Going strong but with a few less teeth

You have my sincerest apologies for not updating as of late but I am afraid there isn't much new to share. I am still going strong with my vegetarian diet. I love how I feel and am thrilled to be learning so many new things. Next step? Vegan? Well, I have been researching that and it seems like so much more work then I can manage. Also, veganism really is a lifestyle when being a vegetarian is more like a diet. I don't think I am ready for a lifestyle change.
 
The only "news" I really have is that I had my wisdom teeth out after 12 years of terror and agony. It finally got to a point that I couldn't sleep or eat so I got up the nerve to have them out. Thankfully, it was a great experience and I have no regrets. I still have some pain when I chew and I have holes in my mouth that food gets stuck in. I bet you wanted to know THAT! So now chewing most vegetables hurts too much so I have been having a LOT of soups. This has been a challenge because I really know nothing about making soups. Some have turned out, some really haven't. I did a lot of ordering out but when reading ingredient lists, I found that many of them have chicken or beef broth hidden in them! How dare they! So, needless to say I have lost 4 lbs.
 
It is time for me to head back to work. My youngest will be going to school soon and it is difficult for a family of 5 to live on one income in this day-in-age. Unfortunately, there isn't much out there. I would love to find something I am passionate about (green living, socially minded), or something towards my degree/skills (business and sales) but there is just nothing out there. I have so much to learn before I will be able to get the job of my dreams.
 
For now thanks everyone for stopping by and thank you Veggi-rific for the Twitter mention. Have a wonderful night Internet world!

 

Tofurky and Vegetarian stereotypes

You have my sincerest apologies for not updating. I allowed myself to get a bit behind in my homework and so I have been catching up. Next, I have a presentation due on Monday. It never ends.

The day before yesterday I made myself an amazing breakfast of spinach, tomatoes, onions and crumbing cheese in a whole wheat pita, topped with avocado and salsa. It was so great and filling but kept falling apart. Since enjoying homemade salsa, the jar stuff really isn't so appealing anymore.

Yesterday I have my usual yogurt for breakfast but I have eaten up all my fruit so I just topped it with this new chocolate delight granola made by Back To Nature. I have found a new favorite product! In addition to eating a vegetarian diet, I am also trying to eat better all around. This means no fried foods, less caffeine (I am pretty addicted to Diet Coke and coffee but slowly trying to decrease my intake) and cutting out my love of chocolate as much as possible. I think this new granola product of mine might help a lot with my late night chocolate cravings.

The biggest excitement for me has been finally making up my Tofurky Italian sausage. I didn't have high hopes for it because tofu is just squishy and weird but this stuff is AMAZING! The flavor is perfect. It did have a squishy texture but I just cooked it a little bit longer then necessary and it came out just right. I made up some simple noodles and mixed a concoxion f olive oil, tomatoes, spinach, onions, leeks and seasonings and plopped it on top. It was a huge meal but so good. I will never again eat real sausage even if I do decide to return to eating meat because the Tofurky's taste is at such a higher level of yumminess. The one and only concern I have is that I think the sausage had a lot of salt because I was very bloated after my meal. This will not be an everyday meal but it will most definately be in my rotation of great things to buy.

I have been attempting to keep up with a simple exercise routine. I run on our elliptical machine as long as I can. Unfortunately, I have noted that I just don't have the endurance anymore. I used to be able to run for an hour and a half which went down to an hour, then 45 minutes and last night I could only run for a half hour. Quite possibly there could be other reasons for this such as the times of day I run or who-knows-what but I do feel it is noteworthy.

I do believe that my diet has helped me with my fatigue. For the past year or so I have been dealing with being constantly fatigued that I was unable to function during the day. I used to get up and take my children to school by 7:30am then come back home, put my three year old in front of the TV and sleep until 11am and then be unable to really wake up or be rested enough for the remainder of the day. Now, I am able to get up with my kids and stay up. I do get pretty fatigued by 3pm but I am able to fight through it. Even now however, I enjoy the days when I can come home from bringing the kids to school and my youngest is still sleeping. I lay down next to him and sleep another few hours if I can. I don't think I will feel a quick fix to my fatigue but I do see a light at the end of the tunnel. By changing a few things my quality of life is already so much better.

I am facing a little bit of a vegetarian stereotyping. I have vegetarian and vegan friends but they are not my closest friends. One of my closest friends seems to be bothered by the fact I am defining myself as a vegetarian. I only mentioned my diet to her in passing once and yet I feel she has put up a wall to me. She seems defensive. She tells me how she hates that vegetarians and vegans seem like they are "know-it-alls" and I think she feels I will be doing the same. I mentioned to another friend my new diet plan and she told me that I needed to go spend more time wth L*** (mutual vegetarian friend) because we would have so much to talk about and not with her. It felt like I was being written off. Honestly, I haven't told any of my vegetarian/vegan friends how I have changed my diet. I have only mentioned it to one person via Facebook whom I may see only once a year at the most because she is a very educated and informed person and I thought she might help me educate myself (again, thank you for your help Rhonda!). Why is there such a stigma against people who choose to eat differently for their own personal reasons? I am not forcing my opinions on anyone and even though I have my family try the vegetarian foods I make for myself, I still cook meat for my family. I am not fanatical but I do see so many benefits to my new life that I wish I could share it with more people. It hurts to be shut out.

On that depressing note, I will sign off along with my sincerest thank you for coming to read my crazed ramblings.

Dried cranberries and crazy kids

Today was ridiculously stressful but also somewhat productive. My kids have reached a stage that they can’t stand being around each other. This is difficult because normally they are each other’s best friends. The kids were out of school for Veteran's Day and refused to stop fighting or were not listening to me. I suppose that happens as they get older but I am not okay with that.

Mondays are usually busy for me as I clean because the house is typically destroyed from busy weekends and cook as much as I can to put in the fridge for later. Part of my bad mood was probably because I didn't get a chance to make anything for myself to eat until about 1pm when I wolfed down the last of my tzatiki and pita bread.

This afternoon I made handmade oven dried cranberries from a recipe I found online. They turned out pretty yummy and even my kids ate half of them. I think I needed to squash the cranberries more during the cooking process and I did sprinkle a tiny pit of sugar on them during the last hour of cooking but I don't think that made much difference in the taste.

Dried cranberries

I made myself a salad for dinner as my dandelion greens were already starting do go bad. I also added kale, spinach, tomatoes, leek, a little bit of dill and sunflower seeds with an oil and balsamic vinegar as the dressing. I also made up the quinoa that bought from the Fresh Market. I have never had quinoa but have seen so many recipes that I had to give it a try. I was so disappointed because it tasted like the inside of a shoe. It came with a seasoning mix but it was just not good. It was a new and tasty addition when I added some to my salad though. I do have high hopes it would be good in a variety of recipes and I even have a few in mind that I am eager to try.

Quinoa and my salad

I ran to the liquor store when my husband came home from work as I felt I needed something to ease my nerves from the screaming children all day. Unfortunately, the store was closed but as it was right next to the Publix grocery store, I had an excuse to shop for something new without distraction. I bought some grocery staples along with wine coolers. I also purchased these cute little Forelle pears and Tofurky Italian sausage. The pears were so adorable that I had to give them a try. As for the faux sausage, I came to the conclusion that if I wanted to be a vegetarian, I needed to not only discover new plants to eat but also learn what substitutes for meats are out there. I have had tofu before in tacos and lasagna but it is just spongy and weird. I can’t just write off all meat substitutes because I dislike one. I am looking forward to cooking it up tomorrow to see how it tastes.

Now, about my observations regarding the effects of this experiment. I am aware that you don't want to know this but alas, it is still an interesting fact... I stink. I let out some of the most mind-altering, so-strong-it-could-take-down-a-horse farts that it is embarrassing! I did not expect this. I would have imagined that meat products and the body having to digest those difficult animal proteins would make a person much stinkier but I was wrong! So to those within 2 feet of me out in public, I am so sorry.

My last observation is that my husband complimented me as I was changing for bed tonight. I was poking my flubby belly from the 3 beautiful children that I carried and my husband mentioned that it has gone down. I appear as though I am more toned and have lost weight. Now, the scale disagrees but I may be seeing more muscle tone from exercising and decreasing my fat intake. My husband is not one to beat around with words or one to give compliments or criticism when it isn't warranted so I am taking him at his word. YEAH ME!

Thank you one and all for stopping by! Have a fabulous evening and stay safe.

*I apologize for my camera seeing to be orange. My kids do mess with my things so who knows what they did to it...

Fresh Market adventure

I finally made it to Fresh Market! I drove to the next city over, which was about 20 minutes away. I think the drive was too long though because my 3 year old fell asleep during the ride. Normally, I would appreciate the nap but he wouldn't wake up! I had to carry him through the store as I shopped. It was a challenge trying to reach products on the shelves while carrying him and a basket. I got a serious workout from it though.

 

The trip was still a success. I found fresh dill which I have been trying to find for a few months now. I bought dandelion greens! I have never had dandelion. I also found some mangos for the kids, chili peppers, quinoa and dried vegetables for a snack. The veggies were so yummy and my son even liked them so I will be back again soon to get some more. I especially loved the green beans. What a great taste and a healthy snack. Can't get any better than that!

So when we arrived home I made a salad with my new dandelion greens. I added spinach, tomatoes, leeks and red onion. I made a simple dressing with oil, white wine vinegar and dill. It was such a wonderful and flavorful meal.

For dinner I made a simple quesadilla with salsa. Nothing special and honestly it was very filling and heavy on my stomach. I have always loved cheeses. I get a thrill out of finding new and different cheese (have you ever had buffalo milk cheese? I have) but I am not sure my body likes it so much anymore. I will be trying harder to cut out cheese from my diet but I can't get rid of it all and I still love my yogurt.

This morning I enjoyed my favorite yogurt with blackberries and sunflower seeds! I LOVE BLACKBERRIES but they have always been a little too costly for me. I found them on sale and stocked up. It's like Christmas, I am so excited.

That's all I have to share for now. Thanks for stopping by my friends. Have a fabulous day!

Just Some of my Research

I wanted to share some of the info I found. I have been noticing that the scale isn't changing and so I found this article here titled "Can Going Vegetarian Make You Fat?" Honestly, I am still baffled because I do eat low fat, low calorie foods but this still was pretty insightful.

Also, I found this article posted by someone on Twitter titled "Top 10 reasons Not to Eat Pigs". It is very disgusting how these defenseless animals are treated. Just reading this made me sick.

Thanks for stopping by!

Already Being Discouraged

Today was eventful. This semester I received a scholarship and so today was the scholarship luncheon at the college to meet and thank the donors. This was also mantory. My donor didn't even show up! I had to get a babysitter for this and I was stuck eating soggy salad (as it was the only vegetarian food served) and making nice to a room full of people I didn't know. Mneh.

Anyways, I made up for it though and ate some very delicious foods for the rest of the night. My son brought home a small pumpkin from school and we cut the sucker up and roasted the seeds. I haven't had homemade roasted pumpkin seeds in YEARS. I dashed a little bit of creole seasoning on top and voila! Even my three year old loved them and he doesn't eat anything but cereal and french fries!

Tonight, I made myself stuffed chili peppers. I riped out the guts of them and stuffed them with a mixture of spinach, onions, tomatos, leeks and a little mozzerella. Then I rolled them in bread crumbs (most of which just fell off) and baked them. I ate them with homemade roasted pepper salsa. I also made fried plantains in brown sugar. I had these at a friends house last week for the first time and they were AMAZING so I tried it myself. They turned out ok but the plantains needed to be riper so they were a little starchy. I still have another plantain so I'll let it ripen and try again. If you have never had this, try it! The simple recipe can be found here.

 

Even if after this experiment of mine I decide to go back to eating meat, I can definately say that I am doing so much better at considering what I eat. I am more aware of the foods I put in my body and how much better I am feeling. I was so proud that even tonight while grocery shopping, my husband called and asked me to pick him up some fruit and yogurt instead of some other sugary snack. Also, right now my kids are snacking on yogurt and strawberries instead of junk.

 

I am enjoying how I am feeling and I know that there is so much more a person can do. A friend of mine was actually pretty discouraging to me yesterday when I was telling her about how I was choosing to eat. She said that there was basically no point as all our foods are chemically modified anyway, meat or no meat so there is no reason to even try. Then she told me how much it bothers her when vegans and vegetarians act like they are far superior in how they live their lives in that they eat sooooo much healthier and "they are all know-it-alls". I do have vegan/vegetarian friends who do push their ideals on others but some that don't. I think if I can keep this up, I will want to share with others how I feel but now I wonder about how my choces might effect my friendships.

 

I have so much to learn about and decide how I want to live my own life. For now, I am going to enjoy my full tummy and clean conscience. Nighty night cyber world!

Lazy Cooking

It's been a long day. My kids had an early release from school and had to take my son to the doctor because of an ear infection, I went grocery shopping and helped sit with my grand-mother-in-law who is elderly and can't leave her bed so she needs family to stay with her at all times. I still kept up with the vegetarian diet.

I mentioned how I had an egg wrap for breakfast. I am leaning towards cutting out eggs from my diet. It does hurt my conscience but they are yummy. I have need to find an equally yummy and easy breakfast if I am going to cut out my favorite breakfast.

It's a good thing I had a breakfast today. I usually don't have the time. I ended up missing lunch as I was dealing with getting to the doctor and so forth.

By the time I got home, it was 6:30pm and I was shaking. I made my family rice and chicken that they said was bland since I didn't taste-test it. I guess I need to find new ways to cook tasty foods for them if I wont be testing it as I cook. I made myself kale chips (kale coated in oil and seasoned with dill and garlic salt then baked) and a salad. I was too worn out to try and think of anything more elaborate. My salad turned out great, consisting of mainly parsley, spinach, tomato and red onion with lemon juice as the dressing.

 

For dessert, I had found this great vegan brownie in a mug recipe on Pinterest that literally takes 15 minutes to make. So good and worth it!

While getting my son's prescription at Publix, I wandered around to see what new and exciting foods  could find. They have such a fun variety of their Greenwise products! I settled for organic green beans and leeks. Can you believe I have never eaten leeks? I'll be looking up recipes tonight for tomorrow to experiment with my new food.

For now I am off to research. Thanks for stopping by! Good night world <3

Breakfast vs Conscience

One definite problem I am finding is that I have to grocery shop a LOT! My daughter loves this new lifestyle of mine because she already eats like a rabbit but now there is nothing left for me. Have I mentioned that I hate grocery shopping? Too many people in my way and I always have kids with me who whine "I want I want I want". Mneh! Also, our area really does not cater to a vegan/vegetarian life. There is a small 1 ft by 2 ft section in the fruits and veggie area of Wal-Mart for vegetarian/vegan foods and that is IT! I don't live in a small city, only a small minded one. We have a Fresh Market in the next town over and realistically it isn't that far away. I need to get over my laziness. Unfortunately, I won’t have time to make the drive until maybe Monday.
 
Well, anyway. I just finished my breakfast. I made egg whites with spinach, salsa, sour cream and onions wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla. I had to eat something. Most days I just have coffee but I noticed that the little bit of wine I had last night made me nauseous this morning. I needed something substantial on my stomach. I didn't have too much to drink. I wonder if my diet has changed how my body reacts to alcohol? Maybe I had more then I thought I did *tee hee

I never planned to cut out eggs and milk from my diet (yet?!) but I have to say that my conscience is bothering me. I wanted to start this because I am so appalled with the horrible treatment of animals for consumption and what makes eggs any different? I am less upset with the milk products because it's a product from animals and not the animals themselves. Besides my husband and one son are lactose intolerant so we have soy and almond milk in our home.We do still eat cheese. Yes, I am aware of how the cows are treated to be able to make milk products but I need to draw the line somewhere, right? However, eggs are essentially baby chickens! I have a very strong opinion against abortion at any stage of development and so isn't eggs kind of the same thing? Babies in the earliest stage of development? I really I need to think this one over a bit more and decide where I stand.

Thanks for stopping by and reading about my breakfast and conscience lol. Have a fabulous day!

Stressful but Yummy

What a stressful day. Let's just say that I am typing this while drinking a glass of wine. Between having all kids home from school and babysitting a friend's 4 year old,  am ready to tear my hair out. The kids all seemed to spend every waking moment fighting with eachother. Then, I was caught having to take care of my sister-in-law as she has many health problems that culminated in vomit all over my floor.

So anyway,  still did pretty good for myself when it came to my meals. No breakfast again today, only coffee (lots of coffee). For lunch I made cheese quesadillas with homemade salsa verde. Small flour tortillas with white crumbling queso heated and folded together in a pan (no oil) and dipped in the best salsa in the WORLD!

For dinner I gave my fennel/radish salad from last night another try. I threw it in a hot pan with a little olive oil, salt and a small dash of balsamic vinager. It worked! I ate that sucka up! I also reheated the leftover potato soup from last night. Having it sit and settle for a day made it even tastier.

Time for a snack. I cut whole wheat tortillas into triangles, dipped them in a mixture of oil, fajita seasoning and tomatos that I pureed and baked them into chips. Ate them up with roasted pepper salsa! I needed to add more salt to the chips and I burned my last batch into tiny triangles of char but other then that, my snack was a success! I am so full!

I also talked with a friend of mine who is vegan and she gave me some great links for recipies and information to check out. I am off to do that now and giddy with excitement. Here are the links she told me I should see: Vegetarian Times, Fat Free Vegan Kitchen, Chocolate Covered Katie,  21-Day Vegan Kickstart and Uprooting the Leading Causes of Death (Thanks Rhonda! <3 )

That's it for tonight. Thanks for stopping by!

Fennel Fiasco

Today was very adventurous if I say so myself. I had my usual coffee for breakfast as my eyes just don't open until I have finished a pot of my favorite Gevalia Mocha coffee with Irish Cream creamer (yum!). I am the master of breakfast making but I don't make it for myself very often. I will say, the best breakfast in the world is my egg white omelet with spinach, jalapenos, cheese (usually anything white) and fresh homemade green salsa. I am salivating just thinking about it!

So anyways, on to lunch. I decided to throw whatever I had in my fridge into a salad. Vegetarianism for beginners is salad. Easy enough. I used kale, fresh spinach, parsley, tomatoes, cucumbers and red onions with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and a dash of salt and pepper. VERY YUMMY! (I had never even heard of kale before this experiment of mine but I’m loving it). My salad was surprisingly filling! I had an apple I was planning to eat as my dessert but I didn't have any room for it all afternoon. This was a pleasant surprise.

By dinner time, my husband was home and asking what these weird foods were that I had in the house. When I first told him my plans to be a vegetarian for a month, his reaction was "Well, just as long as I can still eat my chicken and whatever else". No biggie. We have always had very opposite tastes and I have had to cook different meals for each of us since we were first married. I like very intense flavors. I like the spicy, the sweet, the sour and he likes the savory soul food. He could live off fish, chicken and peanut butter when I could eat anything if it had salsa on it.

So back to dinner. That afternoon I bought radishes and fennel. I have never had fennel in my life and I had no idea what to do with it. I have downloaded an app for my tablet called "Healthy Meals" and looked up fennel recipes. It seemed like you can put fennel in anything but I hit the jackpot when found a simple salad of just radishes, fennel, lemon juice and salt and pepper. I had all the ingredients so I gave it a try. The fennel smelled amazingly fresh and I was looking forward to trying this. Boy was I was disappointed with the taste. I had no idea that fennel tastes like black licorice. BLEH! Seriously, just like black licorice and I H-A-T-E black licorice. Oh well. Live and learn. I will be looking up more recipes for fennel as I still have a bulb left. Maybe if I find a decent way to cook it, then the flavor won’t be so strong.

For dinner I also made my husband some lemon chicken with herbs. I don't mind making him meals with meat in it. Eating meat or not eating it is a personal choice.

I made a potato soup for myself. I had a mix already that was pretty simple made by Cugino's. I have had their french onion soup before which is pretty great so I thought this was a safe bet. I added some radishes, kale, green onion (only had a little left so I threw it in there) and red onion. By then, the soup was tasty but boring so I added salt, pepper and a little chili powder. YUM! My only downfall was I needed to cut the kale up smaller as it was a pain to chew it. The radishes were a perfect addition.

So, all together, I had potato soup and the fennel salad for myself. My 7 year old daughter wolfed down 2 bowls of the soup. My husband ate half of his chicken and a bowl of soup. My 3 year old son ate 3 bites of the chicken, licked the soup and said it was good but he didn't want it (pickiest eater in the world). My 5 year old slept through it all as he is sick with a cough and ear ache.

Day 2 of vegetarianism is going good. My tummy is happy and full. I feel great and am so excited about what I can come up with next!

And so we begin

Greetings friends.

My name is Julia. I am a wife and stay-at-home mom while I am attending college at nights. I am the typical mom. I cart my three kids around to their play dates, gymnastics and so forth. I live for them and try to squeeze in a little bit of me time when I can. Of course, my "me time” is usually taken up by studying for the next exam or endless homework.

I am 30 years old. I eat like the average American (although, for the record, I am Canadian but I am an American resident as I married an American). I like fast food as I am always on the run. I try to eat right and instill good habits in my children but let's face it, a hamburger is so much cheaper than a salad when eating on the go.... and a lot easier to eat while racing all over town.

I tell myself and my husband that I want to eat healthier and get in shape. I was a gym bunny before and after my first 2 children but by the third, the membership fees were too much and I didn't have the time. Now I have a sexy muffin top and wider hips and a saggy butt. My husband still says I am attractive but I just don’t feel right. I don't have the energy to keep up with my life and find myself sitting my youngest in front of the TV while his siblings are at school so I can catch a quick nap. Something needs to change.

I figured that nothing would truly get me to eat better unless I make a plan. I needed a set goal to achieve and a method to measure my progress. I have seen so many articles and pictures of what is done to the animals that are bred just to be fattened and killed in such inhumane ways and it makes me sick. I decided that enough was enough and I didn’t want to support this disgusting business of killing animals and along the way, I could find better health. In comes my idea of being a 30 day vegetarian!

I plan to only last 30 days and if I can keep it up after that then all the better. For now, I am still eating eggs and cheese with the hopes to find ways to cut that out next but I need baby steps.

So welcome to my journey and I hope we all enjoy the ride and maybe even learn something new.

Peace out !