Black Bean Burger Wraps and "Chikin" Salad

I meant to write this blog about a week ago now, but I just kept putting it off!

Food makes me very happy, it's pretty simple. When I ditched the crap and decided to go full fledged vegan, about six weeks ago, I was honestly prepared to not have many options. But I've found the opposite is true. My diet has never been so diverse, colorful, and delicious! With all the egg recalls and problems with e. coli hanging out in so much meat lately, I'd highly recommend giving the whole vegan thing a try. May I also mention that eating vegan cookie dough is absolutely acceptable and safe? Just thought I'd throw that in there.

One of my favorite ways to start my morning is with hot cereal. It's really easy to make, very filling, full of fiber, and just a good start for the day. I prefer to use the Bob's Red Mill 7 grain hot cereal. And if I can get away with throwing fruit into any meal, I'll do it.

The black bean burgers from the Veganomicon cookbook were so good I was actually relieved to be the only person wanting to eat them. More deliciousness for me! I sliced one of the leftover burgers into strips and rolled it up in a whole wheat spinach tortilla with tomato, avocado, lettuce, onion, and some salsa. Aren't leftovers awesome?

(answer: Yes. Yes they are.)

Last, but definitely not least, the "Chikin" salad. One of my favorite things to eat in my pre-vegetarian days was chicken salad sandwiches. And on this particular day I had a very random craving for chicken salad... So I made some! Vegan style! Chopped up apple, grapes, onion, celery, and faux chikin all mixed together with some veganaise! I love simplicity. I put a couple spoonfuls of my little mixture on a piece of toast with some lettuce and tomato. Yum!

I really like to keep everything in my life simple, and that includes the things I eat. I like to be able to throw something delicious, and healthy, together quickly without any extra hassle. I do actually love spending time in my kitchen. I love baking and cooking. I just really, really hate cleaning up afterwards.

Quote of Today

‎"Unfortunate events, though potentially a source of anger and despair, have equal potential to be a source of growth." --Dalai Lama

Roasted Rosemary Veggies and Black Bean Burgers

For lunch today nothing sounded better than roasted veggies. It's probably evident by my other posts but I really enjoy simplicity when it comes to meals. Especially when it's in the middle of a really hot day, I just don't want to spend too much time in the kitchen.

Oil up the bottom of a cookie sheet/cake pan/anything oven-worthy with a thin coat of olive oil. Slice up some of your favorite veggies, sprinkle some herbs and spices on top, and put it in the oven for about 20-30 minutes or so. Easy -n- delicious!

I sprinkled some rosemary and thyme over potatoes, mushrooms, grape tomatoes, green pepper, and onion. Perfect!

I was feeling a little bit more ambitious for dinner tonight so I grabbed Veganomicon and decided to make the black bean burgers. I didn't have any vegan hamburger buns, so I made some of those too! I'll admit, I'm always a bit nervous when I put time and energy into making something I've never tried before... what if I hate it?! So far on my journey into the world of veganism I haven't made anything I've hated, in fact I've loved almost everything! These babies were no exceptions! SO good! If you don't have Veganomicon, I'd be willing to bet the recipe is somewhere online. It's definitely worth trying... even if you're not vegan.

I think I should add a list of the songs that make my time in the kitchen even more fun. I always have something playing while I'm in the kitchen. Silence freaks me out a little bit! ;)

"Oh, Goddamnit" -Hot Hot Heat

"Supermarket" -Iggy Pop feat. Green Day

"What a Wonderful World"- Joey Ramone

"Circle the Drain" -Katy Perry

Quote of Today

‎"The art of living lies less in eliminating our troubles than in growing with them." --Bernard M. Baruch

Quote of Today

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated” --Mahatma Gandhi

Family Reunion!

Yesterday my family had their annual "reunion" and I absolutely knew there would be very little, if anything, for this new vegan to eat.... So I had to make some treats and introduce my lovely omni family members to the wonder that is... food... that tastes like food... Now there's a shocker! I made a couple different kinds of cookies and a pasta salad. I have a ton of leftovers so that pasta salad will make an appearance in almost every meal I have.

And this pasta goodness is really easy to make and delicious!

I used tri color bow-tie noodles to add a little something extra, threw in some chopped up broccoli, cauliflower, green pepper, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, and black olives, and tossed everything with a light coating of garlic Italian dressing. Light and perfect for summer.

I decided cookies would be another really easy thing to make and that pretty much everyone enjoys a good cookie. So I looked up a few recipes online for chocolate chip, sugar, and peanut butter cookies! Easy as pie... or cookies... The peanut butter cookies turned out horribly and were promptly disposed of. But the other two were fantastic! Everyone loved them, especially the little kids that needed refueling after their marathon of tag and hide-and-seek.

I had a fantastic day making these and an even better time eating them. As weird as my family may be... they're all pretty fun to be around. Usually. :-P

Fooooood...

All I've wanted to eat for the last couple of days is peanut butter, bananas, and bean burritos. Don't ask... I don't know...

Right now the thought of anything else makes me a little bit queasy.

So I give you toast. Elvis style.

Probably the easiest, most delicious, and surprisingly filling meal ever. All you need is toasted bread, a nice slathering of peanut butter, and a sliced up banana. Heaven.

Did I mention bean burritos? Oh yeah. I did. Along with my Elvis toast I've been wanting bean burritos like mad. So... of course... I eat them! it works :)

They usually end up more like tacos from all of the veggies I stuff inside but it still tastes the same!

Another really easy to make meal. Beans. Tortilla. And whatever else you feel like smashing in there. Perfection.

Of course I know that I need some greens tossed in there somewhere so I whipped up this quick little salad. In interest of saving money I buy big containers of already washed and mixed salad. It gives me the option of having all of the greens I could buy at the grocery store with only a small fraction of the price. Maybe it's not ideal but it's much better than not having any at all, right? This salad was also easy. Not quite as good as my previous meals but on a normal basis I probably would have really enjoyed it.

A large handful of the mixed greens, dried cherries, raw sunflower seeds, and a small drizzling of my favorite (vegan!) salad dressing. Easy as pie. Or... salad....

The way I've been wanting to only eat certain foods lately is so not typical for me. But seriously everything else (the smell, the thought, the taste) makes me gag a little bit. So I was completely bummed out that I didn't enjoy my favorite meal of all time. Another easy one, but it's so good you'd think it was bad.

Zucchini, yellow squash, (and my new favorite) Kale, steamed a little bit and browned in a bit of teriyaki sauce.

That's pretty much been it for the last few days. Like I said, it's mostly peanut butter, bananas, and bean burritos...

I haven't posted my food pics in a couple of days! I've taken them but I just haven't gotten around to putting them up... whoops!

Instead of actually being too productive (which I'm allergic to apparently) I'm going to leave the photos for tomorrow. There's something much more important on my mind.

I'm thinking about the word "vegan". Now, I'm not the biggest fan of labels; I find that they put so many restrictions on your life that are impossible to live up to. I can't think of any other way to talk about the way I live my life and the way I eat other than saying "I'm vegan." But am I? Is a month dairy/egg free long enough to call yourself a vegan? Are there time restraints? And if someone who calls themselves a vegan decides to eat a piece of non-vegan cake does that mean they have to start all over? Do they lose the right to call themselves vegan?

What confuses me are the politics. Why is it that we have to make everything a competition? Whether it's against ourselves or against each other it seems that we, for the most part, want to be the better, stronger person at the end. That's evolutionary for sure, y'know... the whole "survival of the fittest" thing...

What if I decided to proudly proclaim that "I'm vegan!"? But a month down the road my knees buckle and I grab a piece of pizza. Does that make me a hypocrite or just human?

I think what I'm trying to get at, trying to make myself remember, is that perfection isn't a possibility. It doesn't exist. We all make decisions that could be considered mistakes, that's just life. But one bite of cake, or pizza, or pie shouldn't completely erase the days, months, weeks, or years of being "vegan". You eat it. You deal with it. You move on. That doesn't mean that you're out of a club or that you are never allowed to call yourself "vegan". It means that you are a human being with vices and weaknesses. I've noticed a certain veil that arises whenever I mention that I'm vegan, or trying to be, to anyone that isn't. Because we don't eat the same things doesn't mean I'm going to slap you over the head or punch you in the face. It means we disagree. It opens up a space for conversation, for education. But it is absolutely understandable to me why someone would occasionally want to throw their hands up and say "I give up!"

We can only do so much. We can all only play perfect for so long.

Quote of Today

‎"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." --Mahatma Gandhi

Quote of Today

"You must look into other people as well as at them."

--Lord Chesterfield

Quote of Today

Two quotes today ;)

"I demolish my bridges behind me...then there is no choice but to move forward." --Firdtjof Nansen

"Nothing can bring you peace but yourself."

--Ralph Waldo Emerson

Quote of Today

"If we all worked on the assumption that what is accepted as true were really true, there would be little hope of advance."
--Orville Wright

Kale!!

I'm not going to lie... I was terrified of Kale. I picked some up at the recommendation of my awesome internet friend, Keri, over at www.ieattrees.com

I stared at it for a minute and put it in the fridge trying to think of what in the world I could do with it. I turned to my very best friend, google, and found a couple of doable options. I threw a handful into my daily smoothie and found that the taste didn't linger much at all, unlike spinach and the other greens I've tried. Then I decided that I'd be really brave and saute some! I browned onion in a couple tablespoons of olive oil and let that simmer for awhile with rosemary, thyme, and caraway seed. I tossed the Kale in for about 7 minutes until it was nice and tender and put it over some mashed cauliflower, drizzled a tiny bit of olive oil on top, salt and peppered and chowed down. It was SO good! Kale just might become one of my favorite greens of all time! :)

Dinner tonight was just left over spaghetti from last night. It's even better the second time around!

Thought of the Day.

If something is bothering you, stop bitching and moaning and do something about it!

Quote of Today

Fear less, hope more, eat less, chew more, whine less, breathe more, talk less, say more, hate less, love more, and good things will be yours.
Swedish Proverb

"Green" Spaghetti

If you've ever been in college you know that having a huge budget for groceries is just not happening. So as I've been dabbling in the idea of eating a vegan diet I've found that my meals just don't get too complex and frozen vegetables have quickly become my new best friends. Tonight for dinner I had a craving for spaghetti... so, naturally, I ran to the kitchen and whipped some up! I used some whole wheat spinach noodles and steamed some (frozen!) broccoli and edamame, slapped on some random, store-bought, spaghetti sauce and voila! "Green" spaghetti. I took a few slices of my newly made bread, spread some "butter" and powdered garlic and threw it in the oven for some garlic toast. Amazing. It was so simple and it only really took about 10 minutes! (minus the time it took to boil the water.)

Quote of Today

"I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do."
--Helen Keller

Baked Teriyaki Eggplant and My First Attempt at Vegan Baking

I decided at some point in my 24+ hour case of insomnia that I needed to try my hand at making some bread. I have found it really difficult to find any vegan bread at any stores available to me. So naturally I looked up an easy recipe on VegWeb.com and hit the grocery store to make sure I had everything I needed. I ended up making two loaves and I was definitely worried about how they'd turn out... mainly because I haven't gotten any sleep whatsoever making reading and following a recipe proved to be pretty difficult. The taste is really wonderful and when followed correctly the bread would have been perfect. But you learn as you go in the kitchen!!

After I went grocery shopping this morning and was putting all of the new goodies away I found an eggplant I had forgotten about! It was still good and I needed to use it up... I marinated the eggplant "steaks" for about 20 minutes in a mixture of teriyaki sauce, white zinfandel wine, and a few different herbs (oregano, fennel, rosemary, and basil). I found half of a green bell pepper and a little more than 1/4 of a red one so I chopped those up, added some mushrooms, and baked the little experiment for 30 minutes at 350 degrees fahrenheit. I wasn't sure how it would turn out but I was pleasantly surprised!! Even my omnivore cousin really loved it! It's definitely a recipe I will be repeating in the near future.

Quote of Today

"Hatred is the coward’s revenge for being intimidated." --George Bernard Shaw

Hunting... right or wrong?

Have you ever hit a deer with your vehicle? How about an elk? A moose maybe? Maybe you have, maybe you haven't but one thing is for certain. Driving at fast speeds into any solid mass is absolutely dangerous. Where I spent most of my formative years, in the mountains of Utah, I saw countless dead animals on the side of roads. Even several moose. Maybe it's because of where I was raised, or who my family is, but I don't have a very big problem with legal hunting. I'm not going to touch on poaching and killing illegally. I mean honest-to-goodness legal hunting. While I worry about individuals that enjoy killing things a little bit too much and I'd never partake of the "sport" I can't help thinking that hunting is actually a good thing. Don't get me wrong though... I completely support animal rights movements, I believe animals should be free to live and roam as they should, that they shouldn't be raised in horrid conditions and slaughtered inhumanely. But animals that are hunted in the wild aren't tortured, they aren't kept in horrible conditions, and most often are killed almost instantly and painlessly. There are many hunting organizations that support, and even fund, wildlife protection acts. Setting up reserves and making sure wild animals are allowed to be wild without interruption and without the risk of their habitats being destroyed. Hunting keeps the very fast growing populations of these animals down leaving enough food to keep a majority of the remaining animals alive during the winter months and keeps people and animals safe by reducing the number of animals that could be crossing roads. Hitting such large animals, such as moose, is not only deadly to the animals but can be deadly to the people driving the vehicle. Hitting an animal that can weigh up to 1,800 pounds would completely crush a vehicle, and swerving to try and avoid hitting that animal can cause accidents. I lived by a lake and narrow canyon and so many people died by trying to avoid hitting an animal. They would crash into the sides of mountains, roll off the ditches, and sometimes spin out of control and end up in the lake. While hunting doesn't prevent 100% of these accidents it certainly does help control the populations, which could be completely off the charts. Of course there are terrible people out there that do terrible things. There always are, have been, and will be. But people like my uncle who support the organizations that try to save lands from being destroyed, hunt 100% legally (and do not kill females, I might add), and practice often to ensure their aim is impeccable so the first shot is the kill shot... I can't help but to actually think they're doing a good thing for the environment. Maybe that makes me a bad vegetarian or "vegan-in-training" but I don't care... I stand by my beliefs as an open minded person and I gladly welcome respectful debates about this subject. I don't eat the meat, I don't shoot any animals, I don't use any products made using parts of these animals, I have absolutely nothing to do with hunting in any way. I just don't see it as an awful thing to do and depending on how you look at it, it can actually be helpful.

Quote of Today

"To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself." Thich Nhat Hanh

A whole new, delicious, world.

It's been almost a month since I've knowingly eaten anything containing any kind of dairy product. A moth of a vegan diet. In the last month I've dropped 10 lbs without really trying very hard. Of course I did yoga a few times a week and rode my bike a bit but I think it really says something about leaving that "stuff" out of your diet. I'm getting very, very close to reaching my first big weight loss goal and I really don't think I could have done it without removing meat from my diet and embracing fruits and veggies like I never have before. I no longer have the kind of relationship with food that I had, I don't use food as my only source of comfort anymore, I don't use it as a punishment of sorts. I thoroughly enjoy eating! That's the beauty of this process and the shocking part, in my opinion. In order to lose weight and be healthy you have to embrace the pure awesomeness that is amazing, healthy, and super delicious food. I'm not going to lie, my health was definitely a part of deciding to leave out the fatty meats from my daily meals. The fact that I am personally refusing to buy from and support the meat industry is a huge bonus for me. Many people probably would look at this and shake their heads and judge me for it. But that's how it happened. I'm very glad it did, too. Now nearly a month without dairy products or eggs has made it that much more incredible. Instead of craving a gross and disgustingly greasy quesadilla I find myself really wanting a handful of grapes or an apple. Being vegan or vegetarian or just a non-meat, dairy, or egg (leaving off labels is my style) person doesn't actually limit your diet in any shape or form, not even a little bit. In fact, I'm discovering things I had no idea existed (Quinoa?! What???) and venturing out from the usual meat and potatoes kind of life. My diet is far less constricted than it ever has been! I'm not missing out in any way, I feel like a whole new, delicious, world has been opened for me and I'm just beginning to explore it. I'd like to challenge any of my meat eating friends to start with a day, just one whole day of leaving out the meat from your meal plans... Then a week. Soon enough you might find yourself not even wanting to go back.

It is impossible to know how anyone feels unless you have experienced something first hand. Which is probably why I don't like almost anyone I've ever met in the medical field. They only know some things based on what they've read in a book and never gone through. I can't possibly begin to judge someone for complaining about something they've been through that I haven't, I can't ever say something along the lines of "oh, I've had it much worse." Because I simply just do not know. I don't know what it feels like to give birth, have cancer, lose a limb, get shot, or have Pneumonia. My point is, trying to "one-up" someone on something like that is just pointless. Because everyone is so different and every individual body reacts differently to certain things there is absolutely no way of knowing how something feels to someone else. I know what Whooping Cough felt like to me, I know the pain of coughing so hard I dislocated and cracked ribs, coughing so hard that I would vomit on a regular basis and give myself severe nose bleeds. I know the feeling of not being able to take a really deep breath. I know what Pertussis did to me. Just like how I can handle having blood drawn and getting iv's far better than getting shots... Maybe it doesn't make sense, but it's true for me. It's the same situation for emotional events too. I know what it's like to lose a loved one, but I don't know what it's like to lose a child. I hope I never find out. I know what it's like to deal with bi-polar disorder on a daily basis and having to hold up a mental wall to keep control of myself the best I can. No one else can feel that but me. We can share our similar experiences, we can hold each other up, we can love and support the people we love through everything, we can do our best to sympathize and even empathize with someone else. But arguing about things we have no idea about is a waste of breath. My lungs are permanently scarred and damaged... So I'd like to hold on to every breath I take.

Self Acceptance

Let's face it. I'm female and there have been times in my life where I despised myself, particularly my body, and just wanted to curl up in a little ball and cry myself to sleep. I'm almost certain that I'm not the only one on this planet that has ever done that. There have been far too many occasions that I've looked at myself in the mirror and probably said some not-so-classy words, "What the fuck?!" is a personal favorite of mine. And this morning as I was celebrating meeting my latest weight loss goal I realized something. I no longer say that to myself. Even if I'm still many pounds away from that final goal, I know I'm doing something about it. Funny isn't it, something I've hated so badly for a really long time turned into motivation and that motivation turned into self acceptance. There is nothing wrong with being proud of who you are, regardless of you "short-comings". In fact, I've found that loving yourself is even more motivation to be the very best you. I'm not trying to force my thoughts about not eating meat and all that jazz down anyones throats. As much as I'd encourage everyone to give up the dead stuff, I know that it just isn't for everyone. There are plenty of places you can go if you're curious about why you should give up meat and the terrible injustices towards animals in factories and slaughter houses... It's not my job to lecture anyone and say their lifestyle and eating habits make them a terrible human being and blah blah blah blah blah. That is up to each individual person. Reading a book like Skinny Bitch is a very good place to start if you're interested in learning more about what goes on behind the scenes. And, a couple of last words, never label yourself... never set yourself up to try and meet standards that sometimes just can't be met. Allow yourself to eat whatever it is you want and not feel guilty about it. Obviously, don't eat the whole bag of Fritos but if you want a handful every now and then... well dammit! Eat some! I also highly recommend an early morning bike ride every chance you get. Everything looks so different when there isn't anyone around.

Vegetarianism Found Me.

I wish I could say that, at 20, my medical history is a very brief and boring topic that I would only ever bother discussing with my physician. But, the truth is, what's happened to my body in the last several years has a lot to do with the struggles I'm facing now. When I was younger I never got sick, I got the typical childhood illnesses like chicken pox and a bout with stomach flu, but that was the worst of it. I did have some minor problems with my tonsils (they were chronically enlarged and the size of golf balls) but I didn't really have too many issues related to that. I could be outside in 90+ degree weather and barely break a sweat, even up until I was about 15. The summer between 9th and 10th grades is when everything changed. I had a very severe heat stroke. I can remember the day it hit me too. My mom was taking my best friend and I to a dinosaur park and museum, and right as I was opening the car door I was hit by this very intense, sharp, pain directly behind my right eye. It was so sudden and painful that I could barely breathe and nearly blacked out. So, instead of having a fun day at a museum, I was taken to the emergency room and promptly given a CT Scan. When your doctor comes into your room after something like that and says "We're going to have to get an MRI, the CT Scan was abnormal" your heart immediately drops to the floor. I was terrified. When the MRI results came in and the doctor came in to speak with us I could feel my heart beating in my throat, what in the hell had happened to my body?! It turns out that I had been so consistently dehydrated from spending far too much time in the sun and not drinking nearly enough water that the fluid in my brain had "congealed" I think that was the term he used. He mentioned that they have never seen that in such a young person and those results were usually only seen in people in their 80s. I was so dehydrated that when I got my blood taken for tests the nurse literally only got one drop... and it was almost black. From that day onward my body has never been the same. By the time I started my first year of high school, I could barely be in 70 degree weather without pouring sweat and passing out. So, to cut the story short, I had to leave traditional high school. It's almost as if my body stopped functioning correctly. When I left my high school and began doing an online program on my own (my parents both have/had full time jobs) I dropped into an extremely deep depression. Over the next year and a half I quickly gained over 130 lbs. I had to quit figure skating, even though I was in love with it, because my body could no longer handle the stress. I lost all of my "friends", and if you've ever been a 15-year-old girl you know that friends are a very important part of your life. I felt completely alone and afraid... and sick. My immune system almost no longer exists anymore. I've gotten everything from several bouts of flu per year, countless colds to whooping cough, staph infections, etc. I can't get immunizations because,even though they're as weak as they are, I will almost always end up contracting whatever it is the shot is supposed to prevent. It's been almost exactly 5 years since this all began and my body is barely beginning to recover. The weight has finally began slowly decreasing and, though it still bothers me a great deal, heat isn't my worst enemy anymore. My lungs are permanently damaged from going far too long being undiagnosed with Pertussis (Whooping Cough) so losing weight is taking far longer than I wish it would because I can only do very minimal exercise involving getting my heart rate up and having to take in more air than usual, mainly any exercise that works out the cardiovascular systems. All of this brought me to vegetarianism and to begin the process of becoming vegan. When my diet consists of mainly fruits and vegetables I feel stronger, lighter, and healthier. I can almost feel my body really beginning to heal itself. This summer would have been another terrible one if I never changed the way I eat. I've lost almost 40 lbs now and I continue to slowly lose more. I still have a long ways to go and I don't know when I'll get there. But I'm starting to feel good again. I've missed myself.... it's nice to feel that glimmer of my old personality and health again. I'm sorry if this post is far too long-winded, but I had a lot to get through... and that was barely scratching the surface.

Quote of Today

“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” -Maria Robinson

It's a brand new beginning...

No matter who you are, where you're from, or what stage of life you are living, you had your starting points; moments in time that made you change your mind and set your path for the future. One of the most important decisions of my 20 years was made just a few months ago. I decided to make my life better, to treat my body better, to be healthy. And, as an animal lover from day one, a vegetarian lifestyle was my first choice... so I went with it. I was able to accomplish two goals with one choice, begin my weight-loss journey and finally say that I'd had enough of putting my money towards the torture and abuse of innocent animals. But now that I'm about 6 months in and about 40 lbs down, I've made another important choice. Being vegan. I don't want to say I am vegan.... I'm not. But I want to be. This blog is meant for me to really keep track of my journey, to allow myself to make the transition on my own terms. Ideally, I would just give it all up right away, no more cheese, eggs, milk, nada. But I know myself too well by now... I know that if I were to do that I'd completely wear myself out and be done with the whole thing within a week. I have to ease into it. The perfectionist side of me wants to freak out and I will, undoubtedly, beat myself up that I can't be the "perfect"* vegan immediately.

*even though I am fully aware that perfection doesn't exist...

My plan is to eat consciously, to really think about what is going into my body and make a decision. One meal at a time. It's really the best I can do at this point. It's all about learning to make the right choices and allowing myself the freedom to decide will make the good choices the more rewarding ones. There is nothing I can't eat... there are just things I choose not to. Instead of thinking about what I'm "giving up" I'm thinking about all of the things I have never tried, all of the "mysteries" that I get to uncover, and all of the things I've passed in the produce aisles that look so interesting but I have no idea what they're there for.

I'm excited.