School’s back in

(Sorry I forgot to hit publish yesterday..silly me. This is a little belated now)

Ugh.

School started yesterday and I have to wake up at 8:20 everyday!! Isn’t that crazy! This is summer school, geez! I already have a quiz tomorrow too 😦 Now that school is back in sesh I prob won’t be posting everyday but I’m going to keep try don’t worry!

But enough of my complaining let’s get to what’s been going on lately.

For some reason I had really bad cramps all day yesterday. I’m not sure what that’s all about but besides yesterday’s episode I’m still loving eating smaller meals throughout the day. I’m never hungry but I’m also never bloated.

Me and Carson also worked out a pretty good workout schedule so that we bring our gym clothes and go straight after class. Also, because I have two classes Monday, Wednesday, Friday I’ve made those my weight training days so I’m not as sweaty for class 🙂

Now some random eats for you to enjoy

half a sweet potato, kale, kelp noodles, salsa, avocado+ veganaise

yeah, I apologize for the random concoctions but the good news is I’ve almost completely eaten the contents of my fridge! If you only knew how bad I want to go grocery shopping! I hate being a poor college student 😦

Random kitchen concoctions

So guess who’s been a little bored in the kitchen lately??

I actually thought about this before I went to bed one night and finally got around to making it the other day

Easy homemade jelly!!!!

3 frozen strawberries

1/4 c frozen blueberries

1/2 T chia seeds

2 dates

– BLEND

I tried it the next morning on my fav millet bread but for some reason the bread was too overpowering/jelly wasn’t artifically sweet enough to handle it so instead I ate it straight up. Umm say hello to my fav new dessert!!! I put the jelly on top of some cut up frozen banana and it was delish but it could seriously go on anything..or by itself 🙂

then it was onto the lowfat hummus

Zucchini Hummus

Zucchini + baby carrots+ cilantro + lemon juice + garlic + liquid aminos + tahini + cumin+ salt n peppa

Sorry for no measurments… I just kind of threw stuff into the food processor until it tasted right.

And guess what I found at New Leaf (tally’s lame excuse for a whole foods)??

Millet Banana Nut Bread!!!! SCORE

I can’t wait to put all kinds of goodies on this baby. You best believe pictures are on the way.

Now go make your own goodies 🙂

Changes

So there have been some changes going on and some things I haven’t been telling you so this is me spilling the beans:

First off, although I am happy with the way I look right now, I’ve lost more weight. I haven’t really been telling you guys everything that’s been going on lately but basically not only is Carson concerned but so am I. I only lost around 3 pounds but basically the point is that I HAVEN’T been trying to lose weight, so if I don’t up my calories I could end up continuing to drop to an unhealthy weight.

That being said I also really want to build muscle so I’ve been researching a lot lately and made a few changes to my fitness/ nutrition plan.

Instead of doing cardio everyday I have decided to switch my workouts between cardio and strength every other day. I’m hoping this will not only help me put back on the weight but also help me build lean muscle. For today’s workout I did 30 min. interval training on the elliptical as well as abs so tomorrow will be my first day of pure strength training. Since I’m kind of a noob, Carson is going to help me train- update on how the workout is tomorrow!

Onto the nutrition part:

Not only have I been super conscious about the amount and type of food I’ve been eating lately (making sure to eat enough calories, protein, and fats) but I’ve also changed how I eat. Instead of opting for 3 large meals a day I’ve started to eat around 6 smaller meals throughout the day, about every 2-3 hours. Not only does this keep me from losing energy, but it also boosts your metabolism and helps to build more muscle. I’m also making sure to eat at certain times of the day- right when I wake up, right before my workout, and right after my workout. I’m already liking the smaller meals every 2-3 hours so I’ll keep you up to date on how the diet is working out!

Instead of boring you with my typical eats I’ll just show you dinner

I made 1/4 cup quinoa but I toasted it for a little before I started to cook it. I think it added a nice flavor but I added curry and cumin so it was hard to tell after all the spices. I also cooked it with carrots, red onion, garlic, and red kidney beans.

then I put kale on top of the hot quinoa to warm it without cooking it. Gotta get those greens in!

It was so warming and delicious…I think even the fitnessista would approve of my curry 🙂

Grain Free Day

Today’s post is all about food.

After being so carb crazy lately, I made it a point to stay away from grains today. Trust me, it was needed. I went out last night and woke up to an empty bag of mary’s crackers by the bed…gotta love late night drunk snacking

When I woke up my tummy hurt alittle and I didn’t have much of an appetite. I’ve also been craving salty/savory food like crazy lately so this morning I finished the sweet potato from yesterday by cutting the two chunks that were left into thinner slices and topping them with spicy brown mustard.

This is definitely not a green monster but still yummy.

Since the USA v. Ghana game was on I decided kale chips would be the perfect munching food.

I dressed my kale with some nutritional yeast, apple cider vinegar, liquid aminos, salt, and pepper. Wasn’t the best chips I’ve ever made but still delish. I think the vinegar is what made them taste a little funky.

Even though US didn’t win 😦 my food was still a winner :). I ate my plate with a corona light and lime (I know, I’m bad but it’s summer).

After I got home from club pub (aka publix) I was super excited to try out a new salsa I bought. It’s organic with no added sugar and tastes delish so I decided to make a kelp noodle dish out of it in an attempt to be grain free today.

I did a mix of kelp noodles, spinach, red onion, avocado, sprouts and salsa. Totally satisfying!

btw in case you guys haven’t noticed, I’ve been making a serious effort to eat out the fridge before I go to the grocery store again. I have literally been to publix like everyday that I’ve been here so far…not good! So sorry if my eats get a little redundant.

Lastly dessert was chocolate banana soft serve layered with crushed peanut butter cookie larabar and cacao nibs

Hopefully tomorrow I’ll actually workout!

Giveaway alert!-Newman’s Own Chocolate bar giveaway

Healthy Nesquik

I hope learning a little bit more about my diet ( I made a new page for it) helped make things clearer and even helped you learn something! I urge you to keep researching and learning more about nutrition and what works for you. The only way I was finally able to find the diet that truly works for me was through trial and error.

Now onto some of the days eats:

I ended up laying out instead of working out in the morning so I pushed it back to right before dinner. Before I left I was a little hungry/light headed so I made a quick chia pudding to keep me going

I was in a rush so it didn’t sit long and was still a little runny but it did the trick.

Chocolate Chia Pudding

1 T Chia Seeds

1/4-1/2 c almond milk (or desired consitency)

1 tsp mesquite

1 tsp dark cocoa powder (not raw but sooo good)

a little stevia to sweeten

stir it all together and let sit, the longer the thicker. This tasted like chocolate milk. I’m sure it you omitted the chia seeds it WOULD be chocolate milk. Healthy nesquik!

On a side note: Someone asked what mesquite tasted like. I guess the only way I can describe it is it’s kind of earthy, sweet and nutty smelling (think of a sweet smelling tree). Or what about this picture- a nut and cinnamon and a little bit of sugar got together and had a love baby? lol I don’t know but it is definitely an awesome addition to your spice and powder collection, especially when you’re not technically in the mood for chocolate but still want something sweet.

Now back to the workout. It was horrible. I hate waiting to workout because when I don’t workout in the morning I find I don’t have as much energy during the day and therefore no motivation to go later. But I was VERY bad yesterday and carbo loaded to the max so I knew I needed to go.

As soon as I got on the treadmill I realized my ipod was dead. I also recently finished reading my newest magazine so I had nothing to keep me entertained :(. Not only that but I had to pee throughout my entire run! Besides all of that though I pushed myself pretty hard. I did 15 min. starting at 6 mph. Each min. I increased my speed by .1 mph. At 14 min. I finished hard and increased by .2 to end at 7.5 mph. I know I could have run more or done something else but i had to PEE! So I gave up and did abs. To top it all off at the end of the workout it was raining and thundering outside 😦 not a good workout day at all.

For dinner I was craving sweet potato again, even though it ALWAYS seems to bloat me, and I made a salad to go with it

The dressing was a little reduced fat veganaise and spicy brown mustard watered down. I only ended up eating 3 of the sweet potato slices and got some mary’s crackers instead

have you ever had these?

I finally gave up resisting them after seeing them on EVERY blog and bought the expensive box of crackers. Big mistake. I got the original kind and it tasted verryyyy familiar. I still don’t know what it is, but I’ve eaten something that tastes just like them before. Anyways, the taste is good but nothing special. They also don’t fill me up at all so I have practically eaten the entire box in two days- Not something to be proud of. Basically they are not worth the money in my opinion and also not something I want to be filling myself up on (I prefer to get my carbs from fruits and vegetables)

So basically I have not been too happy on the food front or workout front lately but I am trying to get back to normal and get more veggies back into my life.

Giveaway Alert!- The Pure2raw twins are giving away some goodies, click here. Also, Lauren is giving you a chance to win a $100 gift certificate, enter now!

Diet Staples

So now that you’ve read about my diet rules here are some things that I tend to eat a lot of:

Fruits

(Hahaha I saw this and just had to do it as a tribute to Gina’s flasher banana)

You name it and I will probably eat it. I don’t think me and fruit have ever disagreed (especially me and the nanners :)). Some fruit I ALWAYS have on hand though include- bananas, blueberries, strawberries, apples, and raisins.

Veggies

I love my greens! I try to include greens in at LEAST two of my meals. I just don’t feel complete or like I got enough nutrients if I don’t (idk if I’m weird but wutevs). I eat almost all my veggies raw except for the occasional steamed broccoli or baked sweet potato but I think those are really the only exceptions. My veggie staples- Spinach, carrots, tomato, and sweet potato.

Nuts

I add these to smoothies, make dessert out of them, or smear them on anything and everything. My staples are- almonds, walnuts, cashews, tahini and almond butter.

Protein Powder

Before I went vegan I used to use whey protein everyday. But after reading several contradictory articles on the benefits/side effects I decided to shell out the money for the god of all protein powders sun warrior. Not only is it vegan but it is also raw and has a good flavor. Although I think Americans eat way too much protein, I do realize that my diet doesn’t provide a lot of opportunities, so I have a scoop of this everyday.

Superfoods/ Other

I rely on powders to flavor pretty much everything I eat. Not only do they taste great but they are also nutrient dense. My staples: Nutritional yeast, cacao powder, cacao nibs, liquid aminos, mesquite, and chia seeds.

Grains/ Seeds/Beans

Although I limit my intake of these I lurvvvee me some carbs so they are definitely necessary. My staples are oats, quinoa, sunflower seeds, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, and gluten-free breads (i like millet but that’s all I’ve tried so far).

*Remember these are just some things I keep in my kitchen and are by no means the only foods out there but maybe this will help you discover something you didn’t even know existed or hadn’t given enough of a chance.

What’s an unusual food that has now become part of your diet staples? I would say mine is chia seeds. Between using them to make chia eggs in vegan baking to making awesome puddings and VOO, I pretty much use them everyday!

Trying new things

Yesterday was a day of trying all new things

Instead of my usual green monster + salad + VOO combo, i had something new for EVERY meal including snacks. I didn’t really do this intentionally but sometimes I wonder what I’m missing out on by sticking to my faves and not trying new things. I guess I’m guilty of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

I started my morning with an inspiration from HEAB and April by making a protein cake which I am renaming to

Instant Cinnamon Bun

I made mine a little different (of course). In my mug I mixed together:

1/2 T mesquite

1/2 T cinnamon

1 scoop vanilla sun warrior

1 tsp chia seeds

1/4 cup almond milk (or enough to moisten it to desired consistency)

1/2 tsp baking powder

handful of raisins

before microwaving

After about 1 1/2 minutes in the microwave, I let it cool a little then loosened the cake from the mug and plopped it onto my plate. Then dressed it like the girls by cutting it in half and smearing almond butter on it. It tasted like a freakin’ cinnamon bun!

No crumb left behind!

I couldn’t believe how good and easy this was! Even though I try to avoid cooking food and really hate microwaves, this was a treat that I had to try and will definitly be making again whenever I want to treat myself 🙂

Then for dinner Vegan Mac n’ Cheeze from the lovely Angela. As soon as I saw it on her blog I knew I wanted to make it but as usual I returned back to my stand by salad creations. When I saw that she had made it recently on her blog I knew couldn’t put it off much longer.

Since I didn’t have my green monster this morning I had to put greens somewhere so into the mac n cheeze they went! I also added tomato and sweet potato and instead of couscous I used quinoa. I was starving for this meal so this definitely hit the spot. I love trying new things!!!

Now for dessert I was still VERY full from the sweet potato (I cut a few slices into the mac n cheeze then ended up eating the rest of it too!) so I wanted something light. Even though banana soft serve isn’t new to me, it was all I was craving and Ashley’s just looked too good to not make 😉 Bananas for the win!

banana+ cacao nibs + better n’ butter

Thus concludes my day of glorious eats. Any suggestion for future good eats?

For tomorrow- A  post on My Diet Staples and don’t forget to check out my previous post on my diet rules 🙂

Diet Rules

You know how sometimes you crave something so much it’s all you can think about?

Well I’ve been dreaming about a veggie sandwich and I finally fulfilled my craving

behold

this had- spinach, tomato, sprouts, avocado, spicy brown mustard, and garlic pepper (no msg)

I made my open faced sangwich with this new bread I’m absolutely obsessed with

I have never tried millet before but it was gluten-free and fruit juice sweetened so I thought I would give it a try. I love discovering new things that I don’t know how I never had in my life. Let me just tell you

Millet bread+ almond butter= soooo good

this bread is kind of cakey and thick so when I toasted it and topped it with the nut butter it was like cake

So I’m sure you guys have probably been wondering what exactly are my diet rules, so let me explain:

• I’m a raw vegan. I say this because it makes up the bulk of my diet and I don’t believe you have to be perfect to hold the label. Although I must say I hate labels but for the purposes of explaining my eating philosophy I will indulge you with labels.
• I’m gluten-free. I don’t believe gluten is good for the body or that grains are necessary in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Not only did our ancestors not eat it, being that it is usually highly processed and enriched, but my digestion has also improved since I have cut it out. I URGE you to read this article on why grains are unhealthy
• I’m soy-free. “Soybeans, as provided by nature, are suitable for human consumption.” To put it simply, with all the gmo controversy out there I would rather stay away from any modified or processed foods and get my nutrients from whole raw foods.
• I also try to limit my nut intake. Although a raw vegan diet is pretty low in calories to begin with, that doesn’t mean you can go crazy in the fat department. Remember everything is better in moderation.
• I don’t eat preservatives or chemicals. I would hope this would be evident from the whole RAW vegan thing but I just thought I would clarify. This is honestly one of the biggest and best things to eliminate from your diet. If you can’t pronounce an ingredient or don’t know what it is, don’t eat it. As simple as that. I promise if you do this one simple thing you will automatically start to feel cleaner and healthier.

I hope this helps to clarify some things, but remember no one is perfect and you should stick to the diet that feels right for you. Coming soon- What are some of my diet staples?

Giveaway alert!!: Vega Smoothie To Go Giveaway

Kelp Noodles

As promised KELP NOODLES!!

I was so excited to finally find these! I’ve seen them all over the blog world so I knew that they were definitely on my list of things to try. Some stats on kelp noodles:

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 4 oz

Protein 0.0%

Amount per Serving

• Calories 6 Calories from Fat 0

% Daily Value *

• Total Fat 0g 0%
• Saturated Fat 0g 0%
• Monounsaturated Fat 0g
• Polyunsaturated Fat 0g
• Trans Fat 0g
• Cholesterol 0mg 0%
• Sodium 35mg 1%
• Total Carbohydrate 1g 0%
• Dietary Fiber 1g 4%
• Sugars 0g
• Protein 0g 0%

• Vitamin A0%
• Vitamin C0%
• Calcium15%
• Iron4%

Est. Percent of Calories from:

Fat 0.0% Carbs 66.7%

Only 6 calories per serving!!! Guiltless pasta at its finest 🙂

When I bought the noodles at the health food store, the owner was telling me how much she loved them but she also said she likes to soak them in water with lemon juice for a little to get rid of the fishy/seaweed taste. This made me a little nervous but I like sushi so I thought I could handle it.

When I opened the package I was pleasantly surprised. There is no real sea smell, and in fact they are pretty bland and mostly provide texture to your dish.

For dinner that night I threw together the noodles with some veggies to keep things green 😉

kelp noodles, spinach, red onion, carrots, sprouts

For the sauce I wanted something nutty and savory so I did a combination of tahini+ curry powder+ liquid aminos+ a little bit of water. Mix it all together and throw it on top. Yum.

If you try the kelp noodles tell me how you like them! Also, what kind of sauce do you like on your “pasta”?

Eggs anyone?

I’m officially in Tally!!!

It was a long 4 hour drive but I’m officially here and unpacked! Such a good feeling. This morning I woke up and went to my tally gym for the first time in what seems like a reallllly long time.When I got back I made a green monster (oh course)

this one had:

4 strawberries

2 handfuls of spinach

1 scoop sun warrior

1/4 cup water

handful of almonds

some ice

delicious as usual.

I’m so excited to be living in my own apartment and having enough SPACE for everything. Btw, did I mention I’m living with 4 guys (one of them being giraffe)?!? Yeah, everygirls nightmare/dream combined lol but I love them all so sall good. Oh and two of them are body builders lol yup I live with this

Just kidding!

But they do eat ALOT.

the protein lineup

They eat every 2 hours and they’re STILL hungry. Look at how they buy their eggs

5 dozen at a time, ya that’s alot. But enough about my beefie roomies…

Now onto the grand tour

*keep in mind it’s nothing fancy, just wanted to show you the new digs*

kitchen

our room

living room

AND guess who finally found these

but you’ll have to wait on that one! Ta ta for now 🙂