Goodbye 2012

This is the last day, and last post, of 2012.  This has been a really good year for me so here's to hoping 2013 is even better!  Here's some things I'm proud about this year:

• I really progressed in life this year with grad school and work.  
• I began a vegan, plant-based diet and it is the best decision I ever made!  I have so much more energy than I've ever had in my life and I feel better about myself as a person, more confident!
• I became more aware of having a healthy body.  I reduced the amount of cardio I was currently doing almost daily, increased my strength training, and began eating to meet the needs of my body to build healthy muscle mass.
• I became a better decision maker.  I know what I want and I have not been afraid to go after it.
• I have become much more positive in life!

There are probably so many more, but these are the main ones that really stand out to me.  

*****

I have to leave for a dentist appointment in 15 minutes so I'm going to wrap this post up with some pictures of just a few foods (that I remembered to take pics of and foods that weren't just plain fruits or veggies) that I enjoyed over the weekend.

Banana Berry Yogurt Smoothie

Vegetable Fried Rice

Baked Vegetable Stew

Kale and Chickpeas

(This is actually a recycled picture.  

The bowl I had this weekend had brown rice instead of quinoa.)

Gingerbread Oat Muffins

Last night I crumbled one of these on top of yogurt with a sliced banana.  

OMG it was SO good! I cannot believe I forgot to take a picture of that.

A raw Fruit Protein Porridge - It came out more like a smoothie because I used a frozen banana and I think I overblended it.  It included chia seeds, buckwheat groats, pepitas, coconut, 1/2 banana, frozen mixed berries, sunwarrior protein, cinnamon, and agave.

*****

I'll be back in the new year with some New Year's Resolutions!

Happy New Years Eve!

Christmas Day Eats Recap

Even though we made tons of food on Christmas Eve, we also made several more dishes on Christmas day. I'm all for a variety of food and have plenty of leftovers to enjoy throughout the week.  I love having food already prepared that just needs to be reheated for quick meals :)

On the menu:

Tofurkey: Store-bought from Trader Joe's.  It contains wheat though so I did not eat this.  My mom said she enjoyed this one more than the Tofurkey Vegetarian Feast one she had for Thanksgiving.

Baked Beans and Greens: I think this was my favorite (I say "think" because I really enjoyed all the dishes but this is the one I went back for the most).  Over the last three days I have eaten this for leftovers.  I've probably eaten half the dish myself.  I'm definitely going to have to make this again to enjoy for dinner throughout other weeks.

To make this I used red beans and extra kale.  I omitted the bread crumbs and used Vegan grated parmesan cheese.

Maple Walnut Brussels Sprouts:  I got this recipe out of Parade Magazine.  I doubled this recipe over Thanksgiving and everyone loved it, so I quadrupled the recipe this time.  It doesn't hurt to have extras :-p 

To make this vegan I used agave instead of honey.  I also omitted the chile seasoning and instead of deep-frying them in all the oil from the original recipe, I sauteed the Brussels sprouts for about 8 minutes until they were browned on the edges.  This is definitely a much healthier alternative.  Also, when I made these for Thanksgiving I prepared them the night before and I think the flavors had more time to marinate into the Brussels sprouts giving them more flavor.  I highly recommend preparing these the night before.

Dark Chocolate Avocado Mousse:  This is my favorite dessert, I actually make it quite often.  If you love rich, creamy dark chocolate you will love this dessert too!  The avocado helps make it extra creamy and adds healthy fats.

Dark Chocolate Avocado Mousse:

• 2 avocados
• 1/2 cup dark cocoa powder (or regular)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/4 cup almond milk

Combine all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.  Spoon into 4 dessert glasses and refrigerate until ready to serve.  The longer it stands in the fridge the thicker the pudding.

*****

I'm craving this dessert now and wish I had some avocados.  Hmm maybe a grocery store trip will be happening shortly...

Have a great Friday!

Christmas Day Activities Recap

Christmas day always goes by so fast.  Thankfully, it was a great day with lots of family activities, great food, and lots of laughter and fun!

The morning started with my mom and I being the first awake (like usual) so we let the men sleep in a little longer before anxiously awakening them to open presents.  In the meantime, I started making pancakes and waffles.  I made pancakes for my dad and brother.  They were buttermilk pancakes from Krusteaz.

I love these pancakes because all you need to do is add water and they really fluff up when they cook.  But my mom does not eat them because they contain milk and I do not eat them because they contain milk and wheat.  So I also made waffles with my new waffle maker!  I bought this a few weeks ago.  This was only my third time making waffles and I still have not perfected them since I've been doing so much experimenting to make them vegan and gluten free. I love it but it's a pain to clean, when they don't turn out right.

Even though these weren't perfect, they still turned out pretty good, much better than my first try where instead of a whole waffle I had a deconstructed waffle in a bowl.  This time they came out whole, but they were starting to come apart when I tried to get them out of the waffle maker.  I still want to work on making them taste better too.  My mom had chocolate chip waffles and I had peanut butter protein waffles.  For the peanut butter protein "syrup" I followed Laura's recipe.

After preparing the pancakes and waffles, we woke up my dad and brother.  They weren't hungry right when they woke up so we decided to open presents first.  So I grabbed some fruit and a coffee and we took turns opening presents.  My dog's also were loving the Christmas gifts!

Our greyhound, Smitty!  He's such a crazy dog for a greyhound and makes me laugh.

How cute is he!?  Boomer couldn't keep himself out of all the presents!

 I didn't get a picture of all my gifts, I totally forgot, but I got some clothes, cookbooks, games, and giftcards.  My parents big gift was to themselves, getting their kitchen remodeled!

This is only a part of it, the whole thing is beautiful.  I still need to do before/after pictures for them.

After presents, we ate breakfast.  Then, we decided as a family to help my mom with her volunteer day at the cat shelter.  This is a wonderful cat shelter.  It is a cage-free shelter where the cats basically have their own house.  This kind lady has a basement with a kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom and basically gave up that part of her house to shelter about 14 cats at a time until they find forever homes and another cat comes in for adoption.  Every day there is a volunteer scheduled to come feed the cats, play with them, and clean up any messes.  It was a great small family activity.

I'm playing with and petting one of the cats, Sheba!

After we got home from the cat shelter, we all relaxed for a bit before starting dinner.  This post has become longer than I anticipated so I'll talk about the food in my next post.

After dinner, we enjoyed a silly family game we received as a gift, Quelf.

This game is ridiculously crazy!  The cards mostly have you do the silliest things.  This game is great for small parties with friends and family, especially if you don't want a game that requires too much thinking and you just want to laugh like crazy the entire time, especially if there is drinking involved.

After the game we enjoyed one of my favorite desserts, Dark Chocolate Avocado Pudding.

By this time it was late and my dad and brother had work the next morning.  Overall, it was a great Christmas with lots of quality family time and fun!  So sad it is over already, but thankful for this wonderful holiday.


Have a great Thursday!

Christmas Eve Recap

This year for Christmas Eve it was very laid back.  Two years ago we spent Christmas with my Uncle (from my Dad's side of the family) and my older Cousin (from my Mom's side of the family) who both live in Austin, Texas.  That was a great year because we spent about 5 days in much warmer weather; definitely my preference, though I do love snow.

Last year I spent Christmas with my immediate family, but a few days after we went up to visit family in Pennsylvania for my grandfather's birthday.

This year we were hoping my grandparent's could come visit us.  We would have loved to cook for them because we just got our kitchen remodeled, but they were unable to make the trip down.  Even though we missed them, we still had a wonderful Christmas with tons of delicious vegan food (except for my Dad and brother made baked cod).  Sometimes it is nice to spend extra time with immediate family, and it is much more laid back.  We didn't have to worry about making enough food for an excessive amount of people or making sure dinner was on time for when people would have arrived or expected to eat.

The day started off with my mom and I attending Jazzercise in the morning while my dad and brother went to see a movie.  It was the only class of the day and absolutely packed, but so much fun.  After that we came home and relaxed for a little and I finished wrapping all my gifts.  After that my mom and I started cooking dinner.

Even though we only had 4 people to cook dinner for, we sure made a lot.  I provided links of where I got the recipes below.  I love to cook, but if I'm not following the basics in a recipe, it could end in a disaster :-p

On the menu:

Rosemary Citrus Maple Tofu

For this recipe I actually doubled the ingredients for the marinade.  I also used orange juice in the marinade instead of fresh orange and I didn't add the orange slices to serve it.  For the tofu, I froze it the night before to give it a better texture and I also baked the tofu for 30 minutes at 375F instead of sauteing it.

Baked Cod was also served for my dad and brother who eat fish.  My mom and I are vegan so we did not eat or make this meal.

Creamy Broccoli Rice Casserole 

Once again, I pretty much followed the exact recipe.  I used chickpeas for the protein source, a red bell pepper, and the optional red wine and the optional almonds.  I omitted the cayenne seasoning and the optional tahini or cashew butter.  Next time I think I will add the cayenne though for more flavor.

Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes with Sage Gravy  was also served but I forgot to take a picture :-0

Since the recipe for the mashed potatoes actually have nutritional yeast mixed in and the sage gravy also has nutritional yeast, these mashed potatoes actually didn't need the Sage Gravy.  But it was still very tasty!

Sweet Potato Pecan Casserole 

This is a dish I also made over Thanksgiving, which was a major hit so I made it again!  I followed the exact directions and once again everybody loved it!

Mushroom Bread Stuffing I forgot to take a picture of this since I don't eat it due to my gluten intolerance.  This is a traditional side dish my parents make every year though.

Apple Crisp This is the first time I ever made an apple crisp.  I love baked apples but usually I just chop an apple into bite-sized pieces, sprinkle on cinnamon, and bake it for 40 minutes at 350F.  This was my first real apple crisp with a oat crumble topping I made for the whole family to enjoy.  I was so excited to eat this dish I forgot to take a picture.  I'll get one next time though, because I will definitely be making this dessert again!  I followed the directions exactly and everybody loved it!

My first plate:

Hey there's the cauliflower mashed potatoes with sage gravy!

Everything tasted fantastic I definitely went back for second servings of everything!

After dinner, we enjoyed our Apple Crisp dessert with a movie, Scrooged.  It was interesting, but not one of my favorites.

I'll be back tomorrow with a recap on how my Christmas day went and what we had for dinner that night!

Have a great Wednesday!

2 Days

Where did December go!?  How can it only be 2 more days until Christmas already!?

Since I finished another semester of grad school on Monday and am now on winter break for work since Friday afternoon, I totally enjoyed Saturday.  It was such a cold and windy day that I stayed inside watching Christmas movies and reading for pleasure (not class!).  I'm so happy I don't have any more school work or even work tomorrow.  Yesterday, I also finally planned out what I would be making for Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas Day dinner.  I'll talk about that more in another post.  It is already 10:15 pm here so I'm going to keep this short :-p

This morning I woke up at 7.  I really wanted to get a little more rest but I was more determined to get Christmas food and gift shopping done before the stores got too crowded.  Getting up early definitely paid off, the stores weren't bad at all.  Within 3 hours and 15 minutes I went to Wegman's, Marshall's, Kohl's, Target, Barnes and Noble, and stopped at the gas station.

The rest of the day was spent mostly relaxing.  I also got some fresh air with my dog; we took a quick walk around the neighborhood.  Later I made a quick dinner.  It was very festive looking which I totally didn't even plan.  This isn't a great photo, I used my iphone.  But in person the sauce looked much redder and you could see the green broccoli much better.

This was a mix of quinoa, chickpeas, broccoli, flaxseeds, and nutritional yeast mixed together with pasta sauce.


Tomorrow my mom and I plan on starting our day with a workout at Jazzercise while my dad and brother spend some quality time going to see a movie in the theaters; their big movie fans.  After Jazzercise, my mom and I will be watching lots of Christmas movies while we cook dinner for Christmas Eve until my dad and brother get back. The Grinch, The Polar Express, and A Christmas Story are all movies I love to watch every year and haven't watched yet.  I also need to wrap all the gifts I bought.  Yeah, totally waited last minute with that.  Then the rest of the night will be spent with the whole family.  I love this holiday!

Happy Sunday!

Free Night

The two busiest days of the week are over!  Monday was a long day because I had orientation for my new job, work, then my final class for the semester.  Tuesday was a long day because I worked out in the morning at 6 am, had work, then babysat all evening.  Whew!

Today started out with a delicious breakfast creation.

In the mix: Soy yogurt mixed with PB2, 1/2 sliced banana (hiding under the yogurt), granola, and a crumbled chocolate zucchini muffin from Happy Herbivore.

I made the muffins this past weekend for snacks throughout the week.  These were the best muffins I have ever made gluten free.  Instead of whole wheat flour I used 1/2 oat flour and 1/2 sorghum flour.


After breakfast, I checked some emails.  I had one from my professor from Monday's class.  She posted our grades on the final assignment and our final grades.  I have been so nervous about this final assignment.  My professor is a really good professor, she know's what she is talking about which is really good, but it makes her a really tough grader.  I already had a few points deducted on previous assignments and went into my final (and toughest) assignment knowing that one small mistake could be the difference between an A or an A- for the class.  I really wanted the A, so far I have maintained a 4.0 in all my grad school courses, I couldn't ruin that now.

I was so nervous clicking on the grade link and I had received 100% on the assignment!!! Woo!!!!! My professor said I did a fabulous job and there were no errors.  I ended up with a A for the class!  I am so happy!  It really goes to show that hard work pays off :)

With that amazing news I headed off to work.  The only thing I had to do today!  I thought about going to workout at Jazzercise after work.  A few months ago I definitely would have no doubt, but I am trying to build muscle mass so have been cutting back on the cardio and increasing the strength training.  Normally, Wednesday's are days I work with my personal trainer but she is on vacation, which is why I wanted to get in some type of workout today.  But I thought better of it since I worked out yesterday morning and I will be going tomorrow since Thursday's are days I help class manage.  Plus, I never give myself a free night so I'm sure giving myself a relaxing night at home is more needed than a workout today.

So with that being said it is time to start that relaxing evening, catching up on reading a few blogs and then I'm thinking watching a Christmas movie.  Oh, but first I'm about to go enjoy this yummy dinner I just made:

I love this meal!  I have been eating it at least once a week lately.  I just saute some kale in coconut oil, balsamic vinegar, and red wine vinegar.  Then, I stir in chickpeas and quinoa and top it off with nutritional yeast.  So good and packs a ton of protein!

Oh one more thing.  I'm so excited that there's only 2 more work days and then a week off for winter break!

Happy Wednesday!

Kombucha Synergy

I cannot believe how fast today went!  It is 9:40 PM and I am only just sitting down to relax.

This morning I actually had an extra hour to get ready for the day.  I had to attend an orientation for my new job which started at 9 so I got to leave the house an hour later than if I had to go to work.  I totally didn't expect the orientation to last long at all, I was predicting I'd be at work by around 10:30.  The orientation was almost 3 hours long!!!  It was all paper work.  I have never written my name, phone number, SSN, and address so many times in one day!

After the orientation I headed to work, but I only had about 15 minutes before my lunch break.  After lunch I helped teach a math group and then it was time for the kids to go home.  What an easy work day!

Unfortunately, my day wasn't done yet.  I still had to go to class for my last final this semester!  Actually, in grad school (at least for education majors) we don't have test finals.  We have the one big assignment to turn in.  So really I was done before today with the actual work, but I still had to take the time to go to class and we spent about 45 minutes walking around seeing what everyone else did for the assignment, which is actually quite nice because it helps give others good ideas and there's no thinking involved.  After working on  completing that assignment this weekend, my brain was fried!

At 6:00 we were done with class and I was able to officially say I'm done with the semester!  Now I only have 4 more work days and winter break will officially start!

Oh!  Yesterday I stopped by a local natural food market and finally picked up a Kombucha drink.  I have heard of these before and heard that they provide energy and lots of probiotics.  I've always wanted to try one but the price always made me rethink buying it.  I was also nervous I wouldn't like it.  But I finally decided I would treat myself and try one and I actually really enjoyed it.  I heard this flavor, the Synergy Trilogy, was really good though which is why I made sure to get this flavor for my first taste.

I don't know how the other flavors are or if they are as good but I would definitely be willing to try other flavors.  But with the price, I probably won't be trying them too often, just every once in a while.


Happy Monday!