It's Been Awhile

I feel like I haven't posted in ages and since this is fall break I thought I would try to get back into my typical groove pre-teacher. This means I am finally making time for things that I enjoy (i.e. blogging), and I am SO excited. Today, Ryan and I are going to get coffee at Frothy Monkey, heading to the gym, stopping by the juice bar at WFM, doing some much needed yard work, and then going to a little blue grass show at The Barn.

My diet has drastically changed since the end of June, and Ryan's has indirectly done so as well, but after a long conversation last night and a few internet quizzes, Ryan and I have both decided to try to be even better. We are going to do an experiment of sorts (if we can survive each other) an attempt to remove all refined sugars and white carbohydrates from our diets. I want to make sure I am eating the right foods instead of just NOT eating animal products.

It is clearly warned that this diet will starve many of the yeasts that are overgrown in the American body thus causing some irratibility, fatigue, and frustration for the first few weeks until the body gets used to not having the foods that it really does not need. In order to help cleanse we are upping our intake of certains types of foods and herbs. The gist of it is, probiotics, probiotics, vitamins and minerals, and more probiotics. All in order to get RID of the bad bacteria and toxins in our body so that we can feel more balanced, hence, healthier. The pictures below are a few of those things, if you haven't tried any of them, check them out!

I will update on any progress, comments, and such. Hopefully, I can even get Ryan on here to talk about why he is trying to be healthier and how this new cleaner diet is affecting him positively and negatively.

Coconut Milk Kefir --Kale, Lettuces, and Spinach -- Noni Fruit---- Kombucha

We've also been advised to take 1-3 tablespoons of raw Coconut Butter in the morning or before a meal. Neither of us have been able to swallow it yet, but all in due time.

Friends and Food

I am very satisfied with life right now, and oh so pleased with my choice to be healthy and start the switch to having a more aware state of existing and living. If only I could just give myself more time---time to be active, meditate, spend more time with friends, and do things with Ryan. I also need some more music…new stuff, fresh stuff….suggestions?
The food has been fabulous! We had friends come over Labor Day weekend which allowed us to do our favorite thing, cook a bunch of food! These are a bunch of pictures. Recipes may follow if anyone is interested.

Mac-n-Nutrtional Yeast Cheese: This was my favorite.

Fresh Fruit and Coffee for breakfast. I also made some whole wheat, oatmeal, and blueberry pancakes too. Dinner Sunday night: a vegetable feast with the option of grass fed beef or salmon too!

The Chocolate/Banana/Walnut Coconut Milk Ice Cream never got photographed....ask Lawson, it was delicious!

Watermelons from the garden, yay!


Monday nights' dinner: black bean burgers with sweet potato fries, a green salad, and the macaroni and cheese above. Dessert were dark chocolate almond cookies made with whole wheat flour and agave. They were amazing, somewhere in between a cookie and a brownie. I'll make another batch and photograph soon, really really soon.

Eatin' Green, Bein' Green, and Savin' Green

So if anyone is wondering how my homemade coconut ice cream went, well the blurry picture below is not a good example....The cream came out pretty good, so good Ryan and I ate ever bit of it when the timer went off. I know that it will be way better next time when I fix my mistakes.
The ice cream maker ROCKS, but I wasn't using full fat Coconut Milk (that was all I had).






We used:

3 cups Coconut Milk (full fat is best)
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 tsp. guar gum or agar agar (stablizer)
1 tsp. Cinnamon
some random Peanut Butter swirls

Lately, I've been shopping after work, and sometimes that can lead to random impulse buying and spending more money over the long run because I wasn't planning out my shopping trips.

Today was my day off, I could've mowed the grass, but instead I decided to see how many bargains I could find. I heard on a TV commercial that Harris Teeter was doing a double coupon day....I found that REALLYsketchy, but figured I'd give it a whirl. I realized that a lot of the products I usually buy are really expensive at the conventional grocery store, but since I did have some pretty hefty coupons (.75 to $1 Off) I figured doubling them would save me some money and it did! Below are all items I got using coupons that were doubled. I stocked up! The Small steps recycled not bleached toiletpaper only cost me .89! Although you may say, "well those aren't really food items.." I'd say you're right, these are more household items or pantry items, but they are expenisve too and I was glad to get them at such a good deal! I am trying to convert my whole house over to this new way of healthy living and that is very expensive so using coupons to do it a little a time makes it an easier transition.

Take Out and Southern Cookin'

Dinner here lately has been thrown together very quickly, between Ryan working and me working plus outside duties our food has unfortunately been focusing on whatever is fast...

That's today’s world though, huh?

One night I brought home a Vegan Pizza from Whole Foods. It had a whole wheat crust, tomato sauce and then lots of spinach, artichokes, tomatoes, onions, and peppers. Yum-O! At home I put some pepperonis on Ryan's half. With all those veggies, who needs cheese?

Last night we went out as soon as I got home for burgers. I found a local spot nearby that does tasty bar food and DELICOUS veggie burgers, who woulda thunk it? It's the Melrose for all you Nashvillians. No cheese of course, but add avocado and I'm a happy woman.

Tonight, however, I feel the need to put the pot on the stove and the spatula to work! I cleaned the kitchen first, only to mess it up again. My goal was to use what we've already got either in the garden, the fridge, or the pantry, so I chopped up some veggies, started some basmati brown rice, and am now patiently waiting for my summer vegetable Southern style pot of stew to be ready.

I used all the Okra we'd harvested over the past few days and more of those heirloom tomatoes as the base. I was trying to go with Stewed Okra and Tomatoes...then I branched off a bit, I threw in a pretty yellow pepper from the backyard and some jalapenos. To top it off I added a favorite of mine, eggplant.

I truly believe I was predestined to love eggplants. In Italian they are called "melanzane" which is extremely similar to the root of my name "Melanie" which means dark one--Not dark as in evil spirits, but dark as in tan (which I am not, ha!).

I love eggplant everything, and will be SO excited when the eggplants from our garden are ready.

Until later--- many smiles.

'Naner Bread

As you can see the Banana Bread was a success! It baked up perfectly and didn't take forever like the zucchini bread I made a while back. I find some vegan things you just have to be more patient with and bake a little longer.
I'm still working on the recipe, but I'll give you the one I used here with a few improvements. Please feel free to try your own thing....a recipe is ONLY suppose to be a guideline. I find immense pleasure in making things better, and recipes are no different.

Healthy Banana Bread

2 cups Whole Wheat Flour

1 tsp. Baking Powder

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1 tsp. Cinnamon

1 pinch of Nutmeg

5 Ripe Bananas

1 tsp. Vanilla Extract

1/4 cup Coconut Milk (or any non-dairy milk, this just adds an interesting flavor)

3/4 cup Agave (or 1 cup sugar/1 cup honey)

1/2 Walnuts

Preheat oven to 350. Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Mash bananas in a medium bowl and combine all wet ingredients. Mix wet ingredients then stir into dry ingredients. Make sure to mix very well. The batter will seem thick and that's okay. Add in walnuts. Fill into two loaf pans or four mini loaf pans. For easy removal from the pans line them with parchment paper first and rub some coconut oil on the sides to prevent sticking. Bake for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

*If you want your bread to be more moist and not so dense add a few tablespoons of some fat to the wet ingredients such as coconut oil, vegetable oil, etc.*

Now... for the quicky and easy dinner after baking...

An Amy's Black Bean Burrito topped with salsa and some vegan sour cream! It's made with soy and I know many folks have an aversion to consumming to much soy since it's already in so many things, but I believe everything in moderation. Read your labels, watch what your eating a lot of. For me, I don't drink soy milk and haven't used a meat alternative this week so as Daisy would say, "do a dollup" and I don't feel guilty! Vegan Gourmet also makes a cream cheese
product and I was SO excited
to try it, unfortunately, I find it
to far from real cream cheese to be
enjoyed in the same way. It might
have some great uses, but to spread
on a bagel, I'll just use jam or Earth
Balance. The sour cream though is a perfect substitute!

Pot of Beans

So the reason why I haven't posted in a bit is honestly because I've been eating on the same things!

On Saturday night, I made a big pot of beans. I used some from the farmers stand and some from our back yard. There were lady peas, limas, purple hulls, and some dark purpley black beans (name?) with a white flesh.

I've been hearing how legumes are ridiculously good for you, full of protein and fiber. I love chickpeas and refried beans, and in the winter lentil soup. But I hadn't really thought of summer time being the time for a big pot of beans, well I proved myself wrong. It's been fueling me for days.

I also used my bamboo steamer which was a gift, to steam some carrots and some "Snaps" aka Green Beans.

Last night, a friend came over and I made Tomatoes Provencal since tomatoes are so in season right now. I used an heirloom that was purplish, an orange tomato, a yellow tomato, and a red tomato. I topped the tomatoes with a bit of olive oil, lemon zest, whole wheat bread crumbs, fresh thyme and baked it in the oven. Then instead of parmesan cheese I used nutritional yeast. It was fantastic, and a great way to celebrate the fabulous tomatoes we are getting right now. The picture to the right is one I pulled from the Whole Foods Market Website, mine looked different because I sliced them instead of stuffing them. I forgot to take a picture, but I want everyone to get the idea.

I also fixed a mixed green salad that had spinach, roasted beets, walnuts, and a balsamic vinaigrette. To top off our summer meal I grilled corn Ryan style...which means wrapped in aluminum foil with lime juice, cumin, and a bit of oil (Ryan would've used butter, I used Coconut Butter.)

For dessert, we had fresh sliced cantelope, pluots ( a hybrid between a plum and an apricot), and South Carolina peaches with....Coconut Bliss Vanilla. That was the best part!

Liz brought over Adelsheim Pinot Gris and it went wonderfully with the light summer vegan feast!

Tonight, I'm baking some vegan banana bread with some extra ripe bananas I brought home from work. I'll post a recipe and pics tomorrow!

Laundry AND Aromatherapy-- not just an Oxymoron

Yesterday was Laundry Day and I would like to give a big THANK you to Mrs. Meyers for making it a bit more of a pleasing experience.

I used her natural laundry detergent and dryer sheets to tackle the worst of the worst, Ryan's chef pants (which always, no matter what, smell like a kitchen) and Oden's dog bed.
The geranium scent was so wonderful---and it claims to help to increase your mood (in a postive way, of course!) Imagine that, a mood boosting laundry detergent.

I know what your thinking, so does the stuff work? Well, the laundry smells fantastic and from the looks of it, clean, and the most important factor in this laundry adventure, ME, well I am very happy with my new find! Laundry isn't so bad anymore.......If only Mrs. Meyers would come and fold all this fabulously smelling laundry.

Yummy Soup and Noodle Legs

That is what a successful trip to the farmers market looks like! Woo Hoo, and all within my 22 dollar budget. All of this produce is from TN with the exception of the Muscadine grapes, they are from good’ole South Carolina. :)

After the stop for some fresh veggies, I made a pot of soup to soothe my allergies and corn chowder cravings. I based this recipe on one I found in Everyday Food, but I made it vegan, and added a thing or two.



1 acorn squash (5 cups raw), peeled, cubed
2 ears of corn, cooked and cut off the cob
2 cloves of garlic
½ red onion, diced
1 teaspoon Curry powder
3 cups Veggie Stock (fresh is best)
1 cup Coconut Milk Cream (the thick part that rises to the top)
1 tablespoon Coconut Oil

In a large pot, bring oil to medium heat and add squash. Let squash cook for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add onions and garlic and sauté for about 4 minutes. Mix in corn and curry powder. Stir for about 1 minute. Add in stock. Bring to a simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in coconut milk cream, and keep soup on low heat for another 10 minutes. For a thick, chunky soup leave as is, otherwise use an immersion blender to puree the soup to your liking.


For dinner I made a Seasame and Ginger Tempeh Stir-Fry.

I used a mixture of veggies, low mein noodles, and TempehTations Ginger Marinated Tempeh.
It turned out great! Of course, it was better with Sriracha, but what isn't?

So where do the noodle legs fit in? Well that's because of tonight's Yoga class. 90 minutes of thigh, groin, and core poses. Whew. I don't even want to think about half moon or warrior 3 till I get over the soreness that I already feel coming. Sounds like I might need an extra shot of Mangosteen and some Ginger (both good for pain and inflammation.) It's a good pain though, lets me know that I am on the right track to being where I need to be. I can feel it, I'm alive.

So what's for dinner tonight, ahhh now that is the question.

Whoever created tapas was a genius....

Yesterday when I got home from work and had brought some goodies home, Ryan and I were debating on what to fix for our afternoon lunch. We wanted a bit of everything, so we made a little of this and a little of that, with a sliced tomato. It was an awesome lunch!


Here's what we made:






So, we used the Coconut Oil to sautee the pot stickers, spinach, onions, and cucumbers. We topped those with a bit of Sriracha (red chili sauce). We also did some Veggie Spring Rolls, and Ryan used some rice wine vinegar, agave, soy sauce, and a fresh plum to make a dipping sauce.
Did I mention anything about the AMAZING plums I bought the other night? Wow. I keep thinking about one of my most favorite poems:

This Is Just To Say
by William Carlos Williams

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

I purposely put the four left in the fridge so Ryan could try one at its most delicous point, hopefully, he gets one before I eat them all....

I love Sundays :)

Sweet Potato FryDay

Dinner last night turned out great, but not exactly picture worthy. That was my fault, I may be so-so at cooking a whole fish, but then serving it and having decent presentation, not so much. The highlight of the meal for me was the heirloom tomato. I learned today that the one I had was called a Cherokee. The pompano was very moist and buttery flavored, but not a favorite of mine.
Today was the first day of school. I was up at 5:45 and at school at 7 am! I had no idea I would miss the kids so much. I can’t wait to be their afterschool mentor/friend/tutorer again even if it is for just one afternoon a week. I’ve established a relationship with these kids, and I really hope I am making some kind of difference in their lives, or at least making school a more pleasant place to be. I am also having a bit of an effect on their nutrition, I went shopping with Ms. Peggy for after school snacks for the kids and pretty much showed her what we should serve and how to find that affordably. We bought snack for about 2 weeks for under $100. We even were able to get some Organic things, but we bought nothing that contained artificial sweetners, high fructose corn syrup, and with me being there.... no animal products either….hehe. I’m sure she’ll end up getting milk because the Department of Health Services requires it or juice with our snacks….Yet they do not provide the funding for our small non-profit to be able to buy Organic Milk….That’s another tangent and issue…

I got home tonight and wasn’t feeling to good, it started this morning with an upset stomach and I had a bit of a fever. I didn’t have much of an appetite, but I at some Cajun tofu, some sesame noodles, and raw kale salad for lunch. Who could resist? Those are my three favorite....well except for the chicken fried tofu but I try not to eat that so often. Anyways, I'm still not hungry and it’s 9:30pm….. That’s how I know something’s not quite right.
Ryan’s grandma, after meeting me for the first time, said, “You only married him ‘cause you like to eat.” I think she was kind of joking, but she was partially correct, I do enjoy food!
I also usually prefer to be snuggled under a blanket....Right now I don't want snacks or my nap blanket, it's weird.
I hate being off track so in order to fix my current state I took a shot of Noni, drank a coconut water in case I was dehydrated, and am making some purple sweet potato fries (they are the only thing that sounds good to me right now.) I also ate a small smidge of ginger. Noni isn’t really the super fruit that best removes heat from the body, that’s Mangosteen I think, but Noni works for pretty much everything so one extra shot couldn’t hurt.
Here’s my remedy…

Noni with fresh ginger Purple Sweet Potato Fry...

This picture does not do the purple color justice.

For a better idea about the taters go here... www.saurapride.com/

Hoping to feel better in the am!

PS: Reading the China Study is starting to overwhelm me. I feel smarter, and more aware, but I'm also now more concerned for the health of those I love.

Mom if your reading this....don't eat McDonalds for lunch anymore, PLEASE, I LOVE YOU!

Whole Fish without a clue

I was feeling brave the other night when I was shopping for my weekly seafood pick and I bought a whole pompano, for two reasons really, one it was inexpensive and two, I wasn’t sure I’d ever had it before.

Well turns out, Ryan needed the night off from cooking so I went and got my favorite Vegan burrito and he had tacos last night. The burrito was stuffed with artichokes, spinach, tomatoes, onions, and peppers. It is seriously good, and served with a jicama slaw. I wish I didn’t like it so much. It’d be easy to make, but we needed a fast fix and wanted a margarita.

Enjoying the burrito last night left me at the point I am now…with a whole Pompano and not a clue what to do with it. Ryan was going to grill it, but the mosquitoes are SO bad, I cannot manage to throw the ball with Oden must less stand patiently over a hot flame while I get munched. So I’m going back to the only other way I’ve cooked a whole fish before, in the oven! I remember that Jeff had told me that Pompano, like Amberjack and Tuna, is a member of the Jack family. I figured it would lend itself to baking, and spicy flavors.

Heather had so sweetly volunteered to gut it for me when I bought it, and so I stuffed some fresh herbs inside it along with some lemon and a bit of olive oil. I clipped the fins off but left the head and tail in tack. The herbs I used were rosemary, oregano, and thyme. Salt, Pepper, a bit of Chili Powder went in too.
I wrapped the fish in aluminum foil…and am patiently waiting for the results. I’m also baking some red potatoes, squash from the garden, and plan on slicing into an heirloom tomato… Yikes! The timer just went off… I’ll post pics tomorrow.

If you’re wondering about dessert…… Coconut Bliss with ginger snaps OF COURSE!

Sundays are the best!

We were both off yesterday and Ryan and I took full advantage of the day. We slept in, went to the pool, then cooked a feast and watched the first Titans game of the season, woo hoo!

For brunch I made breakfast pita sandwhiches. Mine was hummus, cucumber, spinach, and veggie sausage...and his had veggie sausage, egg, spinach, and salsa.

They fueled us for the hard day at the pool. :)

For dinner we were both wanting to fire up the grill, so we did burgers.

I had a veggie burger and he had a grass-fed beef burger.....We put the works on them: avocado, grilled onions, grilled jalepeno, mustard, ketchup, an heirloom tomato, and some Southern Chow Chow. How does Mrs. Cambell do that Chow Chow! Whew!

He grilled some veggies from the garden, and I used some purple sweet potatoes to make sweet potato fries. It was a great way to start the season!

Another Coconut Discovery

Recently I've been learning about the powers of coconut, how it's a medium chain triglyceride therefore your body can break down the fat much faster and easier compared to animal fat, that it's good for your skin, can be anti-fungal anti-bacterial, just LOADS of good stuff about something I've always loved but never really explored much...

Well, coconut milk will now ensure that I can remain on my semi-vegan track and still have ice cream!

I tried Coconut Bliss for the first time yesterday, and wow, it is so good, I'd even go as far as to say that it is better than regular ice cream. It's full fat and calories, but it's not milk fat, it's a plant based fat from the coconut milk. Not to mention it taste great in frozen beverages, but it also comes in loads of flavors. My favorite, surprisingly, was the Mint Galactica (mint with dark chocolate flakes) and the Naked Coconut. Most people loved the Vanilla and the Chocolate Hazlenut. I cannot wait to try the other flavors. If you see this in the grocery store you MUST try it, it is well worth the price because Coconut Bliss uses all organic and fair trade ingriedients, and the topper--they don't use sugar, they use Agave nectar!

This is a link to the nutritional info that Luna and Larry provide on their ice cream, and it basically explains why coconut milk and agave are the best choice for ice cream:

http://coconutbliss.com/html/nutrition.html

If you've never used Agave I highly recommend trying to make the switch, I still love honey, and still believe that local honey really helps to control my allergies, but this type of sweetner is lower on the glycemic index so it does not make your blood sugar go up and spike and cause sugar crashes. I started using it slowly and now that I'm used to it in everyday things like coffee, granola, salad dressings, dips, etc I'm ready to start exploring with it in baked goods.

Any suggestions?

It's Sunday Funday! Time to mulch the yard :)

New Love

Yesterday was a good day---


I ran another 6.2 miles and this time in 78 minutes woo hoo! I'm shooting for that distance in one hour....it might take a while, but I think it's possible, especially since I'm already seeing improvement. BUT what makes it special was that I have found and learned about a new drink that will help me sustain and replenish my energy while running--and it taste good too!

It's coconut water!!
I bought a whole case of it I liked it so much.
Basically, it's a natural sports drink full of potassium and electrolytes.
It's low in sugar and has calcium too.

Coconut things are really good for the body, and I never knew all the powers of coconut. It has way more uses than in Pina Coladas and curry. There is coconut oil, coconut milk, coconut butter, and coconut yogurt....which I tried yesterday for the first time and really liked, much better than soy yogurt in my opinion.

Here's an information page I found about Coconut:
http://www.coconutresearchcenter.org/


The dinner I made once I got done running and was full of energy from my workout turned out good. It was my Seafood night for the week, and I was cooking some things I'd never done before, so I was curious as to how'd things would turn out.


I used these huge zucchinis that Ryan and I had accidently let stay on the plant too long thus they had little flavor, so I stuffed them with bread crumbs, sauteed onions, garlic, peppers, topped them with basil, thyme, and oregano then baked them. Yum-O! I ate two halves before Ryan even got home, and the rest for lunch today.


I also had picked up some Amberjack from Whole Foods (Amberjack, thanks to Jeff, I now know is a part of the Jack Family which is related to Pompeno and Tuna.) I browsed the internet and found a great Lousiana style recipe for broiling it. I followed that and what resulted was de-lish!

It made me feel really good having it perfectly ready for Ryan when he got off from work, even if it was 11:00pm. Nothing sounds as good as timer going off when you walk in the door starving. :)
He is so gentle when critiquing my food but usually adds a little something extra to it, but last night he didn't add a thing! Not even a smidge of his special Hawaiin Sea Salt.....

Success!!

Here's a pic, his zucchinis are topped with Pecorino Romano...

Today-- I ran just a bit before going into work.

Then I got to play with the most beautifully ugly tomatoes. It's so refreshing to use not perfect tomatoes. The heirloom ones we were working with were in a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes.

This is the arrangement I made with one of the tomatoes for the Tomato Art Festival in East Nashville.

What's better than an awesome dinner?

The leftovers for lunch the next day! When I wake up in the morning I've usually got a lot on my mind; what time is it? What did the cat destroy last night? What am I going to wear?

But it's very reassuring to open the fridge and see a Tupperware container with last night’s leftovers just WAITING to be thrown in my lunch box.


Even though there is endless good food to be enjoyed at work, I am also well aware that it is in no way economically to spend more on lunch than you make in one hour....

I've got an old school Purple Artic Zone lunchbox---and we make a little more dinner than we can eat and magically, my lunch gets packed every night-- problem solved.


So today, I'm having whole wheat penne pasta with a Bolognese sauce that I made with 1/2 soy crumbles and 1/2 Quorn crumbles (mushroom protein) and a can of tomato mushroom spaghetti sauce. I added some frozen spinach to the sauce to give it some greenery and that to me is the best part. I LOVE spinach---sautéed with garlic it is SO delicious and went great with the pasta.



I'm also having....a roasted beet! I roasted the beets for about an hour (they were big) in the oven at 375 wrapped in aluminum foil. I put just a bit of olive oil and salt and pepper on them before roasting. They are so good tossed into salads, served with walnuts, honey, and goat cheese...or plain which is how I eat them for lunch. They are a bit sweet and have an earthy flavor, and apparently the golden ones are sweeter, I learned that yesterday. I also learned that the juice is really good too.... To read about some of the health benefits of eating or drinking beets click here:
http://www.aimforherbs.com/remakingbeets.html


I'll admit I wasn't always a beet lover, in fact, it was Ryan that first converted me, I'm not sure I'd ever gotten the courage up enough to try one before then. He assured me that they were good, and that they were not like any preconceived notion of a beet that I may have. I trust him, so I tried them. I've been converting folks ever since, I take them to pot lucks at school and usually if I lurk over the table and force people to try them, I leave with an empty plate! They were my favorite thing to sell at the restaurant because I truly believe that everyone WANTS to eat healthy, but there are things holding them back... convenience, confusion, money, and in the case with beets, fear. I take satisfaction in getting people over that fear---

When Ryan roasts them he cuts them into small pieces and tosses them into salads, I've been hooked ever since that first time. Once I got a bit carried away and ate too many beets over too short a period of time.....let's just say I don't recommend that.


But as an addition to lunch or dinner every now and again they get me excited!

I went to the school yesterday for the first time all summer... Walking into the bare room with the ultra shiny floors, I got REALLY excited about the school year starting and seeing the kids again and meeting new faces. It got me thinking, what vegetables can I sneak into my famous cookies this year? I've done zucchini and carrots...any other suggestions?

This is the beginning...

I just ran 6 miles, okay okay so I walked 2 out of the six. I'm still a bit shaky, but proud. The Tomato 5K is this Saturday. A fresh tomato Bloody Mary is motivation enough for me to cross that finish line as fast as I can. After my run today I rewarded myself with a new discovery for me, a personalized Green Lemonade, from the juice doctor at Whole Foods, and an almond butter and jelly sammy.

Green Lemonade:

Apple, Kale, Spinach, Celery, Lemon, and I like a bit of Ginger

Yum! I'm getting myself ready for this new lifestyle, the past two weeks I've been easing myself into it. Cutting all cow’s milk products, red meat, chicken, and now I am ready for full immersion.
I've gotten my taste buds used to Almond Milk in my coffee and tempeh in my spaghetti, but man oh man do I miss cheese!!!!
Yet, after reading just a bit of The China Study I can't let myself do it. Good thing there is a local goat farm here in Tennessee! And who really likes cow’s milk anyway? Almond milk is cheaper and lasts longer in the fridge, so it's double the goodness. There's that positive energy I've been hoping my morning Goji Berry shots were going to give me! So, exercising more often and changing my diet is indirectly also changing the lives of those I love, especially my husband Ryan who has been patiently eating tofu tacos, tempeh spaghetti, and black bean burgers every night. He is not totally sold on this semi-vegan diet, but I can tell he is secretly enjoying it all and supportive of my happiness and health.

Tonight, I’m having a friend over for a quick eat before we go see Julie & Julia. I’m making Garden Risotto with Cajun tofu, a green salad with cucumber, and maybe a mojito! If I’m up for it, I’ll post some pictures later.

Garden Risotto:

Arborio Rice (about 2 cups)

3 Tomatoes (I had Roma's)

1 Red Bell Pepper, cut into bite size pieces

1 Zucchini, cut into bite size pieces

1 Yellow Squash (crookneck), cut into bit size pieces

5 cloves of Garlic, minced

1 Onion, diced

2 jalepenos

Splash of white wine if you've got it

3 cups Vegetable Stock

Saute onions, garlic, peppers, and garlic for about 5-7 minutes at medium high heat. Then add remaining vegetables. Saute for about 5 more minutes. Add rice to veggies. Add about 1/5 of the water. Stir constantly. When water has absorbed, add another 1/5. Repeat process until risotto is al dente (takes about 30-40 minutes.)

Serve with pecorino romano (a Sheep's Milk cheese kind of like parmesean) and with tofu or alone. If you were going to do seafood I'd go with shrimp or scallops.