the street. After putting in a quick 20 minute run, we came back to get O for a walk.

Shortly after our run, I was reunited with this guy

2 big handfuls spinach
1 cup soy milk
1 tbsp chia seeds
1 scoop Amazing Grass
1 tbsp almond butter
ice

Because of vacation and a lack of groceries since, I have not had a green monster in a couple of weeks! It was a grand reunion. Tomorrow I shall be reunited with overnight oats methinks.

I spent most of the morning at the coffee shop working on some stuff and sipping on a nice iced soy latte.

Now I know how this looks. Let me explain. When Jon and I decided to commit to our “no eating out for a week and that includes coffee” challenge, we agreed that we could still get coffee drinks from The Daily Grind. Jon worked there for five years during college and we’re still good friends with the owner, so we have a prepaid card and we are only charged a dollar per drink. I know, I know. It still seems like we’re cheating, but technically no money changed hands, so I vote that we’re in the clear.

On a more honest and admirable note, I did pack my lunch so I wouldn’t be tempted to grab something.

Thank you Mister whole wheat tortilla broccoli slaw sprouts hummus and tempeh wrap. You saved me from making a decision I would later regret. Just a warning for tomorrow, though. A good friend whom I haven’t seen in some time asked me to meet for lunch tomorrow, and I agreed. Hey, life happens. And the point of the challenge is still being driven home.

And dinner…

Carrots, onions, bell pepper, squash and zucchini sauteed in Evoo and doused with Bragg’s Liquid Aminos and Nutritional Yeast. Served over a bed of Soba noodles. A go-to favorite.

Followed by banana soft serve with a bit of Maranatha Chocolate Almond Butter mixed in.

The rest of the day consisted of a long overdue phone chat with my college roommate, starting to clean out our office and chilling with my sweet husband.

I’m off to bed now! G’night!

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