tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8771424824644520352024-02-02T13:44:50.140-08:00Roots and LeavesAllihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09900860793061249680noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877142482464452035.post-90909115272151590132013-07-21T19:48:00.001-07:002013-07-21T19:49:21.486-07:00Triple peanut butter chocolate no egg cookies!I feel like I should be apologizing for the following recipe. It's actually pretty awesome. But I use butter, and I haven't been using butter for, hmm, years? But in the PMS cloud that overtook my mind and body last week, I did buy a pound of butter. And yes, I fully intended to make me some tasty period-friendly goodies with it. Of course, I forgot to stock my pantry with essentials for baking, such as sugar, vanilla extract, brown sugar... all I had was what I had handy, including some whole wheat flour, ground flax, an almost empty bag of powdered sugar, etc etc. No cookie recipe matched my ingredients, so I decided to MacGuyver my own peanut butter cookie recipe. The fog did, after all, demand cookies, stat. <br />
<br />
The results are light and almost fluffy, not at all like your run o the mill, rolled in granulated sugar, chewy pb cookies you might be used to. And those "peanut butter kisses" made with Hershey's candy? I don't eat conventional candy. I had 55% Valrhona chocolate discs on hand and used those. Divine!! <br />
<br />
Here is the recipe. I've included instructions on veganizing them... if you are so inclined. <br />
<br />
TRIPLE PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE COOKIES <br />
<br />
Preheat oven to 350, or 325 convection. <br />
<br />
Ingredients and method: <br />
<br />
1/2 c unsalted butter or Earth Balance (or be hardcore and just use more peanut butter!!) <br />
2/3 c no sugar all-natural stirred peanut butter <br />
1/4 to 1/3 c fresh ground peanut butter (hey, you can also do <1 cup of whatever pb you have on hand, but let's be real, all-natural and fresh ground tastes amazing) <br />
2 Tbs. pb2 powder (this is not totally necessary, but for few extra calories you get an extra whomp of peanut flavor and protein!) <br />
1 tsp salt <br />
Mix all the above together until creamy and super fluffy. <br />
<br />
Then add, in order and mixing after each addition: 1 Tbsp molasses, 1 tsp almond extract, 1/2 c powdered sugar, 1 Tbsp ground flax,1 flax-egg (in this case, 1/4 c vanilla rice milk stirred with 1 Tbsp ground flax). <br />
<br />
Separately stir together 1.5 Tbsp baking powder, 1.5 tsp baking soda, and 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour. <br />
<br />
Mix flour mixture with liquid mixture until combined. Roll into balls, place on parchment or silpat on baking sheet and bake for 10 min in 325 convection oven or 350 regular. Then press chocolate discs into tops and bake for another 5 minutes. <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLf9s2k4DMr_GA8awhTbPyY9JOX8JQjOcwR-FABgkB27SZw2MjdCXnmg_DGkKsfNCk4tKzcY-IqGGkMiUIFul5dKtgz1CNlcLIexsc5eoEb_tahS09udbXPiEyyh_A7uWK1MdDBFX5d-M/s640/blogger-image--427065574.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLf9s2k4DMr_GA8awhTbPyY9JOX8JQjOcwR-FABgkB27SZw2MjdCXnmg_DGkKsfNCk4tKzcY-IqGGkMiUIFul5dKtgz1CNlcLIexsc5eoEb_tahS09udbXPiEyyh_A7uWK1MdDBFX5d-M/s640/blogger-image--427065574.jpg" /></a></div>Allihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09900860793061249680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877142482464452035.post-28081548356197318652013-04-01T01:06:00.001-07:002013-04-01T01:06:50.967-07:00Happy Herbivore's newest book is a gem!There's a lot to tell since my last post. I will have to devote a night to writing about what's going on in my household soon. For now, I want to talk about the Happy Herbivore Abroad book, the newest cookbook by Lindsay S. Nixon. I just got the book yesterday, but I've already used it for several meals (hi--no planning needed. Love her books for this very reason: healthy, low key, low maintenance, and inexpensive (many recipes feature meals you can make with simple pantry staples). I'm awful at following recipes to a T, but look at another's and get inspired. I have brownies cooling, had quick queso (kinda--added veggies to the mix and went sans gluten with the sauce) for dinner with baked no salt corn tortilla chips last night and made the migas (kinda--added tomato and jalapeƱo, and omitted the sides of refried beans and salsa) tonight. Amazing. I recommend the Happy Herbivore cookbooks to everyone, as they support a no added oil vegan diet, are extremely inexpensive recipes (often pantry-friendly--I usually add more fresh veggies, but the base is great for anyone and makes vegan cooking easy), and just are simply delish because Lindsay knows her way around a spice rack. Allihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09900860793061249680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877142482464452035.post-26250076641387409402013-01-19T23:53:00.001-08:002013-01-19T23:58:50.708-08:00The Easiest Gluten Free Vegan Sandwich Bread EverToday, on a whim, I decided I felt like baking bread. Yup, in the middle of my work day, I suddenly thought about the two packets of dry active yeast in my baking drawer, my fridge and freezer empty of anything to make a sandwich with. Must make bread. When I get a wild hair, it needs to happen. <br />
<br />
I've made bread before. I'm kind of a big deal in the quick breads department, and in the last couple months have made quite a few loaves of beer bread. I'm no stranger to yeast and kneading either. My first ever loaves of French bread were made when I was in high school, wonderfully perfect and so simple I was a little surprised. I owned a bread machine for awhile, though I preferred kneading by hand. But what I was looking to make today was a different beast altogether. <br />
<br />
Gluten free bread. I've been down this road before, jumping into a GF recipe with little research and it has ended disastrously more than once. Today though, I felt prepared. <br />
<br />
Starting with the two gluten free baking books we've gotten in the last few months, I began searching for a good recipe to jump off from. Our pantry is well stocked at the moment with quite a few GF staples, but as I searched first those cookbooks and then online, I quickly realized that what I was looking for was like the holy grail of GF recipes. No eggs, no egg replacer, no flax or chia seeds (I had no idea of the movement away from xanthan and guar gum that some in the GF community are making, and these can be subbed for them--either way, I had no chia or flax on hand). No garbanzo flour or Bob's Red Mill baking mix (I had both of these on hand but find the resulting beany flavor unappealing). What I did have was a pretty decent assortment of starches, flours, whole grains, gums both guar and xanthan, and a Vitamix. And then, I found it. The perfect recipe. <br />
<br />
Alright, hold on. You probably want to know about the bread. Let's cut to the end. The crust was lightly crunchy, with a perfect hollow sound when I tapped it with the knife. And just underneath, when the knife crunched through, was bread, with tiny air pockets from a successful rising! When I saw that, before even taking a bite, I felt that same sense of amazement I felt with my first loaf of french bread. The texture was fairly light, yet not fluffy. It cut like... bread! No crumbling, no grittiness. It held together without being too dense. The taste was balanced with the blend of flours. It was a little sweet, but this was definitely an overall success. <br />
<br />
This is bread you can spread peanut butter on thick. Toast it. Make French toast from it. I ate the first piece slathered with coconut Earth Balance. YUM. <br />
<br />
Back to the recipe. I finally found it here: http://www.hopes kitchen.info/2012/06/best-gluten-free-vegan-bread.html -- <br />
what looked like an almost perfect recipe for what I had on hand (and it included a photo that looked delicious). My recipe below is essentially hers, which was adapted from another recipe, which was adapted from another recipe... phew! I subbed a few of the flours, using this helpful page explaining a little of the science behind making up your own flour mix: http://glutenfreegirl.com/how-to-make-a-gluten-free-all-purpose-flour-mix <br />
<br />
My flour mix was more 50/50 than 40/60 whole grain flours to starches, because that was what the recipe called for. Once I broke down each ingredient's purpose, it made subbing different ingredients much easier. I was then able to sub in grains for flavor--since half the GF flour mix is basically flavorless starch, you want to incorporate grain flours to impart flavor. The amaranth grain has a peppery, nutty, slightly malt flavor. Teff has a flavor reminiscent of hazelnuts. The amaranth and sweet brown rice flours I whizzed up in the dry container in the vitamix. <br />
<br />
Because I worried a little that my grains might be heavier than what was called for (and, to be honest, because I half thought it wouldn't rise at all), I increased the amount of yeast from one teaspoon to one whole packet. Next time I probably will use regular brown rice instead of sweet to make the flour, and cut the amount of sugar in half because it was just a tad sweet. Feel free to do the same, but don't take the sugar out completely. Gotta give that yeast something to eat! And the recipe is vegan if Earth Balance and vegan sugar is used. I happened to use butter, which tasted great. As it always does. <br />
<br />
Here's my recipe. If you try it, please let me know how it turns out! <br />
<br />
<br />
My GF flour mix, consisting of half whole grain flours: <br />
1/2 cup amaranth flour <br />
1/2 cup teff flour <br />
1/2 cup sweet brown rice flour <br />
1 1/2 cup sorghum flour<br />
And half starches: <br />
1 1/2 cup tapioca flour<br />
1 1/2 cup potato starch<br />
*This makes more than enough GF mix for 2 loaves. Use a whisk to stir these up well in a large bowl. Bigger than you think you need. The starches get messy, and once you get the grain flours in, they really start to stick together. Once you've mixed them completely, pour into an airtight container to store, and use at room temp. <br />
<br />
<br />
Easy Gluten Free, Vegan Sandwich Bread <br />
<br />
Ingredients: <br />
1 teaspoon butter or Earth Balance (for pan) <br />
1 tablespoon GF flour mix (for pan) <br />
3 cups GF flour mix <br />
2 teaspoons xanthan gum<br />
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt<br />
3 tablespoons sugar <br />
1 packet active dry yeast<br />
2 teaspoons melted coconut oil <br />
1 1/2 cups + 2 tablespoons warm water<br />
1 tablespoon butter or Earth Balance (for buttering after baking) <br />
<br />
The How-To: <br />
Preheat oven to 200 degrees. <br />
<br />
Butter and flour your loaf pan, shaking out the excess flour. <br />
<br />
Combine GF flour mix, xanthan gum, salt, sugar, and yeast in a medium bowl and whisk together. Set aside.<br />
<br />
In a large mixing bowl, combine the coconut oil and warm water, and immediately add the dry ingredients at once. Mix on high for 2 minutes--no more, no less. Your yeast will be dissolved, activated, and all ingredients incorporated, and it will be the consistency of batter, not of bread dough. <br />
<br />
Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and cover with a clean towel. Turn OFF the oven and place the covered pan in the warm oven immediately. Set timer for 30 minutes. <br />
<br />
After 30 minutes, remove pan from oven. What you should have now is what is recognizable as risen bread dough. Set it aside and keep covered. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.<br />
<br />
Remove the towel and place loaf pan in preheated oven, on the lowest rack. Bake for 50 minutes, testing with a toothpick. If still doughy, add 5-10 minutes. <br />
<br />
Brush or rub the top of the bread with butter or Earth Balance just after removing from the oven. Remove loaf from the pan and let cool on a wire rack. Let cool completely before cutting. Wrap tightly to store. <div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZyUZ_FdbPh2L9K-r1gM7dgeJhTpySjE7yFGFR42BcSI2pNAiDzicixlrnirZa6FjtbqDmbUvG6rIzzMoUWA7rc92PerGXAX3jXZhUBWVUjpq9Siu53mY36iRpXUqEcM01-6iro3yc6oA/s640/blogger-image-1422657150.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZyUZ_FdbPh2L9K-r1gM7dgeJhTpySjE7yFGFR42BcSI2pNAiDzicixlrnirZa6FjtbqDmbUvG6rIzzMoUWA7rc92PerGXAX3jXZhUBWVUjpq9Siu53mY36iRpXUqEcM01-6iro3yc6oA/s640/blogger-image-1422657150.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdnpVjFP6ld6FiCeTXpd5zJaOG663Z9sbcAx3z5PyEiiFo2uYqlriSEqMetE2dNcuq6wOizWTJclF-IWnsPetXeIe7DqSS7bEvtscr0A_RTt8tzn7nvv8fCYE2Leqon6ictnfXq97ExbE/s640/blogger-image-19733159.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdnpVjFP6ld6FiCeTXpd5zJaOG663Z9sbcAx3z5PyEiiFo2uYqlriSEqMetE2dNcuq6wOizWTJclF-IWnsPetXeIe7DqSS7bEvtscr0A_RTt8tzn7nvv8fCYE2Leqon6ictnfXq97ExbE/s640/blogger-image-19733159.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjds2ERhE2eq1l96hW_lcNYIZ9iJ9elNwsncmGjNEDlWu7eeHDbLrxpgt6MwY4IhGH343hBrTZNMhuCNq46JApmPLWzdbGX2LFauecLUEqqwoNPSePqFhWtTWZ2HGt5RS8ydClzdL5TALo/s640/blogger-image-583480694.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjds2ERhE2eq1l96hW_lcNYIZ9iJ9elNwsncmGjNEDlWu7eeHDbLrxpgt6MwY4IhGH343hBrTZNMhuCNq46JApmPLWzdbGX2LFauecLUEqqwoNPSePqFhWtTWZ2HGt5RS8ydClzdL5TALo/s640/blogger-image-583480694.jpg" /></a></div>Allihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09900860793061249680noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877142482464452035.post-42434066598170480902012-11-05T12:50:00.001-08:002012-11-05T12:56:00.526-08:00Gluten Free Waffle Recipe Success!If you have tried to bake soon after transitioning to a gluten free diet, you've likely experienced the heart-dropping disappointment that occurs the moment you taste the fruits of your labor. The less research, preparation, and ingredient-replacing you've done, the bigger the disappointment. In my case, I tried making cookies three time, all with less than edible results. Sadly, it turns out that the box of "all-purpose gluten free flour mix" really can't just be substituted one for one in all your usual recipes as the back of the of brags. (At least, not without the inclusion of guar, and or xantham gums to bind the flours in place of gluten.) <br />
<br />
Since then, I've spent a lot of time researching gluten free recipes and cookbooks. After a trip to Whole Foods to stock up on more useful essentials, I felt prepared enough to whip up a batch of waffles based on a recipe I found online. I tweaked it a bit as per usual, and they turned out delicious. (You'll notice I used only half an egg, because I didn't want to waste a big batch in case they didn't come out--well, these come out, so feel free to double the batch and use one whole egg.) Wifey and sister in law both ate them up with butter and syrup... and neither of them are huge fans of breakfast food, so they would not have eaten them if they weren't actually tasty. <br />
<br />
This may not be a cake, or even a batch of cookies, but dammit, I'm feeling pretty proud of misself today. <br />
<br />
These are not vegan because of the egg, but you could mash 1/4 of a banana in place of the egg, which was always my standby egg sub for any pancake or waffle mix. Anyway, here's the recipe. Enjoy. <br />
<br />
Ingredients<br />
<br />
1 cup Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Gluten Free Baking Flour <br />
1/4 tsp guar gum<br />
1 1/3 tsp baking powder<br />
1/4 tsp baking soda<br />
1/4 tsp salt<br />
1 Tbs sugar<br />
1 Tbs olive oil<br />
2/3 cup milk or nondairy milk (I was out of both, so I used a couple tablespoons of vegan yogurt mixed with water totaling 2/3 cup) <br />
1/2 beaten large egg <br />
1/2 tsp vanilla extract<br />
<br />
Instructions<br />
<br />
Preheat your waffle iron on medium setting. <br />
Stir together dry ingredients well. <br />
Whisk wet ingredients together.<br />
Add wet ingredients to dry and whisk together until well combined (do not overbeat). <br />
Let stand for 5 minutes.<br />
Pour batter into waffle iron and cook according to directions. <br />
<br />
This made us three and a half tasty waffles, but again, these are delish, so feel free to double for more waffley goodness. <div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgom0JdRXFu_cTdw_Xw-S4QfC9lZGGszDe2BdcLUldLqNBZ-PlJI3bKcKJEw33Ml5N2GH-Lriy1G7ildDZWUE_mvqZqcsYrqP_txqq2ZFfROK0VtK5JLpSbhnvfmd4JctZrXUXu48a5tqw/s640/blogger-image-1208177645.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgom0JdRXFu_cTdw_Xw-S4QfC9lZGGszDe2BdcLUldLqNBZ-PlJI3bKcKJEw33Ml5N2GH-Lriy1G7ildDZWUE_mvqZqcsYrqP_txqq2ZFfROK0VtK5JLpSbhnvfmd4JctZrXUXu48a5tqw/s640/blogger-image-1208177645.jpg" /></a></div>Allihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09900860793061249680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877142482464452035.post-6367176597784875992012-10-11T09:37:00.001-07:002012-10-11T10:15:21.701-07:00The ticky, tacky world of Gluten FreeIn the three months since I've last posted, I've begun to delve into the world of the gluten free. Not for a fad diet (if I hear another customer at work ask me if gluten free is healthier and then look at the GF cookies, I may lose it--or just have yet another conversation explaining who and why should avoid gluten and why any processed food is avoidable), but because wifey and I put two and two together and realized she just may have some sort of gluten sensitivity. <br />
<br />
Let's go back three years ago... to a time when we still lived in the South Bay with three other roommates, I had just left Starbucks to work for Whole Foods Market, and my wife was beginning to experience a few rather strange symptoms that appeared to be allergies. The worst were the welts. Seemingly out of nowhere, large swollen itchy patches would raise up on her neck, shoulders, back, or the tops of her feet, lasting about a day or so. She'd usually get only one at a time, so at first we kind of thought it might be an irritation, maybe to a bra strap or bug bite. Then we thought it must be the chemicals in the laundry detergent, so we switched from Tide Dark to all natural, fragrance-free Seventh Generation, also dropping my favorite-ever vanilla lavender scented drier sheets. Seemed to work for awhile, until she got "one of those bumps" again. It appeared to coincide with the consumption of a rather large amount of Taco Bell--the only fast food we ever ate--so we thought maybe there was some sinister and gross fast food preservative or ingredient that should be avoided. This was probably not a bad idea anyway, quitting fast food, but a bump came up again. Frustrated, in pain, and sick of not knowing when and how these welts would appear (she would come home in tears after having to walk around all day at work with a swollen foot), Wifey went to the doctor on her next day off. What occurred there at that office disturbed her so thoroughly that she had not returned to any doctor for two years. Since she didn't have a current welt at the time of the visit, she went in describing her symptoms and to the best of her knowledge, what she was doing or eating when she got them. The doctor began showing her photos of patients with growths and rashes on their genitalia. <br />
<br />
I'm not kidding. <br />
<br />
Despite wifey saying over and over that they were not and had never been in a private area--gesturing wildly to her shoulders and feet--the male doctor continued to insist she look at photos of STDs. He did manage to write a prescription for cortisone cream before she left, but failed to ask any real questions that might lead him to a diagnosis other than STD or random skin rash. <br />
<br />
With her fear of that office firmly in her psyche, wifey and I continued to try to troubleshoot her puzzling symptoms on our own. She kept most of it to herself and I thought for years that the main problems were itching (soles of the feet and palms of her hands) and the welts. We did the Engine 2 diet, and she felt relieved of the symptoms, for the most part. When we went off the diet, ordering a pizza or sandwiches or something else "bad," she felt horrible the next day. She started to notice that when she was on Engine 2 and didn't cheat, she appeared to lose drastic amounts of weight very quickly. She would go down a shirt size in a week. Imagine her frustration when we slowly went back to more "normal" eating and she seemed to gain all the weight back. As time passed, she lost more and more energy, to the point that she would sit down when she got home from work and didn't want to move until she went upstairs to go to bed. I began to get frustrated with her "laziness"! Thinking she just wasn't trying to help me out around the house or go out and do things together. <br />
<br />
When we were juicing everyday earlier this year, we noticed that her energy spiked, her shirt size went down again, she lost about 12 or so pounds in a week, and she was experiencing no bumps. Yay! But hey! Juicing is not a sustainable way to live! So despite our best efforts to try and eat "well," she went back to what had become her "normal." Which was not normal at all and was no way to live. I recall one day during the summer that I emailed her at work asking if we could take a walk together with the dogs when we both got home. Her response was, "Sure, if I can move. I can barely walk up and down the stairs here." I didn't know how bad it actually was for her, even then. <br />
<br />
Very recently my store hired a healthy eating specialist, and always being very interested in nutrition and diet, I would often talk to her about our attempts at eating healthy, vegan, and most recently juicing. I mentioned to her wifey's improvements while juicing. My friend looked at me and said that when she was advising clients having any kind of issue, she always first told them to try an elimination diet--and first to eliminate gluten. She said there are many common problems that clear up once gluten is out of the picture. I was curious now, but kind of thought this was a whole lot of hippy dippy nonsense--I mean, unless you have Celiac disease, why would you need to avoid gluten--and come on, I think we'd KNOW, right? My wife was a chef... she'd know if she had a food allergy! Still, I went online and googled gluten free. I found websites and blogs with people's personal stories and journeys of how they discovered they were sick. I read for hours, clicking back and forth between windows, cross referencing stories with WebMD and Wikipedia. <br />
<br />
I was horrified. <br />
<br />
All the stories I read involved the person being sick for years--YEARS!--nearly to the point of not being able to function, or enjoy life. And going to many doctors who never, ever suggested that gluten may be the cause! Until one day, because of one symptom or doctor or whatever, they were tested for celiac disease and eliminated gluten from their diet. So simple--yet doctors seemed to know nothing about this! What was going on? <br />
<br />
The symptoms varied wildly and I didn't see much of a connection at first; i just kept reading because I felt for these poor people! I wasn't really convinced that this might be Wifey's issue until I read a few articles in particular that spoke of the varied symptoms, the peculiar effects on weight and how gluten causes malnutrition, and especially the autoimmune effects. These I saw my wife in. Her brother and sister both suffer from autoimmune diseases as well--gluten may even be affecting them. I began firing off the links to her work email right away. <br />
<br />
http://www.celiaccentral.org/disease-symptoms-checklist/<br />
<br />
http://glutenfreeworks.com/blog/2010/01/21/weight-gain-in-celiac-disease-how-to-lose-weight-on-the-gluten-free-diet/<br />
<br />
http://glutenfreegirl.com/symptoms-of-celiac-and-gluten-sensitivity/<br />
<br />
When she got home that day, I explained that it sounded crazy, but this could explain the welts and the bloating and the weight gain and the itching. And I said, I know I bombarded you with a lot of information, but here's why I think you need to look into this... clearly I was expecting an unreceptive response. She just said that she'd read all of it. All the links I sent her. And he began to tell me more about her symptoms that she had never said anything about before. About how her joints hurt so bad that she couldn't move in the mornings and she'd have to swing one leg over the other to get out of bed. How she was so sore and tired all the time, she was certain she had cancer. I felt terrible because the whole time I'd really thought she was being lazy. But this was real pain. <br />
<br />
She stopped eating gluten right away, and within a couple days had an appointment with a specialist recommended by a co-worker. She had blood taken for testing. Last week, she received confirmation from the tests that she has gluten sensitivity, but we'd known for weeks--when she stopped eating gluten, she suddenly was made aware of when she accidentally ingested it. Like when we went for Ethiopian food and requested gluten free injera, and she was sick the next day (they forgot and gave us injera with teff AND wheat). Or when we made cocktails and by her second drink the palms of her hands were itching--read the back of the bottle only to discover that Grey Goose is "made with the finest French wheat." Oops. But yes--we learned. We already had confirmation. <br />
<br />
Wifey is going back today to discuss the results of the testing in depth and learn more about how to get her health back. I'm nervous but excited. It is incredibly hard to see your spouse struggle with an unknown enemy, watch them change into a different, sad person before your eyes and not know how to help them. I'm optimistic and I can't wait to jump into a new way of living, and seeing my wife be alive again. Allihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09900860793061249680noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877142482464452035.post-49003069589623881112012-06-29T22:58:00.001-07:002012-06-29T22:58:07.669-07:00Dinner is ServedHomemade veggie patty--made with SooFoo, lentils, and oat flour--open face with spinach on spelt toast, with leftover Mediterranean kale salad. <br />
<br />
I haven't been perfect with the Engine 2 diet, in fact the other night I had cheese pizza for dinner (oops), but for the most part I check myself before I put random food in my mouth, and am enjoying eating more whole foods. <br />
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I also bought the Everyday Happy Herbivore cookbook by Lindsay Nixon. I love her blog, even have used her recipes, so it's about time I bought a book of hers. What I love about this book is not only is it mostly Engine 2 compliant (although not with the salt), is that the recipes are super fast, easy, simple and CHEAP. Lindsay developed them living in St. Maarten, where she didn't have access to, say, a Whole Foods. So the ingredients aren't too exotic, and are more accessible for everyone. <br />
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Her veggie burger recipe inspired the one pictured here. (I promise to try to follow recipes more closely--but as usual, I get inspired and segue off in my own direction.) <div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6w1aIGe8kCNfPSVfQOFUzmZBIJfZFAXpNDTLxLOO4G61o3dh3-n7zmXpDSjCJnPZZ1geB8TdOaybxhpwJJxUMaEC_aTw_lpx4M0ANOhNws1ERnmYQksglniO0euhZZAM5TuSUcXKz8fQ/s640/blogger-image--347382960.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6w1aIGe8kCNfPSVfQOFUzmZBIJfZFAXpNDTLxLOO4G61o3dh3-n7zmXpDSjCJnPZZ1geB8TdOaybxhpwJJxUMaEC_aTw_lpx4M0ANOhNws1ERnmYQksglniO0euhZZAM5TuSUcXKz8fQ/s640/blogger-image--347382960.jpg" /></a></div>Allihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09900860793061249680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877142482464452035.post-30810839470771901242012-06-22T16:45:00.001-07:002012-06-22T16:45:49.177-07:00Environmentally-Friendly Oven CleaningMy healthy eating challenge has been going well, and today on my day off I felt inspired to deep clean my kitchen. While I don't think any natural cleaner replaces bleach for things like red wine spills on our white countertops, I didn't feel like contaminating our home with caustic and toxic oven cleaner. After researching natural oven cleaner recipes online, most of which involve borax and letting the mixture sit overnight, I decided to give it a go with a cup of baking soda, lemon juice, and apple cider vinegar. Wow--I was surprised that this combination actually worked really well! I used a soft scrubber and used it on the interior of the oven door and glass. After only about ten minutes, it was clean. No toxic fumes, no waiting, just a lot of dipping a washcloth in water and wiping over and over to get the residue off. Voila... Clean sparkling oven, naturally. Next project is the bottom of the oven. I didn't tackle that today because it's not nearly as dirty as the door was, and was much improved with simply a wipe down with a wet paper towel. Yay! Allihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09900860793061249680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877142482464452035.post-32716194354252531142012-06-19T08:53:00.001-07:002012-06-19T08:53:24.211-07:0028 Day ChallengeI've been offered a challenge, and I accepted.<br />
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Today begins the 28 Day Challenge featuring the dietary stylings of Rip Esselstyn, author of the Engine 2 Diet. I have done Engine 2 before, a couple years ago, and stuck with it pretty hardcore for about 4 months. The lingerings of what I learned about plant-based eating formed the basis of how I think about food today... although I am sorely in need of a reboot. <br />
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This morning I ordered a book by one of my favorite plant-based bloggers, Lyndsay Nixon of Happy Herbivore. I've found the recipes she posts are tasty and simple, and align with E-2 in their no-oil-ality. E-2 can get a little complex, so having cookbooks like Everyday Happy Herbivore and Appetite for Reduction will be welcome departures. <br />
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Speaking of AFR, allow me a minute to sing the praises of Isa Chandra Moskowitz. I love every single one of the books I own by her (I think I have all but 2 or 3, as she has a Vegan with a Vengeance empire by now), and AFR is hugely recommended for anyone trying to get healthy. Girl can cook, for sure. <br />
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Alright. Enough talk, let's do this. Allihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09900860793061249680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877142482464452035.post-2789100250194731242012-03-07T06:36:00.001-08:002012-03-07T08:09:56.243-08:00NoPulpLeftBehind BreadJuicing is fantastic. The amount of end product left behind is not, especially if you plan on tossing it in the garbage. It's a huge waste of nutrients and cold hard cash to throw away perfectly good juicing pulp. <br />
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If you've never used a Breville juicer, I'll tell you right now that though I adore the thing, the spent vegetables and fruit spinning out into the pulp collector are not hard, useless fiber rocks. Greens are challenging to juice because the spinning blades tend to juice a more solid item better (carrots and celery, for instance, fare better). Soft citrus fruits give out a lot of juice, but this kind of juicer isn't ideal for them and the juice comes out frothy, the pulp a ravaged but fairly intact moist fruit skin. But even the harder items have a slightly wet pulp, with plenty of vitamins and phytonutrients left amongst the fibrous remains. <br />
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Reusing the pulp has become a mission of mine. I love my spicy broth with kombu and cayenne. It fills you up and satisfies you, but let's be real here... you can only make (and drink) so much broth when you are juicing for two people two to three times a day! My dogs have adored the fruit & veggie pulp treats I've made them a few times, and we give them plenty of shredded carrots, beets, and greens with their dinner and they LOVE it. Still, a pile of pulp remains that has much goodness left within. <br />
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Last week, I decided to make loaf bread and muffins. We have carrot cake, zucchini bread, and banana loaf, so why not combine aspects from all three, along with my veganizing, oil free awesomeness? I had one banana left which was at the perfect stage of softness, so I mushed that up with just a couple tablespoons of raw honey. I soaked some chia seeds to serve as the binder. I gathered two heaping cups of the best pulp from the morning's juicing--apples, carrots, kale, zucchini, strawberries, and beets--and whisked them with a bit of bottled tangerine juice (we had bought this prior to juicing, not a bad use for it). I grated fresh ginger into that for some bite. Then I whizzed up a flour blend in the vitamix from oats, almonds, flax, lentils, amaranth, and whole wheat. This was a heavy batter, so I threw in big spoonfuls of baking powder AND soda, and seasoned it with cinnamon, freshly grated nutmeg, and allspice, and stirred in a teaspoon of vanilla. <br />
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I hardly need to tell you that the batter tasted amazing. <br />
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Hoping against hope that my calculations of time and temperature would do the trick to fully bake this dense and super moist bread, I put the mini loaf pans in 15 minutes before the muffin tins. When the timer went off and I hesitantly opened one of the muffins, it was steamy inside but set. They had risen just enough, and even though the bits of green that were exposed on top were a little, erm, charred, they were spicy, slightly sweet, and delicious. <br />
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My next experiment may be pulp soup. Stay tuned. Allihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09900860793061249680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877142482464452035.post-39764401550622742442012-03-06T19:41:00.001-08:002012-03-07T08:08:12.217-08:00Beeting HeartI love this photo. Beets have come to be one of my favorite vegetables. They have a quirkiness to them for sure, they stand out once rooted out of the soil... much as they would prefer to blend in and hide. Sweet, bright yet dark, beautiful, unexpected. They leave their mark on everything they touch. <br />
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For in depth nutritional info on beets, go here: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=49<div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUxXl19DQhxUK_jkixzbri2_PyZzsJjz8KnWyhqH015y1fEvd7ZgOi55keeAnIbURDKdJnA98fqE0i1nfAy2MRwKo7tBK7KXBBawk9cyexajnG_EmWzOA5MdEqZz1CYty4tziDZjpOskk/s640/blogger-image-1384152460.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUxXl19DQhxUK_jkixzbri2_PyZzsJjz8KnWyhqH015y1fEvd7ZgOi55keeAnIbURDKdJnA98fqE0i1nfAy2MRwKo7tBK7KXBBawk9cyexajnG_EmWzOA5MdEqZz1CYty4tziDZjpOskk/s640/blogger-image-1384152460.jpg" /></a></div>Allihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09900860793061249680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877142482464452035.post-89418718913320101192012-03-02T09:41:00.001-08:002012-03-07T08:10:50.546-08:00Ten PoundsBrief post to say that this morning (the day after I worked a pretty physical eight hour work shift moving and lifting 50 pound boxes all day!), my scale says 123.4 today! I even ate a big no oil hummus wrap yesterday (cut it up and ate it in thirds between juices). <br />
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That makes a ten pound weight loss in six days, folks. <br />
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*Tapdance* Allihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09900860793061249680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877142482464452035.post-62367109683258148012012-02-29T21:29:00.001-08:002012-03-07T08:11:41.952-08:00Ramblings on JuicingYou know what's good? Food you can chew! I decided to stop fighting my instincts and start incorporating more food into my days of juicing. So yesterday I had my banana and bit of avocado after I got home from work, before dinner juice. After dinner, I had a couple bites of canned cannellini beans. Perhaps not the highest of culinary escapades, but my god those beans tasted fantastic. <br />
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Then there was today. After breakfast juice, I ate half a sumo mandarin, and made a little plate of sweet brown rice with beans, some avocado, tahini cashew dressing I made right before we bought the juicer, and a splash of Papalote roasted tomato salsa (which, by the way, is the most amazing salsa I've ever put in my mouth, for reals). It was a perfect tiny meal, and I followed it the rest of the day with broth I made from last night's dinner juice pulp. After dinner juice tonight I had a few raw cashews and almonds. The amount of real food I actually ate was fairly tiny, but it did feel strangely like I basically gorged myself. <br />
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I realize this has gone from blog to food diary, so allow me to steer us back onto the road. Let's talk hoe to juice and why. You should be buying lots and lots of greens, as they are the most nutrient-dense vegetables and are, in essence, a miracle food. In five days, wifey and I have probably gone through a dozen bunches of greens, including kale, chard, and collards. That doesn't include the spinach, cabbage, or beet greens. <br />
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By the way, bunched beets are probably the best deal you can find in the produce department. At Whole Foods, one bunch of organic beets is $1.99, and usually you can find a bunch with three huge or four medium beets, with a gorgeous mane of red-blooded greens the size of your typical bunch of kale. Do you realize how happy that makes me? It's like a two-for-one. We've gone through about three or four of these beet bunches. Beets are super sweet and put out a good amount of juice, turn your juice blood red (unless it's a golden beet, still delish without the dramatic flair of color), and the greens of red beets put out red juice as well. If your pee turns red after eating or drinking beets (a condition called beeturia, no joke), you may have an iron deficiency. Fun fact, before I started juicing I used to have beeturia, but it hasn't happened since day one, even though I'm drinking one or two beets a day. That's because I'm consuming so many dark leafy greens--and adding citrus to the greens juice helps your body absorb more iron, so the lemon, kiwi, or oranges have a role to play beyond just being delicious. <br />
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The other amazing produce deal is the five pound bag of carrots for under five bucks. We're on our second bag, because carrot juice is amazing and delicious and we juice at least a couple carrots in every juice. Some folks say carrot juice can cure cancer. I also just read that drinking it can solve symptoms of vitamin A deficiency like night blindness, which wifey has, so I'm curious to see if hers goes away after juicing. <br />
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Now that I'm essentially a juicing expert (kidding, but I'm really good at it right?), I need to add a workout into the mix. I sometimes run with my dogs on their walks, have a job that usually keeps me on my feet at least six hours a day, and I'm one of those nervous energy types who can't sit still for very long. That's about all I've got. It would be tragic if I end up gaining weight when this juice fast (as it were) ends. Yes, I know I'm playing it fast and loose with the word tragic, but I'm so looking forward to getting back to the weight I was at my wedding, and not be skinny because planning a wedding is harrowingly stressful... but because I'm healthy. Woot. Allihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09900860793061249680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877142482464452035.post-22763746047881752432012-02-27T23:59:00.001-08:002012-02-28T00:24:29.459-08:00Day ThreeToday marks my third full day of juicing, a little milestone for me. I planned to do at least three days, see how I felt, and consider my options. Despite a headache yesterday and the evening cravings (which I recognize as NOT hunger due to the fact that my stomach has not rumbled once on this juice fast...!), I feel fine overall and am going to juice again tomorrow. Woot! Check out the gorgeous ingredients that composed our dinner tonight. We used five types of greens (dino kale, chard, beet greens, spinach and cabbage), carrots, tomatoes, asparagus, beet, red pepper, celery, apple, and cucumber. I may even be forgetting a thing or two. It was the most delicious juice wifey has made yet. <br />
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Today I had a mostly fruit juice for breakfast, and brought a juice to work again for lunch. I drank that by 11:30 or so (stressful morning--does chugging my juice early count as stress eating?), so I had an iced goji berry green tea on my actual lunch break at 1. We had dinner around 6 and I was mildly hungry at that point, but certainly not ready to kill anyone for a Klondike bar or anything. <br />
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I weighed in at 125.6 tonight, a couple hours after my snack of a quarter of an avocado and lots of water. Giving myself the leeway to eat something at night has allowed me to get a little extra nutrition (I think the healthy fats are keeping me sane, to be quite honest) and let me feel that I'm not depriving myself. I actually feel pretty great and that with every juice, I am treating my body to something it needs, and has been craving. And my body has thanked me today by not giving me any more stomach issues, thank you god. <br />
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Work comes early tomorrow, so for now I must sleep. <div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfgtzrbCXXOOmiVOxRRrlqSK8UYg0FMnHjRhAAEjKzYhqpdZLAxZA5IOSjzTAG9Ktkz0ypEjZC5Fk-OnzkX0ARBvVSMk5Z58xzM92-wVZA1FGs_MMX322RdsZIgVcDPAby4H9kwIqYZE8/s640/blogger-image--1880336393.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfgtzrbCXXOOmiVOxRRrlqSK8UYg0FMnHjRhAAEjKzYhqpdZLAxZA5IOSjzTAG9Ktkz0ypEjZC5Fk-OnzkX0ARBvVSMk5Z58xzM92-wVZA1FGs_MMX322RdsZIgVcDPAby4H9kwIqYZE8/s640/blogger-image--1880336393.jpg" /></a></div>Allihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09900860793061249680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877142482464452035.post-48892916576089868582012-02-26T23:57:00.001-08:002012-03-07T08:10:34.036-08:00CheatingActually, I cheated last night too, but I cheated more today, hence the title. <br />
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After a good strong day of juicing, and a minor headache that felt major because I so rarely get headaches (which I cured with a glass of iced twig tea, low in caffeine but with enough of it to take the edge off), I felt good about this juice fast. I had made two juices this morning, one for breakfast and one to take to work for my lunch. Then, soon after my dinner juice made by wifey--a tomatoey, celery-y, beety and greeny glass of tastiness--I had some sort of intestinal issue. An hour later, again. <br />
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I shall spare you the details, as I hope to keep this blog classy. <br />
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I will add that I've lost six pounds since the night of my first juice two days ago. I weighed in at 127.6 tonight. Now, my weight normally fluctuates a few pounds anyway, but I do feel I'm being cleansed. For sure. Maybe I've even lost a real pound or two. <br />
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I decided that I've been doing super great doing just juice for over two days straight (with a few bites of avocado last night, s'what?), and I was so craving something sweet and creamy. So I ate the other half of the avocado and a banana. They were so delicious. <br />
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If you tell me that eating a couple pieces of fresh organic produce during a cleanse is wrong, I will tell you that YOU'RE wrong, friend! I googled it. Bananas and avocados are actually the two fruits that can help make a juice fast safer for people with conditions like diabetes, because they are slow to digest and help stabilize your blood sugar. I don't have any conditions, but that sounds good enough to me. <br />
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I do feel as though I've eaten a fairly heavy meal right now, though perhaps those slow-digesting fruits will ease up the effects of this fast on my gut. I don't plan on cheating all the time, because after all, I want this fast to kick-start my metabolism and stabilize my mood, as well as detoxify my body. But if I do, I'm proud of myself for choosing healthy choices that, frankly, would be awful for juicing. Which makes me brilliant, really, for rounding out my juice diet! Like what I did there? I made my puny willpower sound like science.Allihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09900860793061249680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877142482464452035.post-26364818600531072642012-02-25T22:40:00.001-08:002012-03-07T08:10:16.972-08:00Juicing Up, Day OneToday I juiced, but that's not all. In true Roots and Leaves form, I made the most of juicing. And, ladies and gentlemen, it was good. I think I may be able to do this for longer than three days if I give myself time to juice, prep for the day, and mix up the variety so I'm not bored. Here's a rundown of today: <br />
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Breakfast juice: orange, 2 apples, 2 carrots, 2 kiwis <br />
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I learned a fast lesson on the truth of how quickly juices get absorbed into your system. On the way to work a couple hours after breakfast, I drank a green tea. Green tea and I are not friends on an empty stomach, but today I figured the juice would provide the necessary stomach buffer. Not so. I felt like I might hurl any second as I attempted to find a parking spot. It took almost an hour for the nausea to dissipate. Will stick to herbal or puerh from now on. <br />
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Lunch, drank throughout the day: Broth. Yes, that's right. I made broth with the veggie pulp from last night's juice. Took about a liter to work in a water bottle and chugged it all day long.<br />
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Dinner juice: a bit of broccoli, a parsnip, 2 carrots, 1/2 bunch of dino kale, a beet, 2 small sweet potatoes, and a zucchini. So good. <br />
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After dinner: A quarter of an avocado (I'm only human, for reals, people), and more broth! I made more and drank the hell out of it. <br />
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And the icing on the cake, I took more of the veggie pulp from dinner (that juicer makes a ton of pulp!), whipped up a flour mix of rices, wheatberries, flax seeds, nutritional yeast, and lentils in the Vita-Mix, and made fresh homemade dog treats. My dogs went nuts, which always validates my love for them instead of making me feel like a crazy dog lady. The pups also enjoy getting snacks of veggie pulp by itself. <br />
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Of course, any pulp we didn't use, the cooked pulp from the broths, and all the peels from oranges, et al, went straight to the compost bin. Composting FTW! I would like to experiment more with using up all that pulp, though. There's just so much. <br />
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I felt fine all day, maybe even a little happier than usual. Of course, getting compliments on my hair at work is great, so it could be that. As far as hunger goes, I felt satiated all day, until after dinner. Thinking of all the things I would normally have reached for (soy yogurt, chips and salsa, candy or cookies), I realize it's all JUNK and that I'm probably not actually hungry or craving nutrients. I'm simply craving the empty calories (sugars, salt and carbs) I usually fill up on in the couple hours before bed. If I can break that cycle--wow. I'm golden. <br />
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Time for bed. More updates soon! Allihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09900860793061249680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877142482464452035.post-55236032163138281082012-02-24T23:30:00.001-08:002012-03-07T08:11:17.166-08:00The Juice is LooseThe last couple months have been a bit rough. Maybe it's the post-holiday lull, maybe it's winter, maybe it's that I haven't had my hair done in over six months. (Yes, the fact that I feel like an overgrown weed has taken over my head definitely takes its toll on my psyche.) I get momentarily inspired, then bogged down once again by something or other. One step forward, two steps back. <br />
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One step forward was watching the documentary Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. In the film, Joe Cross treks across America, juicing his way from New York to California, his end goal not only to lose weight and rebalance his life and health, but to actually cure the rare auto-immune disorder that had plagued him for eight years. During his 60 day juice fast, he meets as many people as he can, telling them about juicing and a nutritarian diet and how it equates to a longer, happier and healthier life. The film is especially inspiring as he meets a trucker with the same rare condition he suffers from, who reaches out to him for help. It ends up being a life-changing meeting, as this man also takes on the juice fast challenge and turns his life and health completely around. <br />
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I literally had to pause the movie so I could jump into the kitchen and make myself a green smoothie--wishing I had a juicer the whole time. Man! I love my Vita-Mix, don't get me wrong. In fact, it was the first of my dream appliance trifecta that we acquired and we use it almost daily. But watching these people juice their way to nirvana makes you wish you can have what they're having, When Harry Met Sally style. In fact, I watched it twice in a couple days.<br />
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I figured that the last thing I needed to do was drop a couple hundos on an appliance we may not end up using. I had a brief flash of inspiration to ask some neighbors to go in on a juicer with me, maybe keep it in the bike lounge of our building, but realized that there was no place to clean it. I was pretty bummed that juicing was not in the cards at the present. Falling back to the grind and feeling defeated. <br />
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One step forward. Wifey and I decided together to do our own sort of cleanse. Ironically, we started the day after Mardi Gras, despite the fact that we are neither Catholic nor religious. Essentially we are giving up alcohol as well as going back to a low-fat nutritarian vegan diet... for Lent. Or until our trip to Boston at the end of April, whatevs. Getting our groove back, getting our balance back, losing some weight and getting our happy on are the main objectives here. <br />
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Then, the day after we started our no-drinking, nutrient-dense extravaganza, wifey watched Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead with me. Alas! She had the same epiphanous experience I had the first time I watched it. But wifey goes for the gold with gusto. She wanted to get the juicer. Elated, I immediately did some research and found that the machine featured in the film, Breville Juice Fountain model JE-98XL in case you were wondering, was in stock at the Bed Bath and Beyond down the street. Score. 20% off coupon? Check, double score. We were in business for a lot less scrill than I'd imagined. <br />
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I procured the machine today, as well as what must have been fifty pounds of fresh produce (or at least it felt that way carrying my one very full grocery bag to the car in on hand while juggling a whole pineapple and my purse in the other. The photo below is my bounty on the checkout belt at the store.) After that, I got my haircut. I was feeling really pretty great about life, and much cuter myself to boot. Wifey got home and we ate some leftover vegan chili and curried wheatberry salad, watched deleted scenes from FS&ND, and started to fall asleep on the couch. I woke up from my brief doze and looked warily at the Breville, which sat on the counter, mocking us. <br />
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I had a moment of horror that this was our two steps back. With over one hundred pounds of produce (so it seemed) in our fridge ready to rot, our juicer out of the box but not yet fully assembled, I feared that we would not jump into this as readily as we thought. <br />
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I couldn't let that happen. Not when we'd come so close. <br />
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So at 9 PM, I finished assembling the machine and brought out some veggies. Screw it. Juicy nightcap. And so I juiced. A beet, two carrots, most of a parsnip, some cabbage, a bit of broccoli, a bunch of kale, and half a cucumber. It made almost three cups of juice, sweet and earthy from the root vegetables, and such a deep beety red it looked like blood. We drank it from stemless wine glasses. I saved the pulp, mostly dry except for the kale and broccoli--I must find tips for getting more juice out of greens--and will make broth with it tomorrow. <br />
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And so our juice fast begins in earnest tomorrow. I hope that armed with inspiration, and a crapload of nutrients, we won't fall two steps back this time. I'm ready to feel good again. I am doing at least three days of the juice fast. Wifey plans on doing at least ten. After that, we'll be trying to juice at least one meal a day until May, a feat not too difficult as we already usually blend a smoothie most mornings in the Vita-Mix. It's no 60 days, but we'll see how it goes and do longer if we feel good about it. <br />
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My weight tonight was 133.4. I plan on documenting our little adventure here, so stayed tuned. <div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifBjSAXFC3YsWpUSj1Z2JmugSMFpzY3bLVuRXJC3tmhO4czmO-BKFWTkiACFPd45hRHJiweNEh9pop5XDMucjMLAiNTBaayycL-DAvmDurhry89BEE6y13Qy0CT-oDHdrxRq-DTiYYd0s/s640/blogger-image--2046485454.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifBjSAXFC3YsWpUSj1Z2JmugSMFpzY3bLVuRXJC3tmhO4czmO-BKFWTkiACFPd45hRHJiweNEh9pop5XDMucjMLAiNTBaayycL-DAvmDurhry89BEE6y13Qy0CT-oDHdrxRq-DTiYYd0s/s640/blogger-image--2046485454.jpg" /></a></div>Allihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09900860793061249680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877142482464452035.post-17757129232428761662012-01-03T22:11:00.001-08:002012-01-03T22:11:13.309-08:00Holiday HangoverThe holidays are over. Three days into 2012, I woke up this morning well aware of a looming sense of melancholic despair. That sounds a little melodramatic, but it has truly been a long time since I have actually started my day by wanting to cry. <br />
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The holidays are gone. Today was many people's first day back at work (including mine). Perhaps I indulged in too much sugar, cheese, and alcohol in the past week and a half. But a friend posted on Facebook today about the week after the holidays being the most depressing week of the year, and I'm relieved it's not just me. <br />
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Apparently other people can feel that lovely air of suckiness, too. <br />
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I just loaded the dishwasher and hand-washed the wine glasses and champagne flutes from New Year's. Our festively decorated tree in the living room corner, which we had just put up the week before Christmas, may not come down for a couple weeks (unless I get a spurt of energy after my cavity gets filled this Friday--my day off... not impossible, but hardly likely). After the hustle and bustle so many Christmas songs love to reference passes, we're left with a sort of anti-climactic crash back down to day-to-day reality. It's not nearly as fun as spending every day searching for the perfect gift online, wrapping presents, spending time with family you won't see again for maybe months or another year, but in a few weeks it will be our normal again. <br />
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I feel drained, like I used up all my seratonin in the past couple weeks and I've got nothing left. I'm thinking of taking up running again, biking, making some art. I have been cuddling my dogs more than usual. They are very aware right now that they are loved. Dogs are good for that. <br />
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I did not have the energy to make any resolutions this year. I was fairly hungover on the first, not an uncommon ailment on the day after the last party of the year, and I sure as hell didn't feel like eating a salad. We ate leftover chips and salsa, and drank mimosas for breakfast. The next day we went out to lunch for pizza and beer. Day drinking makes me feel kinda awesome and naughty, like I'm on vacation even if it's just a day off, because it doesn't happen often. I was off for two days, and it felt rather freeing. But now... now the dullness of non-holiday life is definitely weighing me down. I have a birthday next week. I feel too tired to plan anything. Sleeping through turning 32 sounds best at this point. <br />
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How do you fend off melancholy after the holidays? Help a sister out. Maybe the holy basil, vitamin D, and St. John's wort will even do the trick. Or maybe the sun will come out and shine some sunny hope on my face through the fog. Here's hoping I make it. Allihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09900860793061249680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877142482464452035.post-16300284713600994002011-12-29T02:07:00.001-08:002011-12-29T04:03:30.373-08:00Sugar.Let's talk about sugar for a moment. <br />
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A few years ago, my friend Lauren would preface social gatherings (and I use that term loosely, as most of such events were nights at my apartment where I'd make dinners and boxed cake mix cupcakes for a handful of friends once a week where we'd watch Alias together--like I said, this was years ago) by announcing whether she was on or off sugar. And true to form, if she was on sugar that week, the indulgence of one or five cupcakes would result in such a dizzying display of ridiculous fun that by merely witnessing her frosting-laden binges, I maybe felt a bit hungover the next day on more than one occasion. (Perhaps it's worth mentioning that this was despite the fact that none of my friends drank.) <br />
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There are some rather amusing photos on my MySpace from this period in my life. Did I mention that this was years ago? <br />
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At the time, I thought that Lauren was super sensitive to sugar. At the very least, her being "on" or "off" it dictated whether she would dip into the proverbial opium den of carbs nestled in pastel papery hugs. Or, what you might call cupcake wrappers. And honestly, despite her "off sugar" weeks ending in deeply philosophical talks on my balcony about life, relationships, direction, and how each of us were fumbling toward a hazy horizon (we all hoped it meant things were headed in a vaguely positive direction, despite that overwhelming feeling of impending doom familiar I'm sure to most single late-20s folk), somehow I ended up answering my doorbell always kinda hoping Lauren would be on sugar that week. <br />
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Fast forward to present. Scratch that. Fast forward to last night, and me scrounging on about a pound and a half of leftover sugar cookies. It felt pretty great, at least that whole emotional eating quadrant of my brain thought it felt pretty great. The portion of my body that was forced to process the butter, sugar, and so-called happiness I'd ingested didn't take it nearly as well. I felt like poo warmed over. Let's keep it real here, guys. I'm talking zero energy, hard to get up this morning, stomach hurting. It seems I have angered my body. I stand by the statement that even my cramps today were a direct result of my flippant cookie indulgence last night. <br />
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I now recognize that Lauren wasn't ultra-sensitive. She recognized sugar's allure and at least attempted to fend it off. I have spent much of my life in the same boat. Attempts to eat healthfully were often thwarted by dastardly bowls of ice cream (giving up and eating in the bathtub, for shame!), glaring contests with bags of candy I'd eventually devour (thankfully these were mostly reserved to post-holidays, having dragged a small child's body weight in sweets home from my family's), and oh yes, more pies and cakes quickly disappearing than I can count (I have no excuse for this, however you should know that I gave an entire pumpkin pie to my mail delivery person just to get it out my face one particularly difficult year). <br />
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So certainly I have fought the pull of sugar, but in the past couple years, felt I had overcome it. Eating mostly vegan, focusing on nutrient-dense whole foods, and curbing my incessant nature to snack constantly, I felt most unhealthy cravings fall to the wayside. And it wasn't until I quit eating sweets regularly that I realized how much sugar affected me. I had used sugar as an anti-depressant, albeit a rather inefficient one. But I was plant-strong now! If I have a cookie, I can have one once in awhile and I don't want another one! Or eight! <br />
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Right... Hello, holidays! It took exactly four days staying with my family, eating what was available (including, well, anything in sight), eating perhaps out of stress, to re-addict myself to my old friend, sugar. Not that I didn't eat plenty of good stuff. My mom had asked me for a shopping list prior to my visit to make sure she had things I could eat. So I had my fill of hummus, olive tapenade, certainly a few vegetables and even a Tofurkey. But pile a tiered serving tray full of sugar cookies and apparently I am no match, especially after a few glasses of wine. <br />
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And that's how first night I came back home to reality after the holiday, I ate cookies for dinner. That's cookies, plural, not as in two, as in about two dozen. I may not have spun into a sugar-induced frenzy, but I did fall asleep on the couch watching tv. <br />
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So now I'm attempting to remedy my poor spiky blood sugar with kale. Spinach. Leafy greens my body wants to reject, as they contain precious little amounts of butter, sugar... you know, holiday crack. But I will persevere. I won't even get up after I post this to have a cookie. Promise.<br />
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I'm off sugar. Allihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09900860793061249680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877142482464452035.post-17482034158559927672011-11-22T23:29:00.001-08:002011-11-29T20:23:59.194-08:00ScratchIn my fridge, there is usually a container I keep my scraps in. The bits that some people might whirl down the disposal or throw in the compost bin--onion ends, root vegetable peels, the stalks of greens, mushroom stems, tomato guts and seeds, produce that had perhaps gone a bit too past its prime to eat on its own. These are gold. After a week or so, I have collected enough endly goodness (along with a couple smashed garlic cloves, bay leaf, peppercorns, and whatever herbs I have lying around) to make a giant pot of broth. Just add water and boil for 15 minutes. Yayyyyy. Look ma, I just turned trash into scratch.<br />
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Yep, making broth from basically nothing, what I normally may have tossed in the garbage, really excites me. It's kind of like finding money on the sidewalk. Okay, it's not like that at all, except you really are saving between two to four bucks for every four cups produced. And this, people, is fun for me! Then there's the added bonus of having complete control over sodium content (the only time I add "salt" is when I add a strip of kombu for flavor) and the flavor of your broth. I freeze it in ice cube trays for later (aren't I just clever as hell?). When you've got broth with loads of flavor and no added salt, you can use it as a base in so many recipes, replace the water in dishes, lube up your cooking pans with it instead of oil.<br />
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Guess what? You can still compost the boiled veggie guts after you strain your broth from the pot. Amazeballs. <br />
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There is beauty in this process. It is salvage, green, nourishing. It is as much an art form as baking a loaf of bread (we'll get to that later). It's sustainable living, and when you subsist on a plant-based diet, you're truly missing out if you don't take advantage of all parts possible. <br />
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If you are lucky enough to have a vegetable garden, you really are closing the circle. I don't. I would try it if we had a patio larger than a matchbook, or a backyard, but alas even then it would be highly likely that I might kill any plants if I touched them. I have a black thumb. But that's also another story... Allihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09900860793061249680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877142482464452035.post-75699491064307329802011-11-02T02:12:00.000-07:002011-11-20T06:29:32.402-08:00November 1I had a lofty goal of starting a blog and writing daily in it. As starting projects often go in my life... here I am two days later, fumbling for words to say. And I suppose it's too late for my first post to be on November 1, but I did create the blog on that date. Score one for me! <br />
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It's a mystery to me why my need to write and self-publish suddenly dried up in the midst of my twenties, but in recollections it does feel it was quite sudden. I attempted to start several projects, including a distro that fizzled out after two or three years, and a music zine to accompany a friend's album release, but I couldn't quite get it together enough to really make good on them. And logging into Livejournal every week or so turned into once or twice a year once Facebook really took hold.... yeah, perhaps the new social media has eaten my brain. At any rate, I stopped writing and for the larger part of things, reading as well. <br />
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So here's me, the former author of such zines as Satan's Panties and The Fog of Clarity, former proprietress of Gluestick Distro, coming clean after years of hiding out, and inking up my ribbon. <br />
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I have been living my life quite well. I just haven't been recording and reflecting. Words fall without meaning. Art has not been made. Maybe some passion has also fizzled out. Many things must be corrected. <br />
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What I HAVE done is become an adult, on paper anyway... getting my legal lesbian marriage on, buying a home, raising two beautiful dogs (30 Rock holla!). I'm proud of my life and I am mostly happy, on most days. But yes, corrections can only be done through action, and I'm back to reignite my life as a recording. So I am taking the now and zapping it with a little bit of touchscreen magic though this iPhone keyboard of mine. I'd prefer a typewriter, but they're so hard to get through the screen.<br />
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Thanks for stopping by my party.Allihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09900860793061249680noreply@blogger.com0