Achoo!

It’s just a little cold, but I’m a bad patient. Why is it these things happen at the worst possible time? Of course, I have my own thoughts on that… we work ourselves into the ground, past the point of common sense, and so, when little bugs come around, blammo! If I was getting enough sleep and relaxation, maybe I’d be better prepared.

But, no sick days for me. And cooking? Not so much. Though, these really are the times when it’s best to have something good and healthy. So far, I’ve compromised and gone for good and healthy, but with minimal effort, like sandwiches. I still need to roast some veggies, and knock a few thousand things off of my to-do list. I’ve mostly done raw foods. I tried a grilled cheese, but let’s just say it was not blog-worthy. I don’t cook well when I’m sick.

So for tonight, maybe get those veggies prepped with as minimal effort as possible, maybe some long grain rice or some such to go with it, and that’s all folks. Now, if I could just get some elves to help me with the to-do list…

Peppers and Blogiversary!

I made these. They were awesome.

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And look!:

Happy Anniversary with WordPress.com!

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Can you believe it’s been a year already? WOW!

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Have a wonderful week!

Oversharing Sunday

Some cooking has happened lately, photos to come. Mostly, I’ve been stressed out and yes, possibly burnt out. I guess everyone feels this way sometimes. They used to call it “Spring Fever”.

New do: This is a huge deal, more in my head than on it, but isn’t that always the way? It’s the first time I’ve gone all-out in a long time. It was cathartic.

Goodbye nail: Also in the cathartic change column, my long-infected toenail decided to depart. I was grateful to see it go, and am now taking extra-special care of the new growth and the bed, hoping that the cause left along with it.

Saw a show over the weekend. It was nice to get out and experience culture. I tend to hole myself in sometimes.

Saw an old friend who I haven’t seen in a while, and that was really nice. Had takeout pizza, but at least it had vegetables on it, and she brought us homemade tabbouleh for a starter. Yum!

Enjoyed dinner out, and ordered off the healthier choices section. Felt good that I had delicious salad and bread, but didn’t overdo it. Also felt good that I was plenty full and still was able to take home leftovers. I think you can make good choices eating out- you don’t have to deprive yourself of anything, but you don’t have to treat your stomach like a dumping ground, either. Balance.

Have a wonderful week!

Nonsequitur Saturday: Creativity, TBL, and Cake

For those new to the blog, posts titled or tagged “nonsequitur”  usually have mostly non-food content. I got the idea from a blogger, who got it from another blogger, who… (you see where I’m going with this). By the time it’s gotten to me, the concept has been reduced to “random stuff off of the top of my head”. I find it’s good to release the pressure valve every once in a while. If you are the sort of person who likes a glimpse of the person behind the food, welcome. If not, we’ll catch up with the next food post.

On Creativity: I saw Tangled when it first came out. I just rented it for the first time since then, and remembered how much the witch reminded me of Bernadette Peters. I thought maybe I wasn’t the only one, and yes, it turns out, there are more than a few people who think they ripped off her Into the Woods interpretation of Gothel. Between this and the mess with the genie, color me unimpressed.

On Into the Woods: While I was aware of the musical before now, I had no recollection of the details. I rented this after Tangled, and absolutely loved it. I like musicals, but haven’t seen a ton of them. Thank goodness for Hollywood filming some of the most famous ones, otherwise I’d know even fewer.

On Cake: I think I will always love cake.

On Coffee: My first cup of coffee after being sick was probably the most delicious cup I’ve ever tasted.

More random TBL observations:
1. Trust no one. …Not surprised, but disappointed Jeff betrayed his best buddy for his future gf.

2. I was a little surprised that the wrap with nachos was carbier than the double burger, but I was happy I guessed that correctly.

3. Parkour is insane but fun to watch.

4. I still can’t believe these people who are all larger than me (for now) are as athletic as they’ve become.

5. I thought it was cool that Danni exercised during the temptation, because when the blue team was locked in the game room, all I kept thinking was “what’s stopping you from exercising?”.

6. I do not like reality show sensationalism. The thing is, I know better. I can tell that this is all set up to make good tv. Yet, I watch it anyway. So, it’s a bit of a struggle, but at this point, I’m rooting for all of them.

That’s all for now. Have a great week!

Love and Food

How do I know you love me?

You gave me food when things were horrible and you knew I was living on french fries and Cheerios.

You bought me rice milk the first time I came over, and continue to do so, even though you love your whole milk like someone in a commercial.

Peanut butter is one of your favorite foods, but you don’t eat it when I’m around because you don’t want me to get sick.

You went out of your way to make foods I liked, even though up until then everyone in my life said cooking for me was difficult. What’s even more meaningful is that you still do it.

You got me to try foods I thought I couldn’t eat, and feel safe enough to do so.

You support my blogging, even though your natural skill in the kitchen far surpasses my creative attempts.

Sunday Stuff

Quiet week in blogland. Sorry about that. I’ve only made a few noteworthy dishes this week. Those posts are forthcoming. In the meantime, here’s what I’ve been up to.

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Watching The Biggest Loser: Now that the behind the scenes of this show have been brought to light, and what we found out wasn’t so pretty, it’s hard not to have feelings about this show. Then Jillian Michaels came out, I read part of her book website, and found both inspiring. So, I watched the premier, and while there was a lot I didn’t like, there were also things I did. Mostly, it’s the drive of the contestants that amazes me- people doing things they never thought possible. Once the reality show politics come into play, I might not feel as motivated. But for now, I’ll take the motivation.

Watched Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead: Doesn’t it sound morbid? I thought it did. But, then I watched the trailer. The film follows one man in his goal to just consume freshly made juices for an extended period of time. On the way, he manages to lose weight, meet people, and inspires others to try a Reboot, as he calls it.

Like Biggest Loser, there is a commercial aspect to this film. But unlike Biggest Loser, I didn’t feel it was in my face while watching the film itself. I only came upon this aspect later, when going to his website. As a film, I liked the personal approach, and the story about a truck driver he meets. It felt more real, less scripted, and inspiring.

For better or for worse, someone on The Biggest Loser said something about a Carbitarian, and that rang true. Then Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead emphasized just how many nutrients veggies really give you. Takeway: I should eat more veggies!

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Watched the premier of Cyndi Lauper’s show: I suppose I should state here that I actually hate reality shows as a genre. Yet, here I am, mentioning two of them. This show is probably geared toward women who were affected by Cyndi Lauper’s music in the 80s, and for that purpose, it’s “good enough”. But while the show was entertaining, it was not entertaining enough for me to watch on their schedule. The network website used to have the full-length first episode online, which led me to believe they’d all be online. Well, I guess they aren’t, so I guess I’m not watching.

Tried Command Hooks and Command Strips for the first time: My friends and family love these products. I, on the other hand, do not. What a waste of a day trying to get these things to work! In the end, I just took out a drill and hanging hardware, and was finished in 5 minutes.

Watched a lot of Star Trek Voyager: Perfect for crampy days spent indoors.

Wanted to make scrambled eggs but didn’t: Because I didn’t feel like doing errands (like buying eggs) whilst crampy. So, I made other things for breakfast instead, like yogurt bowls and the Crockpot Oatmeal.

Searched “vegetarian” on WordPress many times, and got annoyed with people including meat in recipes labeled “vegetarian”. Also randomly got annoyed at the excessive use of tofu. Then realized I had pms.

Didn’t drink coffee even though I would love a cup, because it does not play well with my system this time of the month.

Finished the workspace. Which involved the above drilling, and vacuuming, and cleaning out the darn vacuum, and taking out trash, and rigging miniblinds and moving furniture, and a thousand other assorted tasks. But, it’s worth it and a long time in the making.

Did a lot of laundry. Now, that’s blog-worthy!

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Happy Sunday!

Thursday Thoughts: Holiday Highlights 2012

After the slow start, I had a wonderful, joyous, and fulfilling holiday season. Here are some of the highlights:

• Cookies.
• Putting up the tree and getting a few thousand new ornaments this year.
• Village People. Both the decorations and the band…
• Karaoke! See above.
• Xmas dinner with the family.
• More Xmas dinner with more family.
• A very special Xmas card.
• Watching a zillion Xmas movies.
• Xmas gifts. For me, this year, it was just another way for my loved ones to demonstrate they’ve got me.
• Although this is an ongoing thing, since I did the bulk of the work in the holiday season, carving space for growth and being given the freedom to do so is another meaningful gift.

Wrapping up and moving on

December was a month of epic stress, peppered with some genuine holiday cheer. I didn’t really get down to properly celebrating until the very last minute, and have been doing so ever since. Needless to say, I was very glad that I’d had the foresight to set up the carols ahead of time, which meant that blogland could remain my refuge. It’s just… something- how you can have your own life pretty well taken care of, but then find yourself thrown completely off course by those metaphorical tornadoes that high drama folks create.

So, that’s Resolution #1 for 2013: Remain centered.

I feel proud that I kept my 2012 Resolution. That one? The unoriginal “Lose Weight”. But, I did! I actually lost about 10 pounds since January of 2012. This came about through general lifestyle changes. I’d be lying if I said there was any kind of structured plan. All I have done is try to eat fresh as much as possible, cook my own food, eat more vegetables- that kind of thing. I also have been focusing on making protein-filled choices as much as possible. Which leads me to…

Resolution #2 for 2013: Lose 10 pounds. If I lose more, great. But, before the holidays, I was already approaching a second 10 (from last year’s number), and so I think 10 from today is attainable.

Plan to get there: Work out indoors this winter. I think carving out a space was a good first step. New Year’s gives me the chance to pick it back up and just get back to where I was over summer.

I think 2 Resolutions are all I can ask of myself at present, but I do have some mini-goals in mind for this year as well.

1. Stay true to yourself. We try so hard to be people-pleasers. We say yes when we mean no, we worry constantly about what other people think. We are usually women, and we need to stop this now.

2. Figure it out. where am I going? what am I doing? do I like this way?  So, picking up the GPS and checking my coordinates.

3. Try to remain positive. Shit happens. You will be alright.

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Spontaneous Sunday: Christmas Conversations in my Head

Christmaschristmaschristmas

Gottafinishthiswork

I want a Christmas cookie for breakfast. No, you shouldn’t have that. You need energy. Protein, remember?

I want to put the gifts out noooowwww. It’s not time yet. It can wait. You have stuff to do first. 

But I don’t wanna!

Why is this glitching? 

Majorlifedecisionstuff trying to think about… I guess I’m just ahead of the curve for New Year’s. 

I don’t think I want a cat. And although I like rabbits, I don’t think I want those, either. I have trouble remembering to water my plants. 

I still want a cookie.

Celebration Roast

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I recently was lucky enough to catch this nifty product on sale. I’m sure my readers also know by now that my wee little blog does not receive sponsorship of any kind, and if this ever changes, I’ll be forthright about it. Funny thing about Field Roast, though, I’m not sure they actually *would* request my opinion on their own.

I recently read an interview where they claimed they’re not actually positioning their products for vegetarians, but rather, for those omnivores who just like to switch it up. (At least, that’s what I got from reading it). In this interview, they also said they’d never make faux bacon, which broke my little seitan-loving heart, since I’m allergic to the soy based crap, er, products, that Morningstar produces. The justification for the omnivorous approach is their correct assumption that most vegetarians are interested in the health aspects of what they eat. They state with a refreshing honesty that their products are not particularly healthy, but taste good.

As someone who was formerly teased for being the most unhealthy vegetarian on the planet, I can say while that while many vegetarians go for the healthy approach, not all do, and not all the time. Some vegetarians have trouble figuring out the ins and outs of the diet at first. In my opinion, better to offer them seitan than have them eating cheese fries every night.

This time of year, I don’t always have the time to linger in the kitchen, or even to prep food ahead of time like I usually do. Having a little seitan around keeps me from reverting to the frozen pizza option, and actually offers some protein my body can use. I discovered Field Roast right before my camping trip this summer, and so we ended up taking the faux hot dogs, the faux Italian sausage, and the faux lunchmeat slices (the reddish ones, I forget the flavor). All three were the perfect compliment to my partner’s meat-based selections, and we were easily able to share the rest of the sandwich components like bread, lettuce, and the like. It was also fantastic to have this protein in my system for a very active vacation. I was kayaking, walking, swimming, and I even tried a short zipline! Knowing that I get easily tuckered out without a proper diet, we consciously made an effort to ensure I had enough protein in my system to enjoy myself. When I returned home, I tried the mushroom slices, and then, the Celebration Roast pictured above. Everything I’ve tried, I’ve liked so far.

I first microwaved the Celebration Roast. It’s fine microwaved, because, as they state, it’s already cooked, you are essentially reheating it. Once I got mid-loaf (about midweek), I tried frying it, and obviously, I enjoyed that even more. It’s also fine right out of the fridge. The closer it got to Xmas, the more I needed quick but good, and this fit the bill. And now that the Celebration Roast is finished, it’s time to celebrate!

Happy Holidays!