Vegan peanut sauce

I've been craving Thai food lately but being poor means no going out for Thai food. So I improvised. 

I wanted Thai noodles in a peanut sauce. What I lacked though was soy sauce and rice vinegar, so what I created instead was a my version of a peanut sauce. I poured this over spaghetti squash mixed with sweet potatoes and mushrooms. Pretty awesome. 

My vegan peanut sauce 

1/4 c natural peanut butter

Juice of one clementine and 1 lemon 

2tsp white vinegar

Healthy squeeze of agave 

Salt, pepper, red pepper flakes to taste

Water or vegetable broth to thin it out 

That's it! Mix together and pour over food when it's hot. It was pretty good and jack seemed to dig it. 

Favorite coffee

I'm a big coffee drinker. In the spring and summer though, I'm so grossed out by hot coffee and making coffee and refrigerating it just reminds me of drinking old coffee. 

Until now. 

Thanks to smitten kitchen, I found an awesome iced coffee recipe that is mellow and refreshing and needs no sugar. I just mix in a little almond milk. 

Iced coffee

2/3 c ground coffee

3c water

Mix the two and put in a jar overnight (best to let it sit 10ish hrs) in the fridge. Pour the coffee through a coffee filter, add ice and milk and enjoy!

At home breakfast

When I'm home, I tend to like to make something a little more sustaining than oats. I usually do some sort of tofu breakfast scramble and add whatever vegetables I have in the fridge, which is nice because even when jack has had his full breakfast, he always wants some of mine. 

Lately, this one has been a favorite:

Southwest Scramble

1/2 sweet potato

1/3 red bell pepper

1/4 onion

1/2 zucchini 

1 cup of kale

I serving of tofu (I had left over black bean patties so I used one of those)

Chili powder, salt and pepper

To cut down on oil, I dice my sweet potato and cook it in a covered skillet in a little water. When it's almost done, add peppers, zucchini and onion and cook for a few more minutes. Add your protein and kale. In a cup, add 1tbs water with 1tsp chili powder, salt and pepper. Mix well and pour over your skillet. Cook until kale is wilted. 

I added a little lemon tahini dressing and topped it with hot sauce and nutritional yeast. 

Good stuff!

Almonds!

I've always wanted to use almonds in a recipe in place of meat but the idea always scared me. I don't know why, after trying this recipe from ohsheglows.com, I'm going to have to find other recipes. 

I loved it. And a small amount in a salad really goes a long way. Ray didn't, this is supposed to mimick tuna salad, which he already isn't a fan of. 

Almond "Tuna" Salad

1 cup almonds

2 celery stalks chopped

Quarter of an onion finely chopped

3 tbs veganaise

1-2 tsp mustard of choice

1tbs relish

Soak your almonds in water over night. They'll become plump. Rinse well and pulse in food processor until "flakey." 

Add remaining ingredients. 

Mix well and refrigerate for an hour. I loved it in a salad and it kept me satisfied for hours. 

I had some leftover roasted chickpeas that I added to mine. Pretty good!

Enjoy!

veggie baby and other stuff

Introducing Jack to table food has been an interesting experience. First he hated all fruit. Then he hated vegetables. Now we're in the everything-you-eat-is-mine stage. So when I find a food that he likes for more than a few days, I get super excited and make it in bulk.

In the beginning, nearly everything he ate I bought and puréed. Some women boast their frozen milk stash, I had an impressive frozen purée stash. It's so easy that I honestly can't fathom why people buy jarred food as making his food is cheaper too. Then I realized that what he likes today he may not like tomorrow so cooking in bulk may not have been the best idea ;)

What has never changed is this kid's love of avocado. He eats a couple ounces every day at breakfast and has since 6 months old. All I do is purée a couple avocados with a little water in a food processor, divide into ice cube trays, cover and freeze. Then when it's frozen, pop them out and put them in a large freezer bag. Plus I've learned that I can mix two cubes of avocado with one other vegetable  from my stash for breakfast and he still loves it.

He was sick this past weekend so I started looking for different foods that he would eat (being sick obviously means you're too sick to feed yourself!) and found two chunky purees that he really loved. 

Lentil Puree (adapted from weelicious)

Quarter of an onion, chopped

Few baby carrots chopped

1 tsp minced ginger

2 cups of water

1 cup lentils (I used green)

14oz can tomato purée or sauce

1tbs curry powder

1 tsp Himalayan salt

1 tbs olive oil

Sauté the carrot and onion in oil for a couple minutes. Add ginger and curry, sauté for another minute. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to lowish, stir, cover and cook for 35 min or until lentils are done (make sure you're stirring occasionally) and in a creamy sauce. Let it cool and puree in a food processor. Freeze in covered ice cube trays, and once frozen, remove and put in a large ziplock bag. Good frozen for 4 months. 

He loved it. It's actually pretty good, I ate some for lunch before I pureed it. 

The second recipe he liked but not the first bite. The quinoa texture threw him off guard but by the second bite he was hooked. It reminded me of rice pudding, and with quinoa, I knew he was getting a vitamin and protein packed breakfast. 

Quinoa banana smash (adapted from weelicious)

I banana

6tbs cooked quinoa

2 tbs plain almond or soy yogurt

Pinch of cinnamon 

Mash banana and add remaining ingredients. Makes roughly 3-4 servings. 

I'll periodically post baby recipes but back to adult food in the next posting!

vegan part trios

Alright so my last go around wasn't too successful. a few days in and Taco Bell started calling my name and I gave in. Then came the holidays and the rest was a gainful history.

but I'm back.

About two weeks ago I contacted a good friend about my frustrations. He and his wife have been vegan for years and both are healthy and fit, so I knew I was contacting the right person. He told me to write down everything I ate for three days. no cheating, no changing how I normally ate, just write it down. It was embarrassing. Even I could see how my diet had become mostly processed, sugar centered and water-less. he took some time and wrote me a thoughtful response about what I need to change and it was like it clicked. the first few days were rough but after that, I fell into my good habits again and I feel awesome. And silly for taking this long to get back into a healthy diet. it's been 7 days now, and already I have more energy, I feel clearer and I've dropped 7 lbs. only a literal ton more to go.

Anyway, I've been getting a ton of my recipes from ohsheglows.com which has been helpful. I nanny part time, so the days I do that, I make vegan soaked oats to take with me in the morning. Its hearty, it satisfies me til I get home and it clocks in at aound 380 calories. No picture because it's really not a pretty dish.

Vegan Soaked Oats:
1/4 c rolled oats
1 smashed banana
1 and 1/2 tbs chia seeds
1/2tsp cinnamon
2/3 c unsweetened almond milk
1/3 c water
1tbs nut butter
flax seeds

Mash the banana really well. Stir in the remaining ingredients except for the nut butter and flax seeds. Put into an air tight container and let sit in the fridge overnight. In the morning, add nut butter and flax seeds (and whatever else you add to oatmeal) stir and enjoy.

It's weird at first but it's pretty good. It doesn't taste like you're eating cold oatmeal either.

up next: almond "tuna" salad  and some baby recipes!

Day 1

I did it! And I feel pretty good. Actually I feel full, need to learn how to stop when I'm full, no matter how much is left on my plate.

Ray and I stocked up on supplies last night, dry goods, spices, produce, the works. Then I spent some time cooking so I'd have things in the fridge for lunches and dinners. The first thing I made was hummus. Bangin' hummus, so much better than store bought. Why do people pay for hummus when it's way cheaper to make and doesn't take that long?

Then I made big servings of what I packed for lunch so I can have it on hand for a few days:

Nevermind, the photo won't upload.

So I'll just write it out.

I made a detoxing red cabbage saute. I sauted one sliced sweet onion in 1 tbs extra virgin olive oil, then added to that a whole sliced red cabbage, 2-3 tbs apple cider vinegar, a little sugar and salt. Then about 2oz of water and let it cook down, covered on med-low, for about a half hour, then partially uncovered for another 20min. It's roughly 125 calories, 3 grams of fat and 4 grams of protein per serving. I love it because i feel like it cleans my body while I eat it.

Next I went back to my old faithful, quinoa salad. I cooked up 2 cups dry quinoa, then simply mixed it with 1 zucchini, handful  of cherry tomatoes and some green onion that I sauted in 1tbs of olive oil. 130 cal, 4 g of fat, and 5 g of protein per serving. For lunch, I added a dollop of my hummus to the top of the salad.

Snacks through the day were almonds and a rice cake with hummus. I know i need to be careful with almonds though. Yes they're healthy, but a handful is too much ;)

Dinner was a salad. I was hungry and tired and didn't feel like doing much, so I just roasted a japanese sweet potato, then mixed it with some spring mix, cherry tomatoes, some gardenia meatless beef tips and salsa.

Upped my water too so I feel soooo much more hydrated than previous days. Now early to bed as my son is still not used to time change which means frequent night time risings.

New vegan

I don't expect that anyone still reads this so this will probably turn into my own personal recipe box and a way to keep track of my eating.

Two years since my last blog entry? Two years ago seems like such a long time and yet it flew by and some crazy things have happened in that span. First...

I met a boy. Well, I met a guy. What started off as innocent flirting turned into a few dates which turned into a summer of love that included two different road trips to Chicago, amusement park dates and late nights with a bottle of wine and netflix marathons. Then came something that has changed me forever, I became a mom on May 31st. Jack was a huge surprise and totally unexpectant,  but I wouldn't change anything. He is smart, sweet, silly, and not to mention unbelieveably adorable. It's amazing seeing him grow each day, learning what he can do and watching him turn from a little slug of a newborn into this super happy baby.

Pregnancy though,  pregnancy is hard. You feel like crap for a solid 10 months. I had a few days here and there but overall, just getting out of bed was tough. So I ate. I ate what I wanted, how I wanted and when I wanted. I should've invested stock into Taco Bell and poptarts because those were my biggest culprits. Then, I had Jack via ceserean, came home, stepped on the scale, and saw that I put on 60lbs from start to finish.

Dairy and processed foods kids, not good for you.

Veganism fell by the wayside. So did working out. I drank soda, I ate crap, and I did it because "i'm pregnant." It's been 5 months since I had Jack and I'm still holding on to 40 or those pregnancy pounds. I've been trying quick fixes and staying mostly vegetarian (seafood being a problem) but then a blog post from this blog popped up on my timehop and I spent the next hour reading through all my old posts. Why haven't I resumed my vegan lifestyle after having Jack? Why did I deviate from it to begin with? My son is starting baby food and I only let him eat organic foods that I make for him to ensure he's getting the most nutrition, so how can I give him pureed avocado while I chow down on Burger King. He looks to me as his example.

Plus the energy. I miss having energy! I felt so great being vegan and having the weight off. I want to be able to play with him son. I want him to see me choose carrot sticks or a pear as a snack instead of chips. I want him to enjoy food and not lable food "healthy = gross" but instead view clean, whole, non processed food as just good food.

So I decided yesterday to return to being a vegan. Last time I did this I just jumped right in, no baby steps, and I lasted 4 years (and maintained that weight loss all that time). Good thing I kept such a nice recipe index through this blog because I've forgotten about some of these recipes.

The first thing I want to do is keep it small at 30 days. 30 day challenge, see if I lose and see how I feel then reevaluate at the end of 30 days. Because I love goals so much, here's my month goals for November 9 - December 9:

1. All vegan. No dairy, no animal by-products. Vegan diet.

2. 100oz of water per day. Hydration is so important.

3. Blog a couple days a week my progress.

So there it is. Good luck to me, hopefully by new years I'll be ringing in the year with a much happier, healthier and thinner me.

Cooking? What's that?

 Hey all! It's been a while and honestly, I've not been cooking. So that's why. For a brief update, I've successfully completed a year of grad school, I'm moving in December, I got promoted at work to a real position with benefits,I went to the beach once, met some people and I'm having my gallbladder removed on Wednesday because my family line says no woman shall have her gallbladder.

So I've stayed busy.

Today though, I decided I should cook some. Both things I'm about to post were amazing but I unfortunately cannot eat either today. The gallbladder is stating that today will be a pear and toast day, and even that is sketchy, but these two are fantastic things. The pumpkin mac and cheese I'm freezing until I'm able to eat it, and the tomato soup I think I will be able to eat sooner than later, but both were experiments that came out amazing.

For the pumpkin mac and cheese, I found several different vegan  recipes about incorporating squash into a mac and cheese recipe, so I went with that. I'm not a huge mac and cheese person and the last two vegan attempts were less than stellar, so I was not hopefully but could not shake a craving. I then went into the store and selected a few fall flavors that I thought would complement each other and went from there.

The tomato soup was because I had some peppers and tomatoes from a CSA that I needed to use before they spoiled. My friend Taly made me a cold tomato soup when I first got out of the hospital that was so amazing, I wanted to copy it. It may not be as good as hers, but it's pretty close.

The only potential downfall of either of these recipes was my oil. I don't cook with oil anymore, so I had none in my pantry. Only a bottle of meyer lemon oil that I bought on sale at a Tastefully Simple party. So I worked with it and the lemon helped freshen each dish, so it worked. I think if I ever have the will to repeat a cooking day in the kitchen and try these out again, I may add a lemon.

Vegan Pumpkin Mac and Cheese
1 box pasta of choice (I used whole grain organic shells)
1 tbs plus 1 more for topping Earth Balance
1 tbs olive oil (ha, lemon)
1/2 (the smaller) container soy creamer (couldn't find soy cream so creamer it was)
1 tbs flour
3 tbs nutritional yeast
1 package vegan cheese (I used rice cheese because of the fat content being lower but I imagin diaya would be 10x better)
1 can organic pumpkin
1 pkg baby bella mushrooms
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
sage
salt, pepper, paprika to taste, cinnamon and bread crumbs for the topping

Heat in a skillet the oil and saute the mushrooms, onion and garlic over low heat til soft. Remove and set aside, then make your roux out of the earth balance and flour. Once that's completed, add the creamer slowly and season. I use a whisk for this and from this point until the sauce is complete. Add the nutritional yeast, mix well. Add the cheese, and when that is melted, add the mushroom mixture then the pumpkin and season til you're happy. Finally, add the sage, mix in the cooked noodles (should be al dente) and put in a baking dish. Sprinkle lightly with cinnamon, add breadcrumbs and add little bits of earth balance. Bake at 350 for 20 min or until the sides are bubbly then remove. It's pretty amazing, not going to lie.

Tomato Soup
3 large tomatoes (I also added 1 roma tomato since that's what I had left over)
2 hablano peppers
2 banana peppers
1 japanese eggplant (or omit, again it was extra)
cilantro
1 28oz can fire roasted crushed tomatoes
salt, pepper, garlic powder, touch of natural sugar
Oil for roasting (again, lemon)

Heat oven to 350. Place all produce in a pan, drizzle with oil and salt/pepper. Pierce the eggplant. Roast for 30-35 min or until produce is starting to char and is soft. For me, the peppers finished first. Remove accordingly and place in pot that already has the crushed tomatoes. I usually remove the stems and seeds, then place in the pot. For the eggplant, remove skin and the tomatoes just remove the hard ends. With everything in the pot, use a hand held blender and blend away. Add soy cream and blend, then season as needed. I cooked on low for an additional 45 min because I forgot about it. Amazing soup though, especially for rainy days like today.

So yeah, that was my day. Pretty productive. Also, we had a visit from Salsa, formally known as Squishy as he is staying with us for a couple days as his mom moves. Pretty obsessed with him, the other cats are jealous.

Bittersweet end

In about two weeks or so, each of the babies will have a place to live. I went through so many emotions of not wanting to keep any to wanting to keep them all to really just wanting the smallest. But realistically, in my apartment and in upcoming moving endeavors with internships and whatnot, it's just feasible to have three cats of my own (or four in a tiny apartment). It's been a really hard journey full of sleepless nights, doing 5 loads of cat laundry, and staying in on the weekend. But they are growing at an incredible rate and I'm still shocked that they even survived.

Stepping back...

I got a call from my sister asking if I would take the kittens because approaching the 3rd day, she was overwhelmed, sleep deprived and needed help. Plus, one had died so really we just wanted to keep any more from passing. I went down that night, got a small can of formula, some bottles, cranked up the heat and took home 4 kittens. I had never seen kittens that small that looked more like hamsters than cats. I picked up one and his little body was convulsing so I knew he was not going to make it. By the time I came back with a warm bottle, his little body gave out. I held him for a min and Elise and I cried, but then I wrapped him in a towel and Elise gave me a shoe box to put him in. The next day, I named him Jonas and told him I was sorry that he didn't make it, but I would do my best to make sure that his siblings did.

Nothing could have prepared us for the next month. They were nicknamed AJ, MJ and RJ. The idea was that we needed ways of identifying and recording their feedings but we didn't want to name them in case they didn't make it. Elise took over much of the Mon-Fri daytime feedings because I was at work, but the evenings, weekends and nights rested on me. The first couple of weeks I slept no more than 2-3hrs in a row. The stress and anxiety of making sure that they were growing was incredible. This became more about proving that I wouldn't fail at keeping a living thing alive than anything.

But they survived. And now they are growing kittens with amazing personalities that will have new homes in the next couple of weeks.

This is Margie (formally RJ) a couple days after we got her. She was always a good eater

It took her a while to open her eyes but she was the biggest, lovingly coined (by me) as Large Marge.

She is hands down the most playful, sweetest kitten. She despises baths though, but I look forward to seeing how she acts as an adult. She's going to a friend of a coworker. An older woman that has always had cats and was looking at adopting one from a rescue when my coworker thought of me. This woman has apparently fallen in love with Margie on sight, and I'm confident she'll grow up in a happy, healthy home where she

is the center of attention.

This is Salsa (used to be MJ, although we've been calling him Squishy).

He too was always an easy eater but what makes him unique is he might be the most chill cat I've ever come across. You can literally do anything to him and he'll just relax and take it. He also was the first to eat from a bowl of canned food/formula and the only one to consistently use the litter box, no matter where it's placed.

Salsa was picked for adoption early by a classmate of mine. She's lucky, he's going to be a great cat (as they all are, haha). Plus he just has a face to die for. I'm going to miss him so much, he's such fun to bathe because he loves the water, loves the blowdryer, but really just loves being in someone's lap being doted on.

Lastly, AJ, or now, my sweet Bee.

Not that they all aren't incredibly painful to give up but Bee holds a very special place in my heart. From the very beginning I was not confident that she was going to live. She was tiny, sick and could not seem to eat enough. Two weeks into having them, I pulled her out of her box to see that she was covering in blood and some sort of kitten bodily fluid and just smelled horrible. I started sobbing and texted my roommate that she was dying and I wasn't sure that they money invested would be worth it if she wasn't going to make it anyway. Elise insisted so we loaded up the kittens and took them in where she was diagnosed with acute diarrhea that was leaking from her, grossly underweight at only 4oz and severe "diaper" rash. The vet did say it was a miracle that any survived but they were not out of the woods yet in terms of living. Feedings were increased back to every 3hrs, with Bee being fed inbetween that, all three needed to have ointments/desitin applied after we made them go potty and Bee was on antibiotics.

But the little thing survived.

She's still tiny but quickly catching up. She always has a dirty face now because of how she eats. She no longer takes a bottle and eats on the gruel with Salsa but because her instinct still says "find the nipple," she faceplants when she eats. I always think of Randy from "A Christmas Story" when he ate meatloaf. She is a sweet girl that follows people around no matter where they go. Yesterday she balanced on the top of my foot while I walked around the kitchen. It looks like she's going to go to the coworker that suggested the friend to me. She's wanted a cat and her husband, when seeing the pictures of Margie, melted and wanted one immediately. She'll be an only cat in her family but she's going to be loved on incredibly.

Even though we still have a couple of weeks with them, I cry anytime I think that next month they aren't going to be with me. Now they've graduated from their box to the kitchen and they LOVE it. It's also weird to not have to document every feeding and bowel movement on the white board in the hallway. So much of the past month has been spent obsessing over their health that I don't know what I did before. Excuses like "I can't stay out, I have a feeding in 2 hrs" was the norm =)

But through all this, I could not have gotten this far without "shitmaster" Elise. She was the only one that could make them poop in the beginning. She also sacrificed her room to be heated to a sweltering 90degrees in the first 2 weeks so they wouldn't be cold, not to mention taking over feedings while I was at work. And for putting up with ridiculously long text messages from me about them. Oh, and loving them too =) Also thanks to Steph for being the auntie that came over when Elise and I couldn't feed them and taking over. Finally, thanks to my sister for realizing hand rearing newborn kittens was exhausting and expensive and entrusting me to raise them and find them homes when she wasn't able handle them. I don't know how Elise and I did it with three, I can't imagine days 1 and 2 with five.

Cauliflower

I wish I had thought to snap a picture of this because it was so good and so pretty. I saw this recipe a few days ago, and even though I didn't want to make it with the nuts, I couldn't get it out of my head. So I made my own. Then added curry because you can never have too much curry.

First I cut my cauliflower into florets, seasoned with salt, pepper and cayenne, then baked covered for 30 min at 350. While that was going, I worked on my sauce. First I made a roux out of 3tbs smart balance light and a could tablespoons of flour. Once that finished, I slowly added unsweetened almond milk, about a cup - 1.5 cups total. Then I seasoned that with salt, pepper and curry powder, added a nice handful of nutritional yeast and 2 tbs of tomato paste (might to a little less next time). Once all mixed well and thick like a cream sauce, I poured it over the cauliflower and continued to bake until the cauliflower was soft.

So good. It was even better the next day.

Go make this, you won't regret it.

Makes four servings. Per serving: 174 cal, 18 g carbs, 9 g fat, 8 g protein

April Goals

So since I was so successful in March goals (ha!), I decided to have more attainable, smart goals for April. I feel like when I am trying to implement changes in my life, doing them in one month increments allows me the chance to try it out, see if it works for me and keep the chance at the end of the month. So here we go:

1. Track inches and lose 5lbs.

I lost 7lbs last month which surprised me. I know that to really see weight loss you need to track inches too, so tomorrow I'm going to measure then see if I have any difference at the end of the month. And losing 5lbs will really only be 1.25lbs a week, so let's see if I can make that happen. Summer is quickly approaching, can't wear jeans and hoodies all season long.

2. Carb cutting

I track what I eat on myfitnesspal. I've noticed a higher intake of sugar and carbs (I think I eat too much high sugar fruit) so I want to cut that. I also know from previous dieting that my body does not digest simple carbs and sugars well, so reducing them will be good for me. I'd like to start off keeping my carb count under 100grams and work my way down from there. By the end of the month I should be hoovering around 50-75, which will mean an increase in dark greens and complex carbs, and really eliminating white flour and sugar. Stuffs not good for you anyway.

3. Continue working out 4-5 times a week.

I've been keeping at this workout level through March so I don't see if changing.

4. Eating out only once a week and only one frivolous purchase per paycheck.

I spend money as quickly as I earn it so I need to cut back. I buy enough food that I can easily prepare lunch and bring it in, so I'm going to work on this. Typically Sarah and I hit up Great Sage once a week, so I will allow for that. And one fun spending, this paycheck it was my haircut. Gotta be smart!

So there we go, April goals. I think very doable =)

March is over!

So let's see how I did over the course of March.

1. No alcohol for 30 days.

Ha! I actually didn't do too bad but I did drink. I went two weeks straight then drank some. But basically I cut my daily happy hours out and most weekends and can count on one hand how many evenings I had either a or a couple drinks, so there's an improvement. Scale shows it too.

2. Eat a 80/20 raw diet.

This I did pretty well with. Some days I was all raw. If I didn't have to cook it, I didn't. I rarely ate out so it was primarily my food. I'd say the most I cooked were my sweet potatoes.

3. WORK OUT

Big improvement. I was consistently working out 3-4 times a week, doing 530am classes and classes on the weekend. This week I've not been going at 540 bc of feeding conflicts with the kittens, but that's not stopped me. Instead I used my groupon and hit up the elliptical and weight room for lunch time workouts. Can feel a huge difference with that.

4. Water

80% of the month I went well over100oz a day. Otherwise I drank at least 60oz.

5. $$

Didn't save a 1000. Actually, only saved $500 but I had some bills I had to take care of and things like Warped Tour tickets to get for my brother. =P

So I didn't hit all my goals but I made big changes. Expect a new list of goals for April.

I feel blah

That is all really. I went out for St. Patty's Day and because alcohol bloat hangs onto me I'm up and probably will be for another day, even though I increased my workouts and up-ed my water elsewhere. This is why alcohol is bad news, kids.

Oh well, I'll be down again before the weekend so hopefully I'll have a good weigh in on Monday. I should probably start recording my measurements monthly.

....

The sweet potato and half apple almost make up for oversleeping and missing my workout class and having the biggest hole in my tights that I didn't know was there until I got to work. But it's okay, I can rectify the workout by making a stop at the school tonight after work. I just really hate cardio machines. If the weather were nicer, I'd do something outside but the treadmill and elliptical are a pain. And the weight room is a giant sausage fest. It's okay, run on the treadmill tonight because Saturday and Sunday are 2 hr cardio/strength training classes.

Nothing much else to talk about with me. I'm still losing at a steady pace and can feel my body getting stronger again. I'm officially on spring break. The roommate is going to Montreal tomorrow for a few days, so although I will miss her, I'm secretly excited about having the kittens all to myself all weekend. I get them in the evening and overnight but I don't get to really play with them since their box is in her room and sh

e's usually sleeping. They are doing amazing though. I was worried about the lack of pooping that they were producing for us (ie my roommate), but then I checked their box and it had turds in various spots. Awesome.

So, I will leave you with this precious face.

SWEET POTATOES

I cannot get enough sweet potatoes lately. Japanese, Jewel, Garnet, any kind I just love them. I've been eating them for dinner almost every night for the past week. If I get home in time, I just bake them and pair it with a small green salad or spiraled zucchini and it makes for a pretty satisfying dinner.

I say that because this morning after feeding this CUTIE PIE

I had the energy to go work out, even though it was 5am and I had only slept 3.5hrs. I'm glad I went though, I've been really focused once there so I've had some stellar workouts. Passed out on the train though, so at least I got another half hour nap. But once at work, I dug around for my earbuds and found a sweet potato! I bought two y

esterday, and since I try to use as few plastic bags as possible, I stuck it in my bag and forgot about it.

This meant that I got to have this wonderful, happy breakfast:

Just one sweet potato cubed and microwaved for five minutes. I try to steer clear of a microwave when possible but eh, my work doesn't have an oven. To add a little protein, I paired it with 2 tbs of my left over, homemade hummus. I don't put oil in my hummus so it's a little thicker. Breakfast stats were: 203 cal, 43 carbs, 3 fat and 3 protein.

Ugly breakfasts

Seriously, I eat the ugliest breakfasts. Take a look:

So yeah. Unattractive. But I'm attempting to not buy any food until payday, so I'm scraping the barrel here. I also just haven't had the time to go to the grocery store between work, school and kitten feedings. But this, in case you are interested, is 1 bartlett pear chopped, 2 tbs quaker oats, 1 tbs peanut butter and 2 tbs ground flax seed, all mixed with water until I get the consistency I want, then microwaved for a minute. Stats are: 308cal, 35 carbs, and 16 fat.

I've not been sleeping much due to the kittens (which are eating lots and growing like little kitten weeds) so I've been determined to keep up eating whole and exercising more. Went to an amazing circuit training cardio class last night and it was the first time in a while that I've left the gym with soaked hair because I was sweating so much. I'm going to be a long, lean vegan machine in no time.

This post is kind of blah, I know, but I'm too tired to think so I'll just leave you with this precious picture taken in the middle of the night:

Day......8? Yes? I think it's day 8.

My one week weight loss (weighed in yesterday) was 5.2 lbs. I know so much of it is just bloat and water weight but hey, I'll take it. Also, it's really really hard for me to not weigh myself everyday. I'm addicted to my scale. I typically weigh myself twice a day, but seeing how this is not healthy behavior, I'm weighing myself on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays. This way I can see midweek what it's looking like, and on Friday I have a reminder to not blow it. I've also worked out four times last week. Some of the classes I took really kicked my butt and I'm still feeling it.

I became a foster mom on Saturday to three babies. Three, three day old abandoned kittens. They are such hard work. I keep telling myself we just have to get through the weekend. When we get through the weekend, they'll be two weeks old and I feel like that's a huge benchmark. They'll be able to walk more steadily, it won't have to be 9 million degrees in Elise's room, they won't need feedings every 3 hours, their eyes will be open and they'll actually look like kittens. Until then, keep these babies in your thoughts as they will hopefully continue to grow and get strong and healthy.

Day 6!

It crept up behind me and bit me in the butt. Surprised me for sure but I welcome its return. I don't know where it's been hiding for the past several months but it's back.

My motivation!

Seriously, I don't know how many times I've said "oh yeah, I'll go to the gym tonight" then not go. Or I'll mean to go in the morning but I don't. It's even free! Part of my tuition. Or I'll bring my lunch then spend money on something twice the calories and carbs as what I brought. But yesterday was a wake up call. I can improve my eating like I've been doing, and I'm a firm believer that health is 80% what you put in your mouth, but my body has changed since severely cutting down my workout regimen. Last year I was out there nearly every day doing something and my body showed it. My arms had definition, my legs were getting strong and even though I weigh not much different than when I was working out a lot, my clothes felt snugger, my body felt puffier and I just looked softer overall.

So last night after class, I schlept myself and my roommate to the gym. My class ran a little late so we only had time for 30 min cardio but we did it. My endurance and stamina haven't dwindled as much as I thought which made me happy. Then I came home, ate a great dinner of a big salad with tomatoes and a baked sweet potato. Then this morning was the true test. I could take a cardio/strength training class before work at 545. Those are offered three days a week, then on weekend mornings, which would give me enough time to work out and come home and get ready.

And I did it.

Didn't want to. Was super tired after only 4.5 hrs of sleep. But I felt great afterwards.

I'll have to readjust my sleep schedule and force myself to go to bed earlier (not easy for me) but I feel great. I'm 6 full days into eating more whole foods, eating in and (now) working out and I already feel less bloated and gross. Plus I haven't gained back my stomach bug weight loss, so just gonna keep moving forward.

But now, food. I started measuring everything again. It's really the only way I can be sure that I know exactly what I put in my mouth isn't more than it should be (that's what she said). Ahem. Anyways, after working out I ate a bartlett pear to hold me over until I got to work at 9. Then I made this:

It doesn't look pretty, I know, but it's full of things that hold me over all morning, it's cheap, and make my insides happy to do what it is they are supposed to do. It's basically a scaled down version of Kath Eat's basic oatmeal recipe. For mine, I use 1/4c quick oats, 1tbs organic crunchy peanut butter, 1tbs chia seeds, 1 packet of sugar in the raw, pinch of salt and enough water so that it's not gummy. I drain the oil out of my peanut butter when I get it (and please, I know, all the good stuff is in the oil but I don't like it. It's too greasy, I hate stirring it in and I don't eat it on bread), so I put everything in the bowl together, use the hot water from the water filter thing, then microwave for a min. I usually have to add more water because the chia seeds have exploded, so I'll add more, let it sit for another min or two, then decide if I like the consistency. It's not pumpkin pudding, but it does last me hours and I don't have the sugar crash that I get if I add a banana or have another high sugar breakfast.

Stats? Myfitnesspal says for the bowl: 260 cal, 27 carbs, 13 fat, 10 protein, 7 sugar. And again, it's probably a little lower because of the lack of oil in the peanut butter but I'd rather overestimate than underestimate.

Days 4 and 5

Stomach bug!

Holy moley it was bad. I'm still a bit queasy and my stomach is still sore so no cooking for a little while. Good news though?

Lost 4lbs during the whole thing.

Now to keep it going!