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A New York Kind of Day

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Today was perfectly fantastic!  I ate all sorts of great food and we ended up walking more than 5 miles; basically it was my favorite kind of day.  It just felt like a Saturday in the city.  Perhaps because I dressed like I was in New York?

I’ve been trying to drink less (less, not no!) diet soda this month.  If vegan month means I’ll be eating no dairy – bone building – then it needs to also mean I’m eating no less chemicals – bone leaching.  I think iced tea is the answer, especially because it well help me to drink more water too.  Last night I mixed 5 cups of water and 7 bags of Eggnog’n in my new pitcher,

and this morning I made myself a big gulp.

FYI – Eggnog’n totally works just as well better cold!  The husband loved it too, and he usually drinks his iced tea with tons of sugar.

Other things the husband is currently loving?

S.S. Sea Salt Somersaults.  He made himself a big baggie to carry around all day.

Our first stop of the day was the farmers’ market.  It was pretty picked over by the time we got there, but Adam got some great homemade maple candy and shared a piece with me.

Wegmans – our next stop – was apparently where all the local goods were at –

We also got some hibiscus iced tea lemonade.

Once we got home and had all the groceries safely shelved we headed back out, this time on foot.  Our original destination was the Greek Festival,

but there was an admission fee and the food tent was mostly meat.  We trekked on (and on) until we came to Mezza, a brand new Mediterranean place that just opened yesterday.

At that point it had been more than 16hours since I’d eaten any solid food so pretty much anything would have sounded good!  Thankfully Mezza was just good, period!

I got Baba Ghanouj,

and stuffed grape leaves.

Picture lots of pita with that too.  Everything was ridiculously fresh tasting.  Usually Baba Ghanouj tends to be kind of greasy and heavy but this was totally light.  The husband thought he only liked falafel, but he loved everything he tasted today.  He inhaled more than half of my orders!

I probably shouldn’t have been quite so generous, because we’d barely made it down the block before I realized that I was actually still pretty hungry!  When we walked past the co-op we made a hot bar stop.

Vegan cheesy noodles and Pad Thai, Hunan tofu with broccoli, and 2 pieces of Southern-style tofu.  I ate while I walked which was messy but fun.  By the time we reached our apartment we’d covered more than 5miles, love that incidental exercise!

Later in the afternoon I found it totally necessary to inhale this coconut milk tapioca pudding.

It gave me a tummy ache but was soooo worth it!

I have to get up early because we have fun plans tomorrow and lots of studying to do (my first soc exam is on Monday).  In the interest of time and laziness we are going to eat popcorn for dinner and cuddle on the couch before bed.  Peace out!

What is your favorite Mediterranean offering?  Mine is stuffed grape leaves, the texture and taste of the leaves is just so interesting.

Vegan Month

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In case you don’t know, June = Vegan Month.  During June, Allison and I are our challenging ourselves (and anyone else who wants to join us) to stick to a vegan diet for one month.  You might remember that I’ve done a shorter version of the challenge before.  Here is my recap from my 2weeks in 2009, and here is the recap from the 2weeks this February.

I don’t think that I will ever eat a 100% vegan or vegetarian diet in the long-run.  I believe that humans did evolve to eat some animal products, and that I personally feel more healthy when I include them in my lifestyle.  However, I also believe that –

  • Eating many vegan meals each week contributes to a healthy diet.
  • Vegan cooking and baking can be fun and satisfying.
  • Veganism is kind to our planet and can be a great way to conserve energy.
  • The current industrialized dairy and meat industries are immoral (even though in theory consuming meat and dairy is not) and the best way to vote is with my wallet.

During June, we will not be consuming any animal products.  That includes red meat and pork (which I don’t eat anyways); fish and fowl; milk, yogurt, or eggs; and any products that include lactose or whey.  Allison and I decided that we WILL continue to consume conventional alcoholic beverages, even though we are aware that they are not all 100% vegan.  I also most likely WILL continue to eat honey, while I feel some modicum of discomfort about eating other animal products, honey is one for which I am guilt-free, and it seems silly to avoid it.

During Vegan Month you can expect to see –

  • new recipes, and new spins on some old recipes
  • some guest posts
  • and lots of new product reviews

I hope you enjoy reading about our challenge, and I’d love it if you decided to join us!  Advice, cheerleading, questions, complaints…….

Like Peppermint Patty Loves Lucy

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Fill in the blank:  Today I                                                                                        .

a) was homesick; b) was craving peppermint; c) ate too much sugar; or d) all of the above.

It’s no secret that I like sugar (there’s a reason “sweet” is the biggest word in my cloud tag and apparently my eating habits even piss some people off), but did you know that my favorite kind of candy is peppermints?  I like Jr. Mints and York Patties, but actual peppermint hard candy is the best.  And the ultimate best is West Indian peppermint candy.  It’s similar to the starlight mints but always homemade and comes in a variety of shapes.  The texture is different too; harder but more aerated.  Like this lollipop I pulled out the back of my cabinet –

Sadly, the stick went all the way to the top of the candy (gag) so I had to abandon it two bites in.

Thankfully the twist my parents sent from Carnival last month did the trick.

My very favorite is actually a soft peppermint bar, the texture is similar to hard packed raw sugar and when you chew it it’s almost like the grit from toothpaste at the dentist (it’s better than it sounds).  Unfortunately my parents didn’t send any of that though (ahem).

I worked on my binder and before I knew it it was time for dinner, my last serving of salsa verde chicken bake.

I also had a half serving of Guylian shells for dessert.

The other thing on the agenda for today is packing, because……. we are heading to Boston tomorrow!  Two of our very best friends both live in Boston and we are getting so excited to go see them!  We’ve managed to visit every year since our wedding, and they were in fact IN the wedding –

Last year’s visit –

I’m so excited to see them!

Do you still keep in touch with any of your high school friends?

Weight Gain 4000, Beefcake!!!

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It’s no secret that I’ve gained weight since moving to Buffalo.  And as I mentioned yesterday, most of my pants no longer fit.  Most of my button up tops don’t fit either, but Adam is so thrilled about my ginormous boobs that I’m not allowed to complain about that issue.  It is time to face the facts stats though:

  1. I’ve gained almost 15lbs in the year since we’ve moved.
  2. I’ve gone up not one, but two pants sizes.

15lbs in a year is a lot in general, but on my small frame it’s a LOT.  While I’m still in the middle of the healthy bmi range for my height this is not a weight at which my body is happy.  I don’t look or feel the way I think I “should” at almost 25-years old.

While I’m not happy about the weight gain, I am a lot more zen than I would have ever expected to be.  For someone who struggled with body image issues growing up, I’ve faced a large weight gain with a shocking amount of maturity and humor.  Adam and I are able to laugh about it in a way that is hilarious rather than toxic.  I’m not beating myself up or feeling ashamed or embarrassed. 

I know that “fat talk” is an issue for a lot of people so I wish I was able to explain more clearly why I’m able to take this in stride.  I would love to be able to give my readers tips to having a healthy attitude about weight gain, but honestly I’m not sure what they’d be.  There are a couple of (seemingly contrary) factors that have made this easier for me –

  • Gaining weight this year was inevitable.  When we lived in NYC I could walk everywhere.  And as a teacher in a difficult school I was on my feet for 7hours a day.  I was moving a minimum of 6miles everyday even before exercise.  Since we moved to Buffalo in August, there have been 4months where I was trying to move as little as possible because of my surgery and/or injury.  Going from one extreme to the other – energizer bunny to high intensity couch potato – there was no way my weight wasn’t going to fluctuate in the transition.
  • Gaining weight this year was in my own hands, it was the direct result of my own choices.  It’s a lot harder to accept something if you feel like it’s been done to you.  When there’s a sense of “why me?” it can be hard to move forward.  Even though being relegated to the couch was out of my control, I choose not to do pilates or yoga.  I choose to have poor sleep habits.  And you know what, I ate a TON of jalapeno nachos, and they were damn tasty!

I’m also trying to look at the positives; just because my literal glass shouldn’t be filled so often doesn’t mean I can’t be a glass-half-full girl figuratively.  I will never take running for granted again.  I know that my husband truly does love me (and find me attractive) at any many sizes.  I now know that I am the type of person who can gain so weight without acting like the whole world is ending.  I have a goal to work towards.  It always kind of irritated me that there was no reward for being hot and staying hot.  Now that I have weight to lose maybe someday I can be a success story in a fitness magazine!

I’m not going to make some grand plan for weight loss.  I’m going to Boston this weekend and there’s no way I’m not eating chowder and bubble tea.  I would like to eat more cleanly in generally because it makes me feel better, but Vegan Month in June will be an easy start to that.  I am betting that as I slowly work back into running and working out regularly the weight will gradually drop off.  I will stay zen.

Have you ever gained or lost a significant amount of weight?  How did it affect you emotionally?

A Beautiful Buffalo Day

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Oh My Lord, it has just been the most beautiful sunny day here!  I finally feels like summer! (As it rightfully should, I mean, it’s almost freaking June!)

The husband ended up getting a ride to school in the AM which is just as well because I got up at 8o’clock in the morning and watched the Grey’s Anatomy finale and cried for 2 hours.  I don’t even like Grey’s Anatomy!  I think it will be a very good thing when I have classes and to-do’s like normal 25 year olds 😀

Amid my girl-fest was breakfast.

Stonyfield Fat-Free French Vanilla Yogurt with Total and blueberries.  Two things: 1. French vanilla yogurt is kind of amazing, it can’t compare to plain Greek, but I think it might be better than plain regular.  2. You will be seeing a lot of Total round these parts as I’m trying to finish it before the end of the month.  More on that below.

I did head to campus around 11 though, so I could hit up the pool for a swim work out.  I did 30lengths in 25minutes and they totally kicked my butt!  I am finding more and more that I really love swimming; it just feels so good!  I push myself to go as fast as I can for 10lengths and then I take a minute to catch my breath.  I only have until June to use the facilities at UB and I’d really like to get in a longer swim if I can next week.

After I de-chlorined I met up with Katie for lunch.  I don’t know why I didn’t take a picture, but we ate on a bench in the sun on Elmwood and it was glorious!  Sadly, the food selection at the Co-op today couldn’t match the company or the setting in quality, but I did my best.

A vegan biscuit, veggies, a stuffed grape leaf, and some coconut curry tempeh.

Thank goodness I bought a Kombucha to drink too or I would have been gnawing my arm off in hunger!

The Divine Grape held me over pretty well, but I did pick up a fun dessert to bring home.

Theo Bread and Chocolate Bar.

I loved this concept!  The packaging is so cute and the bar itself is delicious.  The 70% dark chocolate has that great almost sour flavor and the bread was more like little crunchy pieces.

I had half.

As I mentioned above, I’m trying to kill my box of Blueberry Pomegranate Total before June.  This is because I’m doing a fun food challenge with Allison – June is Vegan Month!  I’ll share more about the challenge later (we’d love for every/anyone to join us!!!) but for now we are asking for help.  We both know the basics of what’s vegan and what isn’t – the Total has milk solids which is why it’s off-limits – but we want to make sure we don’t miss anything.  Allison gave this example: I’m afraid I’m going to miss some 8 syllable ingredient on a list, like “dyrocxybyfliophbianiateratenpous”, eat it, only to find out that the word is just a fancy way to say “milk”.  Mama Pea’s wise advice was to avoid packaged foods as much as possible, which bypasses this issue and is healthier in general.  The problem is that June is also the month in which I’ll have class during lunch time 5 days a week, so no-packaged foods just won’t be realistic.

Do you have any advice/tips/hints for us?

Better News

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Good morning, good morning, good morning!!  I am in a blissfully good mood today.  The good news from the other day can’t even touch this morning’s.

  • You know that thing I’ve been worrying about but can’t really blog about?  It’s been dealt with, finally, and I can stop freaking out.
  • THIS MORNING I DROPPED OFF OUR SECURITY DEPOSIT FOR OUR NEW APARTMENT!!!!  I didn’t want to blog about it until it was a sure thing, but in July we are going to flee this hell-hole and move into a fabulous new spot that just happens to be walking distance from my new school! 

The not so good news is that my leg (where the fracture was/is) has been hurting so I had to cancel my run.  But there’s nothing that’s going to get me down today; I threw on a 20minute playlist and did strength/stretch moves on my yoga mat.

It feels so good to get the lead out!

Breakfast didn’t get eaten until after 10:45.  I was starving and it was satisfying.

0% Oikos Greek Yogurt with a chopped plum and a drizzle of maple syrup. 

Plums are actually my very favorite Greek yogurt mix-in.

On the agenda for today?

  • a shower, duh!
  • trip to the post office
  • doctor’s appointment for a skin check
  • eat 2.5cups of veggies!

How often do you get a skin check?  Why do you (or don’t you) think it’s important?  Everyone should get a skin check yearly, but since I have a history of skin cancer in my family, and a lot of sun damage from my island childhood, I try to go every 6months.

Breaking the Fourth Wall

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I’m very open on my blog, probably to a fault.  I share about my lady business and even my fights with the husband.  There is nothing in my personal life that I chose not to share with the blog.  However, I did manage to mature before Facebook, and there are things from my business life that I have the savvy not to share.

Which in general wouldn’t be a problem, except that sometimes these things involve frustrating long errands and news that makes me irritated and sad.  And these feelings and errands do end up impacting what/how I eat, which is the focus of the blog.

For today, I’ll apologize for being vague, and ask that you don’t request an explanation for my strange eats and short post.  Thank you.

Breakfast = vending machine pastry while I was stuck waiting for an appointment.

This actually wasn’t terrible, but I was pretty annoyed to not be filled up by a 450calorie “breakfast.”

Starbucks for caffeine.

Grande iced Americano with skim milk.

{insert 4 hour nap here}

Dinner = grilled turkey sandwich on sourdough (no butter) with swiss, 1000island dressing, and tomatoes.

Veggies eaten today: 1cup, of potatoes, which count but still boo.

If you are a blogger, are there any parts of your life you choose not to share?  Why or why not?

Great News

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I hope everyone is having a great Monday.  Mine has been full of all sorts of good news so far –

  • I got a 95% on the final and ended up with an A- in Anthropology
  • I finished my first set of Chemistry classes with an A in 102
  • My leg hasn’t hurt for the 3rd day in a row (more on what that means below)
  • Our plans are all set to visit Adam’s brother this weekend

As you might guess, I’m in a pretty good mood 😀  And all good days start with good breakfasts.

Stonyfield Blueberry Fat Free Yogurt with All-Bran Wheat Flakes (my final sample box) and fresh blackberries.

I’m going to be volunteering again for the next three weeks, so after breakfast I headed off to the hospital.  It felt so good to be back I ended up staying long over my time-commitment.

My late lunch was a veggie sensation.

I finally got to try the Nut-Butter Crusted Parsnip Fries blogworld has been raving about.

I tossed 1.5cups of peeled and chopped ‘snips in 2T of SunButter, then sprinkled them with salt and baked at 400* for 30minutes.  Here is the original recipe.  Angela was right, they are life-changing; I want to eat this every day!

I also had 1/2 cup of vegetarian baked beans.

Eat More Veggies Tip # 1 – Don’t be afraid to test their versatility, most veggies can go savory or sweet.

Eat More Veggies Tip # 2 – Canned veggies are just as healthy, and because they are non-perishable to easy to always have them on hand.

While I wait for lunch to digest, I will tell what about what I consider to be the best news of all: I can run again!!!!!  My doctor told me that my leg wouldn’t stop hurting until the fracture was fully healed, so 3 days without pain should mean I’m good to go.  I want to be able to keep running, so I’m going to be VERY careful.  i.e. –

  • icing as much as possible
  • stretching every day
  • working on leg strength training 3x a week
  • never running 2 days in a row
  • taking things really really slowly.  This first week I’m only going to let myself run for 5minutes.  And I’m not going to cross-train either until I’m sure I’m really healed.

So in just a bit I’ll be off to the gym, so exciting!  I’ll let you know how it goes over dinner.

Veggies eaten so far today:  2cups

Gotten any good news lately you’d like to share?  Brag away!