wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

seriously, this gadget is a whole lot of fun. wii fit is even fun. how i am having fun doing jack knives and push ups- i dont know. this system is tricky.
i was surprised to find that my balance when i am simply standing is shifted to my heels and a bit to the right. i have been working on it for the past week and it is getting more centered.

tonight is new years eve. im wondering what 2009 will bring.
i am also curious as to what Brandon and i will ultimately decide about the bulldog puppy. i mean, five dogs is a lot. will six be too many? we could be insane.....

the promised land- aka, vegan mac and not so cheese

i was on a quest. this seems to be a bit of a vegan mission- find the perfect mac and "cheese" recipe or go completely insane trying. i missed my mom's super fattening- butter, sour cream, velveeta, pasta concoction at holiday meals. i knew i had to come up with something!

a little while back i came across this post at Veganize it Don't Criticize It! and i knew that i would have to try it. this was the closest vegan option to what my mother has made for years.

When i began making this dish, i was missing a few ingredients (as i usually am) and so i had to improvise a bit. Instead of following the recipe exactly i did the following:

1 16oz package of Shell Pasta
3 Tbsp Vegan Smart Balance
1/2 tub Tofutti sour cream
1/2 Tbsp Miso paste
1/2 Tbsp yellow mustard
1/2 cup cashew butter
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp garlic powder
3/4 cup water
1 tsp salt

Cooked the pasta. Blended the remaining ingredients to form the "cheese sauce" and then cooked the two together in a sauce pan just long enough for everything to be heated and get a little thick.
I had finally done it! i created the perfect mac and "cheese" for my taste. the only meal that would satiate that beast who craves the dairy. i actually even added some frozen veggies to the meal to round it out and so i wasn't actually eating my weight in carbs. i had some of this creamy goodness with my Christmas dinner and since i'm the only vegan around here, i have leftovers! seriously so good. i'm glad i finally know the trick- cashews and tofutti sour cream!

Christmas!!

my Christmas was fabulous! im not a huge "gifts" person as i feel like other things are certainly more important. that being said, i obviously don't mind getting fun things- like a lovely bracelet that Brandon got me- and lots of other Twilight related items (huge dork, i know), a wii, wii fit, and raving rabbids or a gift card to get tickets for WICKED! when it arrives in Memphis. and Brandon made out like some kinda bandit! all sorts of gear and other goodies.
staying at his parent's house on Christmas Eve was a nice change in pace. and i looove his family, so waking me at 6am did not result in hostility. it was great being there. i really admire people in his family- his mother most of all. that is a bit of a sappy story for another day.

on to the food goodness!
first of all- vegan fudge. i should have never made this! it is tooooo good and will cause me to gain pounds and pounds if i eat it. (Hello Wii Fit!)
of course i made a few variations on the recipe that i found but it turned out like some sort of culinary miracle. people again could not tell it was vegan despite the tofutti sour cream. yeah, you read that right. i got creative, ok? but it worked! the original recipe came from here.
this is what i actually did:

1 1/2 cups vegan chocolate chips
1/2 tub Tofutti sour cream
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar

Melt the chocolate in a small saucepan set to low (or medium low). Continually stir to avoid burning/ sticking. Set aside when melted completely.
In a large mixing bowl, add remaining ingredients and beat with a mixer. Add a cup of sugar at a time mixing in between additions. Mix well for about 2 more minutes until all ingredients are evenly distributed and smooth. Spread into wax paper lined 8"x8" pan and refrigerate for at least two hours to set. Try not to eat all or even half of the fudge in a one day time frame.....

The night before Christmas

So, i caved and gave Brandon his presents early. I had to make sure that one of them fit.
Lucky for me, it does fit and he seems to really enjoy this ring.






I still have not quite figured out my menu for tomorrow. Better get with it pretty quick.

Yesterday, i did make green curry from veganomicon although i was missing some of the ingredients.... i seemed to make it work anyway.

tonight, we are going to stay at Steve and Dona's for christmas eve so we will already be there in the morning. we made his mom a stocking! that will be a fabulous surprise for her! :)

snobby joes with a kick!

these are basically Veganomicon Snobby Joes. the main differences are that i added carrots because i am a rabbit and i love carrots and instead of the can of tomato sauce i used rotel with habaneros. i like food to burn. im weird.
my lunch was delicious all the same. snobby joes with a kick to the face and spinach on wheat.

getting geeky

i dont have to go far for that. im a huge geek.

anyway! let me just brag about this site for a second. i feel like most people know about ETSY but i try to promote it all of the time anyway. this site is filled with handmade items and also houses vintage items and some supplies to make your own handmade crafts. in my opinion- this is the best place to get gifts for people and with Christmas right around the corner, i have been scouring this site even more frequently.
you can find anything from photography -check out this site for thousand words to puppy art Dog Art by Brian Ruebenacker to hand knit items at Jeannie knits.
I just think it is really cool. Instead of going to the crazy mall to give your money to huge corporations- you can support actual creators of unique products.

to add to the dorkiness- i am really excited about maybe getting a wii. of course i want a wii fit too cuz what is more fun than "riding a bubble" on a balance board?


:)

while im at it, i wanna kill zombies too!! killing zombies is vegan, right??

let me embarass my husband for a minute- at least he has his paintball mask on....

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

yay!!!

i got an A in all my first semester classes including advanced stats!
hooray for rockin at grad school!

weeeeeeeeeee!!

now im off to little rock to lead the PrissKillas against their derby team.

glad that's over with

earlier today i had a three hour long advanced statistics final. i'm actually mind-numb at this point.

that class has been hoarding all of my brain cells the entire semester. whew! i'm glad that it is over and done with and im sure i passed. i dont know if i got an a or a b but at least i dont have to do it again!!



afterward i was so exhausted that i didn't have the energy to make anything complicated. i crumbled some Happy Herbivore chickenless nuggets into a salad, threw a bit of vadalia onion dressing on top and called it lunch. not terribly exciting but it got the job done. and these nuggets are oh so good that they made the meal. chickenless salad.

i need to get cracking on some more "warm you up food" because it is COLD! outside.

fat dog in a little coat

since it is getting cold out, my mother and i decided to dress the pugs in the house to keep them warm. as if all the blubber and fur wasn't enough.
This is the Mookie during her torturous photo session. she was so happy running around in circles outside with these clothes on. until she actually got really hot wearing this doggie nightgown. it was adorable while it lasted. my favorite little detail about this getup is the way all of her fat is pushed up and coming out of the top of her outfit. it is great.


i made a HUGE pizza a couple of days ago and thought i would experiment a bit. instead of pizza sauce, i made some pesto for the base and added some squash, onions, red bell peppers, and zucchini on top. i had been craving pizza and this cured me straightaway.
now its back to studying for my finals until my eyes fall out... id rather be cooking.

Vegan Rum Cake!

This cake is delicious. It's so good in fact, i am going to have to limit myself to only making it on special occasions- thanksgiving, christmas, my birthday. It's clearly not something i eat all the time.

Cake-
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1 box vegan yellow cake mix (or use a recipe for a vegan yellow/white cake)
2 servings EnerG Egg Replacer
1/2 can coconut milk
1/2 cup vegan butter (i like the vegan smart balance, personally)
1/2 cup rum

Glaze-
1/2 cup vegan butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup rum (unless you just get a little heavy handed....) :)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a nonstick coating in a Bundt pan. Make your two "eggs" as per instruction on the box. Mix all of the cake ingredients together and beat on high with an electric mixer (something like two minutes). Pour into your prepared pan and bake for one hour or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Invert onto a serving plate. Then make your glaze. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in the water and brown sugar and boil for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add the rum being careful of the steam that will rise from your saucepan.

Enjoy!

vegan thanksgiving!

sooooooo. thanksgiving- my first vegan thanksgiving to be exact- was fabulous!

not only did i make a few lovely things for myself, my very sweet mother in law got me a tofurkey and some vegan gravy from whole foods. along with that, she made vegan mashed potatoes (before she omni'ed them up for everyone else in the house) :)
and green beans with olive oil and spices. yum!
for myself, i made a green bean casserole, corn casserole, sweet potatoes, and a delicious and scandalous rum cake!

no one knew my cake was vegan. it was moist and delicious (it was the addition of coconut milk that did it, im guessing). it did knock the socks off of some folks who ate it. im a little heavy handed on the rum, heh.

















i didnt actually have a camera to photo my food as most people at the table would have found that a little strange. here is a photo of some leftovers nonetheless.















i had a wonderful day with my families and Brandon was nice and chipper. must have been that nice game of Risk with his father and brothers.

an anniversary

my grandparent's 60th anniversary was this weekend. pretty amazing really. my parent's took them to some steak house (ick) to celebrate. here is an embarrassing and adorable photo.
i, of course, didn't really get to eat but i was glad that my grandparents had a good time and were doted on by people who appreciate them.


as for "energy food", here's something new.
this is artichoke flour fettucini with a cheezy sauce, tofutti sour cream, and baby spinach. i needed some carbs before playing in the Memphis vs Huntsville bout. we won but it was a very hard fought game. it came down to the second half and a bunch of nail biting.
























now. if i can just get my menu figured out for thanksgiving..... at least this recipe for corn casserole should help cuz i looooooooove corn casserole!!

the chicken, the goats

ok so here is an actual photo of the scandal that turned into the chicken helmet.
i must say, this late night mission was hilarious.


while i am at it, let me rant a bit about paducky. they have very strange things there. mebbe it has something to do with that uranium plant......

and what better way to commemorate weird town landmarks than by taking embarrassing photos of your teammates/friends!?


Susan and the Captain D's fish















da easy money bus.















people here sell babies.











ok, so they are goat babies. kids, babies, whatever.

adventures in paducky

the PrissKillas went on another adventure this weekend. this time to scrimmage the radioactive city rollergirls. of course, when the pink girls go outta town, we don't simply go out of town. somewhere in arkansas we realized that there was a nail through a tire which prompted a trip to the wal-mart for a new tire. while there, we decided to play a prank on "White Cheri." it's kinda a sick joke but all she ever eats is chicken so the rest of the girls decided that she was "turning into a chicken" and therefore needed some sort of chicken adornment on her helmet.
Malice, Licious, Susie, and myself ran through wal-mart like 007 agents in search of the perfect chicken.
after we found our trinket, we picked up some silly string for a scheme outside. we lined the remaining PrissKillas and ref up for a "photo" of our ridiculous luck with the tire and all and shot them with silly string instead of a flash.

When it came down to it, we won our scrimmage. Not by many points mind you. The floor was more reminiscent of ice than wood and it was difficult to adjust. Nevertheless, we pulled it together and made it happen. Now, we just hope the PrissKillas can pull this off in our upcoming season.... that is unless MRD consolidates....

mmmmm, meatballs

more goodness from Happy Herbivore. these are her Grammy's Meatless Balls thrown on top of some squash, bell peppers, and onion right before i poured a vegan rotel mixture on top. these are absolutely delicious and versatile. they can be thrown in soup, used for the obvious pasta dish, cut up and added to a burrito (or a tortilla-less burrito as i have done here) or eaten as a sub with some marinara! in fact, that sounds like a great idea for a calzone.
school and derby has kinda limited my time this week and so i have not made much in the way of food. after this weekend and the PrissKilla trip to Kentucky to take on a derby team there, i will get back to the kitchen.

nuggets- Happy Herbivore style

if you somehow have not yet picked up Happy Herbivore's e-cookbooks, go and get them now!

once i discovered that i had been duped by the makers of Quorn, i knew this recipe would become a vital one. don't get me wrong, their products are certainly amazing, they just are not vegan. i, under a false pretense, was eating at least one a week. wouldn't you know it, they have eggs is them. so now my quick, pop in the freezer and snack on after roller derby meal is off of my list of things i choose to eat.
Happy Herbivore to the rescue!
these satisfy my "chicken" nugget craving without the use of eggs or milk (and obviously chicken). these are spot on. the texture is great and the flavor is delicious! i opted not to use corn flakes for the breading, instead i used grape nuts. next time i make these, i will make them a little more spicy. this recipe is brilliant!

as for my cheeze dilemma, i may have found my solution in a recipe for crock cheeze (as listed on the vegan outreach webpage). this cheeze is not pretty, but it tastes good. i believe with some tweaking, it will work for the veganization of mom's mac and cheese.

cheese tease

will someone please explain to me why i do not like teese? maybe it has something to do with the fact that when i first tried it i was just transitioning away from eating dairy.... maybe i am doing something wrong? i mean i tried eating it like sliced cheese and it was just a little horrible. perhaps if i try it melted on a pizza, i would be more fond of this item that more experienced vegans seem to enjoy.
as for other cheezes- here is another option. vegan outreach has these cheeze recipes listed on their site. they list the ultimate uncheese cookbook as a source, perhaps i should go and get a copy.
why the sudden interest in cheese you ask? well cheese was the reason that a vegan lifestyle almost did not work for me. i have a bit of a weakness for melty deliciousness. but not only does it make me sick (literally, im pretty confident that i have developed lactose intolerance) it is no reason to make an exception to my lifestyle choices. so here we are getting closer to the holidays and the mass consumption that accompanies them and i am reminded of my mother's mac and cheese that was previously my absolutely favorite dish. this must be veganized. i must figure it out. so i need to have some cheezy recipes under my belt before i tackle this monster. i guess another option is to use a cheddar soy cheeze like follow your heart... i just don't know what would work best. i better get crackin!

ethinic yum

let me just tell you that i love ethiopian food. Christina and i went to Abyssinia today. she was off as she had worked a week's worth of hours on monday and tuesday alone (the woman is a reporter and the election was kinda important for her to cover). after i got out of colloquium, we headed over there. she had no idea what she was in for but was pleasantly surprised when we got to the lunch buffet. what i love is that all of their vegetarian/vegan menu items also exist on their buffet.
red lentils are my absolute favorite! we also had green lentils with jalapenos and onion, potato salad, green beans and carrots, and injera.

This is Christina, she is fabulous.

on a different note here is a thought i had last night while at a baby shower with my mother in law and one of many reasons i am glad to have gone vegan, i cannot eat junk food at social gatherings because most junk has eggs or milk in it. this is kinda a throwback to my food obsession. if i want something sweet like cake i have to actually take the time to make it so that i can ensure no animals were harmed in the production of the cake. this removes the threat of simple mindless eating. obviously if you have to wait on your sweets to be made and cook then you have time to decide if you really want them. im all for satisfying cravings every now and then but i don't want to be victim to thoughtlessly munching away on unhealthy sweets all the time. that is (of course) not to say that i think people eating cake is bad, it's just to say that being vegan has removed the temptation for me in a situation where i don't happen to have much tenacity.

oh hail!

with the weather swiftly on its way to wretched, my brain and tummy are desperate for comfort foods! and when i am super lazy because of lack of sunlight and a tendency toward wanting to hibernate, the easiest and yummiest canned good around is Amy's Spicy Chili.
i cannot say too many fabulous things about this amazing product. it is deliciously spicy, has just the right amount of beans and "meat," and is filling. nothing says "escape the cold weather outside" to me quite like this chili. i have had the medium, but as i have stated before, i like my food hot especially if it is chili, salsa, mexican, or thai. that being said, i stick with the spicy chili.

and just think of the possibilities: chili dogs, chili fries on days when you are being naughty :), and even chili nachos, yum! all that to say i hate cold weather but this makes it all better. now my gears are grinding about adding this chili to a casserole... hmmm....

historic take 2

let us also not forget that today is another type of historic day. on this day in 1605, a group of catholic conspirators set out to destroy Parliament and the royal protestant family.
this is commonly referred to as the Gunpowder Plot.
Tonight is also known as Guy Fawkes night.

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,

The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,

I can think of no reason

Why the Gunpowder Treason

Should ever be forgot.

the graphic novel, and later film, V for Vendetta, presents an anarchist revolutionary dressed in a Guy Fawkes mask, trying to bring down the fascist government. One man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter, it just depends on which side you are on... i think that the only sanity lies somewhere in the middle.

historic

Like the outcome or not, last night's election was set to be a historic event on both sides of the ticket. We would have either embraced a woman as a vice president or an African American man as president. As it turns out, Obama will be our next president.

We are kinda married to him for four years, for better or worse. And it seems like people are completely on one side or the other. Some think that he is actually the antichrist, that he will destroy our economy, chat it up with terrorists and leave our country helpless. On the other hand, some think that he is the voice of reason and hope in a difficult time. That he will lead this country to a better economy but also to seek out hope and change. Of course, being the independent that i am, i can do nothing but wait it out and hope for the best. I don't pretend to know enough about politics to argue them. But I want to see our economy get better and our country not be threatened by others who would seek to destroy us (and if we are threatened, i want to see us defend ourselves ferociously). Anyone remember that little tea party we threw and the fact that our country is based in not allowing someone else to threaten to destroy us? That is really the bottom line for me.
I think that the Obama camp probably understands that they need to win the confidence of the American people, given that the popular vote was nearly split. Change can be frightening, and sometimes it is good and sometimes it is not, but like i said, we will just have to wait and see.

Enough of that rambling! that must be the detox talking!
today is "get the junk out" day. this consists of the usual apple cider vinegar and water right upon waking, then a tbsp of blackstrap mollasses, and (lucky for me, being able to keep that down) then a smoothie breakfast. this morning the smoothie consisted of raw oats, flax seed, 1/2 a frozen banana, 1/2 cup soymilk, 1/2 cup water, and a spoonful of peanut butter.





















my snack around 11:45 will be 1/2 cup grated raw zuchinni with tahini sauce. lunch will contain the most cooked element i have seen today- two slices of whole wheat bread. the sammich will be filled with chick pea not tuna and raw spinach.

tuesday brought to you by the word calzone.

back on the pizza kick. this time i made my own crust from Vegan with a Vengeance only i used whole wheat flour. i stuffed half of the crust recipe with tofu ricotta and spinach and shaped it into a calzone. after popping this baby in the oven at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes, lunch was ready to go before i went to vote. i also made marinara as a side. yum!


here are the guts!

i was just meandering through the PPK forum when i came across this!! Vegan Queso from Vegan Explosion!!!!!
Add this to the list of things that i want right now. gimme. Nothing is better than some chips and queso when you are in a serious crave mode. I imagine this stuff is also great on tacos or burritos or maybe even a vegan chili mac. the possibilities are endless and are making me a bit hungry even though my mother and i just went to on the border to have an anxiety cocktail. i will be glad when this blasted election is over.

as for my car- it's still not fixed. my mother even had to take me to class today, drop me off and pick me back up.... i felt like a middle schooler. i am glad that my mom is cool. :)

tomorrow needs to be detox day because today is making me sick.

aw for crying out loud!

this is about to be a bit of a rant.















this was the end of my stinking weekend. after the fun that i had on friday night, saturday night reared its ugly head. the bout was a win for memphis roller derby, 170 something to 40 something. in case you can't tell, the captain had my number and she was not small. eeeeep! nonetheless, i was put in as jammer the two times there was a jammerless jam and i managed to score something like 6 points. not a lot but enough to keep the Tulsa girls behind.
late in the game, i put a hit on their jammer Sweet Sassy Mollassy that landed me in the box and her in the hospital. the hit was clean, though one of our skates was out of bounds so i did get a penalty for it. she fell wrong. i mean really wrong. her leg is broken through both bones just above the ankle. this was her first bout. i cannot tell you how much of a jerk i felt like while sitting in the box watching the ambulance take her away. i know that this is a tough sport and that people get hurt (especially people who have not been doing this for years) but i just did not intend to hurt her. i intended to knock her down.
here's the only vegan thing in this whole post and i dont even have a photo. i made butternut squash with black beans, mushrooms, green bell peppers and spices. i put the concoction in tortillas and baked them in the oven. apparently they were good (although i didn't even get one) because all ten of them were quickly eaten by derby girls at our after bout potluck...

at the after party which was downtown, someone busted in my window and ransacked my car. they stole my dad's radar detector, a cell phone charger, and ipod connector cable, and my watch. luckily for me, they did not find the ring that my mother in law gave me and they forgot to take my ipod. here is the glass that is now missing from my passenger side window. whoever did this sucks. gotta love Memphis. im not going to go downtown unless it is for some special occasion and next time Brandon is going with me. im thinking that after parties are a bad idea for me as well. my phone ended up in the toilet.


i went home crying to Brandon in hysterics as if i wasnt upset already. the icing on the cake- this whole daylight savings time switch thing has me so messed up that i slept twelve hours last night. i went to sleep at 8 and got up at 8. i guess i needed it. i don't know. it seems crazy but i've had kinda a crazy week!

Halloween!

Although we did not go out and do much for Halloween festivities, we had a bit of fun. Brandon got me a pumpkin! Yay! And we decorated it about 30 different ways with this Mr. Pumpkin Head kit that his mother bought us. Fun!
We got a bit bored and decided to dress up in some regular clothes, capes, and masks and walk around the block to see what the kids were up to. We have no street lights so the kids were not really out and about....


















Memphis Roller Derby takes on Tulsa, OK in a few hours so i thought it might be good to eat some carbs before i play. I made pasta (which i never eat anymore) and covered it in a variation of Vegan Dad's creamy mac and cheese.
I didn't actually measure anything but i included tahini, nutritional yeast, garlic dijon mustard, onion powder, salt, miso, soymilk, tofu, paprika, olive oil and just a bit of raw sugar. Tasty!

Dia De Los Muertos

multiple Spanish speaking countries (mostly Mexico and South American countries) celebrate what is called Dia De Los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. this is a day to remember and pray for their loved ones who have already passed from this world. they believe that one this day more than any other day of the year, they might be visited by lost loved ones. people decorate cemeteries and altars in their homes with the favorite foods and photos of the departed along with flowers and other decorations such as skulls made out of sugar. another common practice is the baking and eating of pan de muertos- dead bread. there are multiple varieties of this bread, some including rosewater and orange zest. the bread is consistently yeast based and usually sweet. i began the tradition of making pan de muertos after learning about dia de los muertos in high school spanish class. celebrations are somewhere from October 1st to November 2nd, coinciding with All Saints Day (and just conveniently located near Halloween).

here is what i am eating now, a vegan Pan De Muertos: you can find lots of recipe variations if you search for them.

3/4 cup lukewarm water
1 pkg active dry yeast
1 cup Smart Balance Light or other vegan margarine ( i just dont like earth balance for some reason), melted and cooled to room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
1 lb medium firm tofu, pureed until smooth
1 tsp salt
cinnamon or pumpkin pie seasoning to taste according to your preference (1 to 2 tbsp)
(people also sometimes use clove or 1tbsp orange zest)
up to 1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
up to 3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (or whatever ratio you like, i used mostly wheat)

to top it off:
1 tbsp soy milk
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Mix the yeast with the warm water and let sit for five minutes. Mix your flours together. Stir in the melted Smart Balance, the pureed tofu, the sugar, the spices of your choice, the salt and 1 1/2 cups of the flour. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough forms a sticky ball. Turn this onto a lightly floured board and knead for about 10 minutes, adding more flour if needed to prevent sticking. Place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a clean cloth. Allow to rise in a warm spot until it has doubled in size — about 90 minutes.

Punch dough down and knead a couple of times. Get creative. Some loaves are braided and made into a circle with two little dough "bones" places on top. Some loaves are simple round loaves with bones crossing them. Do whatever you like. Let these loaves rise for 45 minutes and preheat your oven to 375 F, brush the loaves with the 1 tbsp of soy milk and bake for 30-40 minutes.

Remove the loaves from the oven, brush with a little extra melted Smart Balance, and sprinkle the top with a bit more brown sugar and cinnamon.
Tastes just like the egg laden version. I promise. Omni approved and everything. :)


Feliz Dia De Los Muertos.

sometimes you just need a salad

i have always been the vegetarian that hates salads, but that is because people consider some iceberg lettuce and some tasteless tomatoes a salad. gack. give me spinach, carrots, baked tofu and peanut sauce any day. yum.
this is one of the few times when i will mention that a chain restaurant (ick) is deeeelish. Ruby Tuesday gets an A++++ for their salad bar. That monster has edamame, tons of carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes, spinach and all kindsa good bunny food. Whenever my SUPER omni, Paula Deen cooking loving parents want to go out to dinner and i am in the equation, i at least have an option that they will agree with.

weekend wiggles

after the shenanigans early in the day, my saturday started looking up. I did my sister's makeup for her Halloween party. She looked something like this:
Those contacts were killing her. She kept crying and smearing her makeup, making my job even more difficult.

After making my sister over into a possessed and naughty nun, I ventured out with Chris to the Orpheum to see La Traviata.
Kallen Esperian was the diva of the night and as the play unfolded, I began to realize that this is the story that Moulin Rouge was based on. It is a beautiful tragedy of a woman who gives up her only hope of salvation and love because her lover's sister is engaged to a man who will not wed her if Violetta (a former courtesan) is in her family. He does not want to "spoil his good name" by marrying a woman associated with someone like Violetta. The differences from the movie were quite obvious but the conclusion of the tragedy remains- Violetta succumbs to a long standing illness and dies in the arms of her lover after a tumultuous break up and then reuniting.... She tells Alfredo that should he ever find a young and beautiful woman who loves him he should marry her and give her Violetta's portrait, telling her that Violetta is a guardian angel in heaven watching over them and their love.
The evening was lovely. We were taken backstage to meet Kallen Esperian and we were also allowed to climb the stage and see what the actors see while they perform. Having a familial background in opera, the experience for me was amazing.
After getting some tofu wraps (blast, the fried tofu made a tiny comeback...) we ventured out to Cordova to check out Cortney's Halloween party. The whole scene was hilarious. Luke was Nathan Explosion, Tim was Officer Dangle, another guy was a "thing.... in a box," one was a banana..... it was kinda great although had a certain fraternity party feel to it as they are all about college age. After staying there for a bit, i had enough of one day and needed to sleep!

weekend wall

i lose track of time during the weekend but i can tell you this one was busy. Friday night was cut a bit short as Brandon and i woke up at 4am to go to his parent's house (again, for him to sit in the woods dressed in camouflage....) after breakfast, Dona and I sat around and chatted while Brandon and Scott went out again. Then we went to get our tests run.
The items looked at were ph levels, age, weight, salt concentrations, albumin levels, and two nitrate solution tests. Now these are all fine and good, but here is what was not considered- daily diet and activity level. When we called Dr Challen Waycoff on the phone and reported the numbers, he asked me about my diet. I said the word "vegan" and he lost it. His initial response was "No one should be vegan." my jaw pretty much hit the floor. then he went on to talk about how cooked foods are good and you need calcium and etc. he was obviously confused about what the word means. he thought vegans were automatically raw foodists. his claim was that vegans brains do not function properly, they lack oxygen in the body and their organs grow old too quickly. Ok. this may be true for people on junky diets, but come on. I have had this conversation with MY physician who sees me at least once a year. I am rarely ill, very physically active, and i eat properly. He will tell you i am healthier than almost everyone he sees. He even did complete blood work and a physical. His only complaint- i might be a bit anaemic. I also have a history of diabetes in my family and have a tendency toward hypoglycemia. I have not eaten meat for 14 years. I am a graduate student who plays roller derby and does Bikram yoga. I mean, i am obviously not a little brittle boned skinny girl who is going to fall apart from not getting proper nutrition.

Here are my thoughts, because i was obviously a bit upset after being berrated for choosing a cruelty free diet. You cannot make a judgement on someone's diet when you don't even know proper vocabulary. Do some research. I have thought out my diet and tried to become as educated as possible about the benefits and potential risks of veganism. If you claim to be a naturopathic doctor, you need to get the whole story and not base opinions on a few unhealthy vegans/ vegetarians you have come across in your life. Also, i think it is important to take the whole person in consideration when consulting about their diet. I am not a list of numbers on a sheet. Someone thinking outside the box of conventional medicine should certainly realize that. Treat the person not the "symptoms" or results of tests you run. He should have asked how active i am and what an average meal consists of for me.
His other theories that are based on biochemistry seem very valid and applicable. One is to consume a certain amount of distilled water and lemon to clean out the system every hour. Another is to eat a kosher diet. I can appreciate these both. He even offers vegan (and he doesn't even know it!!) vitamin and mineral supplements. So i am not completely attacking his system. I just started to feel like the whole thing was a bit over marketed and almost gimmicky. You MUST have something wrong with you that i can treat so i can sell you my books and vitamins!! Anyway, i am going to get his book and read it, glean the information that i think is applicable and beneficial, and just ignore the fact that he is ignorant of a healthy vegan diet while choosing to stay the course of my lifestlye dicisions. Not everything works for everyone. Some vegans are overweight though veganism is sometimes touted as a weight loss system, just for example. Not everyone's chemistry is the same. Not all physicians and/or scientists are well rounded in their view of nutrition.

lazy vegan

mmmmmmmm, lunch! this was a wrap filled with spaghetti squash, black beans, red and green bell peppers, onions, and chipotle peppers in adobo sauce with some nice toffutti sour cream. yum! i mean i guess this photo is not beautiful, but it makes me happy anyway. i really love red bell peppers. something about their sweetness....
point being, this is my lazy version of lunch or dinner- throw your veggies (whatever is handy) in the skillet, get them nice and hot, add in some chipotle peppers and maybe some vegan cheese or sour cream and you are good to go. you can add black beans, rice, or quinoa if you have some handy. i do try to get lots of protein in there. lazy shouldnt mean less than good for you.


anyway. check out this post from the lovely Monique. i want that right freaking now!

crunchy! but not a crunchy chick (cuz that is just sad)

i have to just admit this. i love tofu that has been frozen, thawed, then baked. throw a bit of olive oil on it and some spices and bake it until it is golden and crunchy. i think this is the closest you can get to the fried (gasp!) tofu at the young avenue deli. that used to be my favorite thing to eat after roller derby practice with some curry mayo. honestly, i was just excited that there was ANY vegetarian option available to me somewhere where the rest of my team would eat.

now, i am making my own crunchy tofu and curry veganaise! no fried anything and for that my pant's size is thankful :)
now if i could just figure out how to make killer sweet potato fries that are baked and do not burn..... anyway, that was my dinner last night: baked tofu, spinach, tomato, spicy veganaise and some health nut bread. ( i don't quite understand the whole honey thing yet....)

still reading Becoming Vegan and taking lots of notes on what i need to eat to maintain my crazy schedule and activities.

and i want these!

watched InterSession practice Thriller last night to perform at a Halloween haunted house this Saturday and next Friday night. Hilarious! Of course i will be viewing La Traviata and then venturing to my sister's Halloween party this Saturday and finding some other mischief to get into on Halloween evening. I wouldn't be able to do that dance without cracking up anyway.

itza pitza!

yum! check out this lovely vegan pizza.
this is shmeared with VWAV pizza sauce (with a pinch of raw sugar added).





then i threw on some tofu ricotta and spinach. popped it in the oven for about 10 minutes and there you have it!

1 pkg firm tofu drained and pressed
splash of lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp basil + few leaves of fresh basil
1 tsp or 2 oregano
garlic powder and salt to taste (which is a bunch in my case...)

i found out today in my advanced stats class that i did not do too great on my exam (88) but it was enough to put my midterm average at an A!! you bet your hot bottom that i did a victory dance right there in class. (after previously threatening to leap from the second story building whilst the professor was passing out the scored exams....) i was even feeling festive enough to eat mah deeeeelicious pizza off of my reindeer plate. nomnomnom! i have lots of leftovers, some of which will be taken to lab where the girls will probably ask what in the world i am eating. :)




honestly, i have been in a bit of a funk this month. i have felt sluggish and heavy and tired... i just try to keep telling myself that i am fine and that everything will work out. this has been a tried and true method in my life. i tell myself that i am doing great and i actually start to do great. i just have to get my head in the right place and maintain a certain level of confidence so that i can continue to persevere through whatever is standing in my way. this exam proved to be pivotal in establishing a confidence for me when it comes to graduate school. i was off to a shaky start and was not transitioning well. i was feeling lazy about work and really distractable. but now i feel like i can focus much better on my work and have all the energy i need to excel. i guess hearing about how hard graduate school is kinda became a mental block for me. like i might just not be good enough or smart enough to make it. but if i can excel in my stats class (the first class to ever make me question my academic ability in psychology), then i think i am doing alright. now i just have to keep the momentum going. and get more sunshine.

Blix couldn't walk today when i got home to give him his medicine from the vet. he splayed out as if his joints simply did not function. after the medicine ran through his system for a bit, he was more able to get up and move around, even hopping into the kitchen to get a spoonful of peanut butter (and some more medicine, just don't tell him that, ok?) i'm glad he is up and at 'em again. i hate to see my most spastic, fun loving, punch you in the gut puppy all pitiful and temporarily disabled.

a word of advice from Dory:
"just keep swimming.
just keep swimming."

is this vegan or is it good?

that's what my mom said while watching me make vegan with a vengeance carrot cake. humph! of course it is both vegan and delicious!
my version used whole wheat flour and rolled oats. i also left out the coconut. this cake was so good, in fact, that my mother thought it did not need icing! obviously my pant's size doesn't need the icing.


Adapted from Vegan with a Vengeance

1 1/3 cup wheat flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup canola oil
3/4 cup raw sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup macadamias
1 tbsp minced ginger (in a jar much like garlic)
2 cups carrots (pulp from juicing)



yesterday, i noticed our boxer, Blix, was limping pretty obviously. by last night he was crying constantly and had lost the will to even walk around much. I gave him a tylenol and then later some benadryl so that he would sleep. poor pup was still whining most of the night and i think that Poe (one of three Boston Terriers) managed to sit on his inflammed leg.... he screamed so loud i sat straight up in bed. :(

he wanted to go outside at 3 am but didnt want to get up, so i had to help him get to his three not sore feet so he could go outside. i'm going to go to the vet later and get some inflammation and pain medicine as the vets have already tested him and cannot find a source of the problem. Blix was a rescue dog that Brandon found, extremely malnourished, on the side of the road. it is possible and likely even that he just failed to have the nutrients that he needed in development... whatever the cause, i just hope he starts feeling better.

more fun than a barrel of derby girls

so this saturday was the derbytante ball. it was held at dish and it was actually one of our only "classy" affairs. i mean derby girls are rowdy, that's just how it is so we tend to have rough and tumble or super campy events, not so much black tie affairs. anyway, in this photo you can see the dress that i reinvented. i yanked the bow off the front, cinched it, sewed back on the pink chiffon, and added a big sparkly brooch. seriously, everyone told me they loved that dress. i was the Bella of the Ball. heh.
of course i left with only half of my toenail on mah big toe (Chris kinda squished it with her chair and body weight), beer on my dress from a beastly new WMD who was having too much fun backing it up, and dirt and booze all over the bottom of my lovely pink chiffon. blasted derby girls, you can't take em anywhere. at least the PrissKillas were classy and stylish (i.e. not wearing sparkly animal print dresses.....)

This photo: Smackie loves me she is really just in denial about it.
heh.

as you can see, i won an award for most assists. i am guessing this was a first season award as most of the second season i played as jammer. (which reminds me, i wonder about the most lead jams award, but maybe that was for the first season and not the second.) this award was soon lost behind the bench that is bolted to the floor at Dish. i handed it, mine and Chris' awards to Betty Larceny for safe keeping behind the merch table and now they are lost forever :( oh well, at least i have a photo. (could that smile be any more ridiculous??!)



yesterday, the hubby and i went out to his parent's house where he went to look for animals (in camo clothing.... :( but far be it for me to try to indoctrinate him with my belief system. i refuse to be that type of vegetarian going vegan) and i sat and chatted with his mom and later his sister. Dona, his mom, plans on taking me with her on Saturday to "test." she and her sisters check various levels of vitamins and minerals in their bodies and make adjustments in their diet or supplements according to what the test finds. this diet by Challen W. Waychoff II is based on Ream's Biological Theory of Ionization and also on Levitican law. Although not vegan, it is kosher. So being a vegan in this eating system would simply take it a step further.





i would like to know if anything is missing in my system so that i can supplement should i need to. as most vegetarians/vegans know, people will constantly ask you "how do you get enough protein? are you sure that diet is healthy? are you getting everything you need (vitamins and minerals)?" so i feel like if i know for sure where i currently stand on the health front, then i can more easily defend my stance when necessary.