Brownies!
April 28, 2009 – 4:57 pm
Yay! All you do is add a can of pumpkin to a No-Pudge Fudge Brownie mix, mix, and bake! 2 Points each!
Pressure Cooker Dinner
April 23, 2009 – 6:55 pm
I was checking out FatFreeVegan today in hopes of finding something yummy to make for supper that doesn’t require me to go to the grocery store. Me and Hubs are going out of town tomorrow so I don’t want to buy a bunch of fresh stuff I won’t use till Monday.
She has a recipe for pressure-cooker herbed polenta (http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2009/03/herbed-polenta-with-beans-and-bok-choy.html). Since I’m always looking for a chance to use my pressure cooker, I thought I’d give it a try. I used something I had in the cupboard that I think is polenta, but may just be cornmeal. In the end it turned out more like grits than polenta, but still tasty.
I loosely followed her recipe for the topping, mainly due to ingredient constraints. I cooked some dry kidney beans in the pressure cooker and added some avocado chunks, and a bit of salsa.
I think the WW points are as follows: 1/2 cup polenta-grits: 2 pts. 1/2 cup beans: 1 pt. 1/4 avocado 2 pts. Salsa and onions: 0 pts. total per serving 7 pts.
The Real Cause of Osteoporosis
April 23, 2009 – 12:08 pm
Osteoporosis has been a major topic of discussion in my classes this semester. As a vegan, I have felt the heat, and mostly kept my mouth shut. But this Bronwyn lady is my hero(ine). She tell’ it straight. Check out her post on the real cause of osteoporosis.
Sometimes I Get Riled Up
April 23, 2009 – 7:01 am
Here is a quote from one of my classmates on our classroom discussion board in response to another classmate’s comment (who is a vegetarian) in a discussion about iron absorption:
“I’m not trying to start a war, but it is very hard to be a healthy vegetarian, I commend your effort but it takes a lot of work.”
Grrr. If I could respond on the discussion board the way I really want to, this is what I would say:
Um. no it isn’t. Not hard at all. I am a very healthy person. Some of the healthiest, longest-lived people in the world are vegetarians. They don’t think it’s hard. They don’t spend all day worrying about whether they met the RDA for iron or B12 or Calcium or Vitamin D or protein. But they still live long, healthy lives, easily; and they have some of the lowest disease rates in the world. Newsflash: vegetarianism works. The human body works. We don’t need to continue being tied to the barbaric notion that we can’t live well unless we consume other sentient beings, particularly in this age of technology, innovation, knowledge, and in this country where Excess is the rule, not the exception. We don’t live in the Gobi desert. We don’t live in the Andes mountains, we don’t live in Timbuktu. We live in post-industrial America, where we are so disengaged from our food supply and from nature that we have allowed animals to become a commodity in an evil, money-hungry, destructive, inhumane, unhealthy industry; and we have let that industry tell us that we can’t live without it. So, how do you mean, hard? Do you mean it’s hard to stop letting industry tell me what to do? Hard to resist the temptation to eat hunks of flesh from large, once-living-breathing-seeing-hearing beings? Hard to find something on a restaurant menu? Hard not to be swayed by main-stream industry-subsidized group-think about nutrition? I’m just not sure I follow.
whew. good thing I had somewhere to send that.
In Celebration of Creation
April 22, 2009 – 8:41 pm
I am grateful for the earth. I am grateful for the plants that feed me. I am grateful for the sun that shines on the plants that feed me. I am grateful for atoms and their energy. I am grateful for the creatures of the earth, sky, and sea. I am grateful for the wonders of mountain, desert, forest, plain, ocean, swamp, tundra. I am grateful to have eyes to see, ears to hear, and the ability to touch, smell, and taste them all. I am grateful for trees, glaciers, soil, rivers. I am grateful for the molten core, and the farthest atmosphere. I am grateful for the intricate ways that life intertwines. I am grateful for the small spot of grass and soil and tree that I’m lent to inhabit. I am grateful that I can have a relationship with nature, and with God, who created it. I am grateful.
I am grateful.
Vegan Weight-Watchin’ Birthday
April 20, 2009 – 8:32 am
Ok, so admittedly, my first week on WW is a hard one– birthday week. But I succeeded! On Sat we went to lunch with friends and I got a vegan cupcake. Half of which I ate (like 5 pts) and the other half Hubs and I shared yesterday. Modest, within reason, but celebratory. And yesterday some friends came for dinner and we had a simple spring-ish supper of whole wheat pasta salad, fruit, and wine. This thing is doable! Now to gear up for Wednesday’s weigh-in.
Thanks to a helpful tip from my pal Stacey D, we’ll be having seitan Sloppy Joe’s for supper tonight!
Day Three of WW
April 17, 2009 – 6:04 pm
So Weight Watchers is a good program — I approve. You can eat anything in moderation, as long as you budget it into your “points” allotment for the day/week (you get two sets: a daily minimum plus 35 extra to use up during the week. you also “earn” extra points with exercise). I am feeling a bit hungry in general because I’m unaccustomed to these portion sizes. I haven’t really changed much about what I eat, though — just how much.
I’m having a bit of trouble with the milk issue. The hempmilk I usually use is like 3 points per serving (equivalent of a beer). Skim or 1% cow’s milk is 2 points, and soymilk is 2 points. I need another option here, since I’m sensitive to soy. I also need a low-points/high-protein snack (meat is what normal WW’s use). So far, these have been my main troubles with doing veg weight watchers. I’ll have to read some other vegblogs to see what folks have done.
Crazy thing I did today
April 15, 2009 – 3:26 pm
Vegeater did a crazy thing today. I’m actually not even sure if I should share, maybe it’s some kind of blasphemy. I mean, I’m (practically) a nutritionist for crying out loud.
But the fact is, vegeaters and nutritionists need motivation too. I am sick and tired of my flab and of being nervous about summer swimsuit season, so I joined Weight Watchers as a birthday present to myself. Goal is to lose ten pounds. I can’t do it by myself, or at least I’ve never been successful at it when I’ve consciously tried. I’m not a fat person; I’m just a normal person who needs to lose a tenner.
Because I’m not a fat person, I was a little anxious about going to a meeting today — afraid that people would look at me and think “what’s she here for?!” “is she trying to rub it in?” But it was totally open. There are all kinds of people there and I never felt judged, and I didn’t judge anyone else. It was kindof nice actually. The leader understood completely when I explained to her that I want to lose a few pounds for my own self, to be comfortable in my own skin, and to have a healthy relationship with portion sizes.
Is that vain? I don’t know–she didn’t think so. I guess, ultimately, it’s important to me and how I feel about myself, so I should do it.
So, hopefully, in about 8-10 weeks, I’ll be a little leaner and more confident in my new bikini (which I am going to buy myself to celebrate the first 5 lbs off), and have a healthier body and a healthier outlook.
Honk!
April 14, 2009 – 1:51 pm
http://www.zazzle.com/honk_if_im_paying_your_mortgage_bumper_sticker-128095506127267253
I think this is funny. Hubs saw one the other day in town.