Bein’ Vegan
I’m not actually vegan. But I like to eat vegan whenever possible. I just tried out a new dish with lentils! Deeelicious. First I cooked 1c lentils with 2c water (bring to boil and simmer 15min). Then I added 1 small jar of salsa, about 1 carrot, chopped, and about 4 celery stalks, chopped. I let this simmer (covered) for about 10min and voila! I did this on a whim so I’m looking forward to making this again with different variations! You can use whatever veggies you want and the original recipe called for some chipotle seasoning but I didn’t feel like going to the store so I just used what inhad. Either way it’s a delicious way to get in your veggies! And lentils are amazin.
SRY no computer for the past 2weekz lol.
I’m at home in Bremerton for the weekend. Against my will, might I add… (I had to get my computer paperwork to order a new charger because I am too cheap to pay for a new one). My dad is gone for the weekend and my brother isn’t here either. I came home to an empty house. My dog is here, but nobody to talk to. I figured my family would want to see me after me being at school for the past two and a half months. It really sucks coming home to an empty house with no one to talk to and nothing to do. I made plans at first, but, alas, I am not 21 and they fell through because my Btown friends want to drank it up. I’m lonely! mehhhhh!
It gets better.
It’s true. Two days ago I didn’t want to believe it. I felt hopeless and alone two days ago. It’s not even that anything truly terrible had happened to me- it’s just that everything was piling up. Bad score on a midterm, broken lock, broken garbage disposal (I suppose that’s what i get for having a party), broken laptop charger, 4 tests and a presentation in one week… The list goes on. I gorged myself on froyo and no one told me things would be ok. The next day was a complete 180. I got accepted into Huxley College of the Environment (even though i have been taking classes there for a while, it’s nice to be official), my lock/door got fixed and I repaired my garbage disposal myself. I just spent my Thursday afternoon watching Harry Potter, drinking peach tea and napping. Now I’m listening to Kids in the Street and relaxing. I’m so glad because I haven’t been able to give it a proper listen yet. I really like it. It’s funny how AAR has been so constant in my life- one of the only constants actually. I remember 3 years ago I was doing this exact thing…literally… But in a different location. Xmas lights on, all other lights off, laying down and just listening. I should probably be studying but I think I deserve this break :)
I like election time on campus
because when I walk by, one of them usually gives me a high five which creates a cascade of additional high fives from the other candidates because they are trying to compete with each other and obviously the last person to give me a high five is who I will vote for, so they just keep coming. I just get a ton of high fives out of it. Good deal for me.
I EAT SALAD NOW.
Heyo. So I recently went on a week long detox where I only ate fruits and veggies (preferably RAWWWWW) and grains (as little as possible) and LOTS OF WATER and green tea. My day would go like this:
Breakfast: Oatmeal (the fast-cooking kind that comes in the big tubs. Quaker is fine, I bought the cheap off-brand stuff) made with water. To the oatmeal I added 1 sliced banana, a handful of fresh blueberries and usually a few cut up strawberries. I also had a cup of green tea.
Lunch: spinach leaves, cut up cucumber, baby carrots and 1/2 of a large avocado. And I’d usually have another cup of green tea with lemon and a glass of water. This was the challenging part of my day because I was the most hungry and the most tired from school, but I couldn’t give in. It was hard to satisfy myself with this measly salad, but the avocado definitely helped. So delicious. If you have lemon juice I’d recommend putting some on the salad, but I didn’t so I just had it plain. If I was still hungry I’d sometimes add half of a boiled yukon gold potato.
Snack: WATER WATER WATER (is that a snack?) and a piece of fruit like an orange or an apple. And maybe some more of that avocado if I’m feeling mighty hungry…
Dinner: 1/2 - 1 boiled yukon gold potato, about a cup of rice, steamed broccoli, spinach.
Challenging detox, but worth it. I first planned to do it 7 days, then it went down to 5, but I ACTUALLY lasted 4 days because I’m in college and it was the weekend and there was beer. So yeah! But it was totally worth it and I think 4 days was fine for me. I had a really bad withdrawal headache on day/night 2, but after that I felt like fuckin superwoman. Keep in mind, if you want to do a detox similar to this, adjust these things for your needs. I’m very small (not skinny… small).
It’s only been a week since my detox/cleanse/what have you, but I feel so much improvement in my motivation (to go to the gym, study, etc.) and my overall mood. I’m beginning a new lifestyle after I watched the documentary Forks over Knives. It encourages a whole food/plant-based diet. I’m not going to go extreme and claim to be a vegan; I will still eat cheese, yogurt, ice cream… all that good stuff… and meat. The only thing that’s changing is how often I’m eating these things. I never even really liked meat that much, so it’s kind of nice to tell people I have an excuse for not eating it instead of me just being picky.
I went to the grocery store the other day to begin my new lifestyle and I felt so excited afterward. I didn’t get anything in a box, which is a new thing for me. Nothing from the freezer section and nothing from the dairy section… so weird. I got a store brand bag of brown rice, a couple boxes of pasta (for emergencies), pasta sauce, lemon juice, a red onion, 2 green bell peppers, freeze dried basil and garlic (expensive but will last me awhile because I didn’t want to continuously be buying these things), bananas, strawberries, blackberries (cheapest. blueberries are so expensive! how did I buy them last time?), 2 cans of garbanzo beans, 1 can of black beans, 1 can of sliced beets (random, but why not?), nature valley granola bars, a big tub of oatmeal, Annie’s goddess salad dressing (I had heard rants and raves about it and it was on sale so I figured I’d try it) and my cheating dessert (I can’t function properly without something sweet in my pantry) a bag of cinnamon yogurt covered pretzels…I’ve been eyeing them for so long I had to. This was under $50. More than I wanted to spend, but I use the excuse that a lot of these things are staples that I won’t have to replace for a long time and were essential to re-stocking my pantry/fridge.
So, I still eat oatmeal + banana + berries for breakfast. I haven’t had green tea with it, but I plan to start. Green tea is awesome.
I have been bringing a granola bar to school since I have classes til at least 2 usually. Then when I get home I make a big salad. This salad is what inspired me to write this blog because it’s so delicious and I’m so proud of myself for being satisfied with a salad.
Spinach leaves (left over from the detox, but any salad green works), cucumber slices, about 1/4 of a green bell pepper chopped, a handful of baby carrots, a scoop of garbanzo beans (omnomnom) and some Annie’s goddess dressing. It’s delicious! Make it as big as you want, just don’t overload on the garbanzo beans and dressing, naturally, since those are the best tasting things in the salad… so annoying. I feel you. But it works.
For dinner lately I’ve been having a cup of brown rice with steamed broccoli and/or “butter chicken” (but I use tofu).
To make the “butter tofu” I shall call it, I got a jar of the butter chicken sauce at Fred Meyer. I bought it because I am obsessed with the Indian dish, but this sauce isn’t as great as Trader Joes’ frozen dinner butter chicken or any Indian restaurants’ , but it’s not bad. I put a little vegetable oil in a frying pan on medium heat and add some cubed tofu. I let the tofu cook and flip it occasionally until it gets brown. Then I add some of the butter chicken sauce and turn the heat down to low and simmer it for about 15 min. When it’s done I pour it over brown rice and enjoy. It’s a pretty good dish, but I don’t know if I’ll be incorporating it into my meals once I finish off this jar of sauce. Meh. And tofu isn’t the loveliest either, but it’s pretty good.
For dessert I have a couple of those pretzels, but I only let myself eat like a handful and then I hide it. It’s dangerous having sweet things in my apartment.
I’m really excited about my lifestyle change and really proud of the changes I have already made, which is why I’m writing this ridiculously long blog in my Tumblr which nobody will read. But I keep wanting to text my friends to talk about my awesome salad or what food I bought, and I know they don’t want to hear it because they don’t lead similar lifestyles, or they just don’t care. Haha. So here you are. I’ll be writing more (shorter) posts like this about food!
So… I haven’t gotten the new AAR album yet and I’m not panicking. Who am I? This is really weird. I feel like I’m not being true to myself or something. Or maybe I’m just growing up more than I thought. I’ll get it as soon as possible. No car no money.
Note to Self:
Remember to buy the Islands albums or download next time you go home.
