Yoga Challenge Day 1? Round 2.

Well, I took a yoga class last night after skipping Wednesday due to feeling like crap. Last night's class was AH-MAH-ZING. Seriously. I was still pretty weak and shaky, but for the most part could hold my own and really got into the whole yoga "zen" thing. I felt so relaxed and my mind was calm. So I am starting over my 30 day challenge as of yesterday. I am so happy to be on the way!

Also, my food "cleanse" has been going great. I have made some really tasty foods and have had no trouble with staying away from dairy, processed carbs and refined sugars. I feel so healthy when I eat a vegan, whole foods diet, it just makes me feel like I should eat this way all the time. I always say "I love fish, eggs, and cheese too much to give them up"....maybe true, but after all I have read in the book Gristle...and others books...I am beginning to think I shouldn't eat that stuff anymore. More on that later.

In the meantime, I thought I would do a quick summary of what I ate yesterday. I typically don't count calories, per se, but I do have general idea of the caloric build up of my foods and aim for three 400-ish calorie meals allowing for a few snacks in between if I am hungry, for a total calorie intake of no more than 1800 calories daily. I would love to use the calculator Dawn from Florida Coastal Cooking uses...one of my favorite blogs with great recipe ideas and gorgeous pictures of Florida.

Anyway, I thought I would do a guesstimate of yesterdays food, and also give you all a sample of what I am eating.

Breakfast
1.5 servings of steel cut oats 225 c
2 TBSP chopped cashews 80 c
2 TBSP chopped dried cherries 60 c
1 tsp raw local honey 20 c
1/4 cup hemp milk 30 c
Total 415

Lunch
Steamed and lightly sauteed:
1/2 tsp olive oil 20 c
1/2 head of cabbage 24c
1/2 carrot 3c
2 green onions 15c
Drizzled with: 1 TBSP Flax Seed Oil 100c
2 TBSP Sesame seeds 100c
Drops of Ume Plum Vinegar (nominal calories)
Total 269

Snack
5 dried apricots 100

Snack.
2 TBSP homemade hummus with carrot, celery and bell pepper sticks 100

Dinner
1 (AMAZING!) Lentil burger  from 101 Cookbooks. Seriously, this was so good. It was fun to cut the burger in half and stuff it...I didn't miss a bun at all and have to agreed with Heidi that sometimes eating a veggie burger in a bun can seem a bit "bready" I subbed for the breadcrumbs some brown rice and chickpea flour, and for the onions, I used green onions and cilantro. I also halved the recipe. Also...I used plain green lentils and it worked out fine. These were SO good. I can't wait to eat one of the leftovers. I am really going to have to guess on this one's calorie build up. I would guess 225 c?
Stuffed with 1/2 small avocado 100c
and arugula 20c
and topped with some of this incredible dressing, maybe 45c?
I put some of the arugula and avocado on the side too for a little side salad with the dressing. It as an awesome dinner.
Total 390c

Dessert
5 dried apricots 100c
2 cuties tangerines 80c

Wow...this is surprising, my total for yesterday was about 1454 calories. Hmm, less than I thought! Well, I am really going to have to think about this. I was never hungry yesterday and ate enough to fuel my yoga workout, a long day of work, a trip to Trader Joe's, cooking, and reading a whole book. Not to mention, two loads of laundry and playing with Peroni for about a half hour. I think I am going to need to do some calculations of how much I should be eating to meet my goals and have enough fuel for my day. I think I might be over guessing how much I actually need. I am not really into counting calories...I try to eat intuitively...meaning, "am I really hungry?" and "what does my body really want right now?" and eating accordingly. But I do have some goals about how I want my body to look, so I might have to reconsider some of this.

Well, I hope you all have a wonderful day. I will be back with updates on this whole calorie thing. I am a bit baffled. In the meantime...please try that Green Goddess Salad dressing and those lentils burgers. Yum!

Yoga Challenge Day 1?

Well, yesterday I thought I was finally getting over my cold so I decided to go to my 1st of 30 yoga classes as I planned in "kicking off 2011 right". I took a P1 class which is the easiest of about 5 levels of classes at my studio. I usually go to the 3 hardest classes. But given that I had been out of town for a week and then sick for a week, I thought I should ease in. I am not going to lie. It was hard. Really hard. However, I felt better afterwards and thought I was on the way to recovery. Not so. I woke up today feeling more tired and ill than I felt yesterday. My back is also killing me, and I can't tell if that is from yoga, or from my cold, or because I am sleeping in the guest room as now Aaron is sick! Argh! Well, I just keep telling myself positive thoughts, am drinking copious amounts of herbal tea, eating lots of veggies and tasty vegan foods, popping vitamin C and Zinc like it's candy, and hoping that tomorrow will be a better day. (Who knows, maybe this afternoon will bring a second wind!)

I hope all of your January's are off to a great and healthy start!

Christmas Cooking Gifts and Healthy Meals...

I was a very good girl this year because Santa brought me tons of cooking and kitchen gadgets! Below you can see my new pizza stone! and a new baking rack for roasting veggies on, and a Le Creuset Cast Iron Skillet! and a lovely large new tea pot. My old tea pot kept scalding me with steam. Bad. 

Below here you will see the Rancho Gordo Heirloom Bean Cookbook and some beans in the background. My dad thought I was nuts to ask for beans for Christmas, but hey, it's what I wanted. My sweet friend Jessica gave me one of her dad's prized cutting boards, hand made with trimmings from the fruit trees she climbed in the midwest as a child. Such a sweet and pretty gift!

Another shot of the lovely beans....I made some last night simmered simply with garlic and onions. I topped them off with some sea salt and freshly chopped cilantro. Served with a side salad, what a great and healthy dinner! I encourage you to take a look at the Rancho Gordo website. This guy is doing some amazing things with one of the healthiest things you can eat. Thomas Keller even wrote the forward. I found out about this guy due to Heidi Swanson, she is always talking about his beans.

These are the prettiest little measuring spoons Aaron picked out for me at Anthropologie. 

And these are the cutest measuring cups I have ever seen! Aaron picked these out too!

 Aaron also picked out these pretty wooden tea spoons for me. 

Such a lucky chef! To start off January right, I have already made some wonderful food. I cooked a chowder inspired by Vegetarian Times with corn, potatoes, red quinoa, soy milk, veggie broth, and lots of seasonings. It is fabulous and tastes so rich but it's really not and it's great for you. 

Below is a simple pesto I made with a bunch of arugula, and handful of pinenuts, lemon juice and olive oil. It tastes great mixed into soups, eggs, rice, noodles, whatever you want! 

Tonight I mixed it in with some simple steamed green lentils and topped that with a mixture of this pretty purple kale sauteed with some onions, bell peppers, and fresh herbs. You can also see the pretty olive platter that Aaron brother and sister in law gave us for Christmas. 

I am off to eat my veggies! 

Kicking off 2011 right...

January is a great time to do some sort of a cleanse and start the year off right. I have done this for the past few years and it is a great way to get rid of all the crap and sugar I eat during the holidays and just really clear the slate for the new year.

I am fighting a cold, so hopefully it is gone soon. As soon as I am back to healthy, I am going to do a 30 day cleanse and yoga challenge. I had hoped to start today, but when I am sick I can't do yoga, and all I want to eat is bread, pasta, and white rice. I think I am getting better, so hopefully I can start in the next day or so.

Here are the guidelines:

With the exception of eggs and fish, I am going to eat a vegan diet. No dairy at all.

No "white" or processed carbohydrates. No white bread, no pasta. I still plan on eating whole grains and beans, but just want to take a break from bad white carbs that make me fat, tired, and hungry for more.

Limit salt. I can't eat food that doesn't taste good, and I don't think most food tastes good without salt, but I am just going to monitor it and try to use more fresh herbs and healthy seasonings.

No processed or packaged foods. I don't eat much of this anyway, but I am going to omit it all together.

Try to eat some raw dishes, perhaps once or twice a week.

No alcohol.

***One more thing....no processed sugar. If I need a treat I might have some vegan dark chocolate, dried fruit, or some organic apple cider from the farmers market. But I really want to limit or eliminate all of that if I can. I just want to make sure I stay on track, and if that happens by giving myself a few concessions, well then  so be it.

Basically I am going to eat a wholesome, healthy, diet based on plant products with lots of fresh veggies, fruit, whole grains, nuts, etc. This is the way that I feel I should eat all the time, and I know I will feel great after a few days of eating this way. I hope it entices me to eat like this more often throughout the year. (I love fish and cheese, so I don't think I can ever give those up, but I can try to eat the best I can as much as possible).

Last but not least, 30 straight days of yoga. We don't have any trips planned and no visitors so far, so this should be attainable as long as I don't get injured or sick again.

I also want to start running, but I am not sure how much time I will have with doing yoga everyday and working hard to start the new year off right with my job.

I encourage everyone to do some sort of cleanse in January. When I was still eating meat, I did the fat flush  plan which works GREAT. The first few days I felt super sleepy, but then I felt suddenly fabulous, with lots and lots of energy. My skin was lovely and my sleep was perfect. It's tough to do anything like that without eating meat, so I am hoping my new approach will work for me.

Here is to a healthy 2011 for everyone!

Farewell 2010!

Every year I reflect on what has happened and what I would like to happen next. I make a list of goals rather than resolutions and write them on a pretty piece of paper. I post that paper inside my medicine cabinet so that I look at it (or it looks at me) at least twice a day. 2010 has had it's challenges, mainly of the financial manner. While I did not meet all of my goals for 2010, I accomplished most of them, and a few other things along the way.

2010 Goals

#1 Be a kinder girlfriend and person. Stop judging, stressing, and bossing.
Well, I think I did fairly well on this, although I suppose it would be best to ask Aaron and others what they think. I think that Aaron and I are getting along very well and everyday learn how to care for and enjoy each other better. I have realized that I really need to listen more, however.

#2 Read 20 books.
Well, does it count that I read about 35 blogs on a daily basis? Ok, ok, it doesn't. I completed 14 books and am halfway through 3 others. I have to admit that I haven't had any books grab me since the Twilight series. Embarrassing!!!! I have also added two magazines to my monthly reads, so it's not like I haven't been reading, I just haven't completed all the books I have wanted to.

#3 Get out of debt, earn a specified amount, and save a specified amount.
Well, none of these happened. I attribute that to the economy and my challenging work situation over the past year.

#4 Blog, take more photos, and get involved in other art.
Well, I did start the blog which was huge. I did take more photos that usual, so that is great too. I bought all the supplies I need to do Asian brush painting, but I just haven't done it yet. Getting there, I suppose.

#5 Go camping 5 times
Well, I didn't do this either. I attribute that to the fact that Aaron and I had barely any free weekends this summer, and our summer was cold and gray, which made us hermits. We didn't really feel like camping. We went once and it was lovely.

#6 Take a one week vacation with Aaron
We did this! We went to Maui for over a week. Yahoo! Goal accomplished. We also just spent a week in Arizona for Christmas.

#7 Find professional calling and work towards it.
Well, I think I am most proud of this one! I was miserable working for the start up where I was and when I  was laid off, I decided to start my own company. I am my own boss, I have closed a few deals, and everything is coming together. Certainly something to be proud of.

#8 Yoga 5 times a week.
I think I did a great job of this when I could.  I couldn't always keep up if we had guests in town, or if I had an injury, but for the most part I went 5 times a week. I also completed 30 straight days of yoga in March.

#9 Walk Peroni everyday.
I think I walked Peroni 9/10 days, and some days I walked him twice, so I think I got this one in the bag.

#10 Clean and simplify! Get rid of stuff!
I definitely did this, taking about 15 trips to the Goodwill. Also given my financial situation, I wasn't adding anything, so I definitely made a dent here.  I would like to get rid of more, so this continues to be a goal.

Looking back at my accomplishments for the year, starting the blog, my own company, and furthering my yoga practice, I am damn proud. I also stopped eating most animal products in 2010 and no longer eat poultry, beef, pork, etc. I am very proud of the fact that I am helping my body and making the environment a better place by choosing to eat the way I do.  While 2010 was overwhelming, stressful, and sometimes just sucky, I think I definitely pushed through and had some great times. 2011 can only be better!

My goals for 2011 are similar to 2010, but here it goes:

#1 Get out of debt, save a certain amount, and make a certain amount. (Those amounts are private...ahem).

#2 Visit my sister in NYC, and take a trip to Seattle or Portland and perhaps Texas to visit my step dad.

#3 Blog once a week.

#4 Eat a wholesome, healthy, vegan diet 80% of the time, and it's ok if 20% of the time I eat fish or dairy products.

#5 Read 25 books.

#6 Run a 10k! (Ahh! Did I really just put that out into the world?)

#7 STOP INTERRUPTING PEOPLE, especially Aaron. It's super annoying.

#8 Make my focus on being active: Do yoga, run, bike, walk, just be more fit overall.

#9 Simplify. Get rid of more stuff. No one needs 80 pairs of shoes.

#10 Continue to grow artistically. More photography and other art forms.


I hope you all have enjoyed the holidays and that your goals for the year are coming into clear focus.

Happy New Year! I am off to make a healthy and comforting dinner.

Hana Treehouse!

So as I mentioned, Aaron and I just went to visit my dad in Maui. We had  a great time...especially when we went to Hana and stayed in a TREEHOUSE! To be honest, it was an adventure...TONS of mosquitoes, lots of spiders, toilet outside in the jungle, insanely large avocados were pummeling the roof all night. Needless to say, I did not get much sleep. But we could see the ocean from where we were and the drive to Hana was gorgeous.

Here we are at the beach:

 Here we are having mai tais! Yum!

 Here we are in the bottom of an extremely scary lava tube. I felt like Indiana Jones!

 Here is the inside of the treehouse!

 These flowers grew all around the treehouse wild. It was literally in the middle of the jungle. We had to drive through mud to get to it, and then we had to hike through lots more mud to get up to the treehouse. There were no people around...except menehunes!!!

 These are the towels for the shower that was outside. Not a good idea with the amount of mosquitoes everywhere! Seriously, we got eaten.

 Here is the firemaster bringing us light...since there was no electricity!

 The man that owns this property has built treehouses all over the world. He wrote a book about it and Aaron was taking a look.

 See all those citronella candles in the background? They didn't really work that well. There were all kinds of dead bugs inside the candles in the morning.

 In the background is the ocean. It's about 1.5 miles away. It was raining like crazy.

 This is where we ate our dinner which was purchased at Mana Foods which was the coolest store in a cute little town called Paia. In the background you can see the "bathroom".

 This is the side of the treehouse. Right below we found 5 pound avocados which were knocked off in the middle of the night. They could have killed us! There were tons of guavas and other things that the storm had knocked off branches. It was wild.

 The treehouse was three stories with the bedroom in the middle. The top floor was really cool with great view but it had a grass roof which was ineffective against all that rain, so we stayed on the middle floor most of the time.

 The sun came out in the morning and it was so pretty.

 We had dinner at Lahaina Grill one night and the famous Amanda made an appearance! We had a blast catching up since we hadn't seen each other since high school.

Here are me and my dad. 

All in all...a great trip to Maui. Lots of relaxing, healthy foods, lots of exercise. It was the first vacation in a while where I actually lost a few pounds! Aaron and I were so active the whole time. My dad and I also took lots of long walks, which was lovely! I must warn you, if you decide to do the treehouse, bring lots of bug spray! It was not for the faint of heart. 

Tidbits

Hi Bloggies! Well...it's been a while. I don't really have an excuse: work, travel, yoga? Where have I been? Well, I have been cooking lots of vegetable delights (much to the chagrin of poor Aaron) and have been working, was in Maui, and have been having fun. I love blogging but am not good at keeping up with it, clearly.

Moving on, let's talk about some cooking tidbits.

These cookies from Eat, Live, Run are wonderful. I made some and brought them on a trip to Maui to visit my dad for Thanksgiving. I highly recommend them. I think mine were made even better with freshly harvested walnuts from a good friends family farm!

This recipe for soba noodles and other delicious ingredients made a great introduction to vegetarian cooking for my dad in Maui. Made with farm fresh baby eggplants from Hana Fresh, which Amanda so perfectly displayed here. I substituted Mango with pineapple and it was delish!

I have a new found love for cabbage...really! I have never really liked it before, but it's so crunchy and versatile, I am really digging it.

Here are some cabbage ideas:

Cabbage, apple, and nut slaw: Shred some green cabbage, slice some apples, toss with lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. Top with pinenuts or walnuts...absolutely wonderful. Even Aaron really liked this.

Steamed cabbage with ume vinegar and flax oil: Gently steam some cabbage (this works well with bok choy too) but leave some crunch. Top with flax see oil, a dash of ume plum vinegar, sesame seeds and salt. OMG. Sounds so simple but really, really, really tasty and good for you!

Shredded cabbage tastes great mixed into green salads, topped on tacos, and sauteed into stir frys. Give it a whirl!

We recently celebrated Aaron's promotion at work by dining out at this restaurant. Holy moly. This place is not joking around! Sapporo on draft, hot hand towels, freshly made pickled cabbage, gorgeous dishes and glasses, wonderfully fresh fish, lots of veggie options, perfect Japanese decor...I think we found our new favorite sushi place.

Last, I have had lots of cooking failures lately. I mean...so bad I threw the stuff out. Am I off, or is it just trying new dishes that don't always work? Probably the latter. I am going to keep trying new stuff and hopefully I have more wins then failures.