Its a Pizza Kale

So let’s start off with Monday’s fare: Amy’s Cornmeal Crust Three Cheese PizzaI’m going to rate this one a 7/10 why?

Pros: Delicious mix of cheeses

Crispy delicious tasting crust

Pizza size big enough for two solid meals

Nice zesty sauce

Bakes up pretty!

Cons: Calories! The whole pizza is about 1000 cals, and the serving size is a third. Who cuts a third of a pizza? I had half of it. 500+ cals, not awful but i do like to be able to have my dessert.

Corn crust still uses some wheat flour, but since it’s Amy’s it’s overall still pretty good. I wish my store had the gluten free in stock but alas they did not.

Does not reheat as well as others pizzas I’ve found. I tried reheating in the oven and it didn’t recover it’s crisp crust

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So overall, tasty, but it’s a splurge that is borderline clean. BUT it is natural and it was tasty so I’d buy it again but it wouldn’t be my first option.

NEXT!

Cashew sauce topped kale from Engine 2 via greenling!

THIS was a hit, just really and truly pretty awesome. Start with a sweet potato in the oven, add in bell peppers and onions roasted together and then wilt some kale and top with a wonderfully garlicky cashew sauce? Delicious.

AND very pretty and colorful! Look at that! I scooped out the sweet potato after baking for funsies and I actually overcooked the peppers (oops!) but overall, pretty very tasty! I was trepidations about this one because I don’t like kale…well, I didn’t like kale.

This was fabulous though! Ugh. So good.

The drawback with this meal is that it’s supposed to be two servings. They sent two sweet potatoes and the cashew sauce was generous but those are all the peppers and all the kale they sent. This is the first meal that hasn’t been large enough for two servings. Need more kale!

That’s a sentence I never thought I’d say. KALE! WHY YOU SO DELICIOUS???

Still, I haven’t been hungry today in part because the boyfriend sent me a box of chocolate dipped pineapple from edible arrangements as an anti-valentine’s day valentines gift. I’d say that I paced myself and didn’t eat them all buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut they were gone within the hour of getting them. I held off just long enough to make sure people knew i got a delivery. HEY I’m a chick, what can I say?

Meanwhile, tomorrow afternoon I’ll be getting a new greenling box with new items! I’m excited! But I’ll also be making the last engine two recipes, soup and mac and cash! excited.

I also spent a good amount of time today juicing the rest of my veggies including a beet and carrot mix that I’ll likely jazz up with some of my juiced greens to blend tomorrow. We will see how it goes!

Busy weekend!

This weekend has been crazy busy! It started Friday night when I had dinner with Misha and our friend Jes at the Steeping Room here in Austin. This place is great, huge selection of tea and a wonderful menu that is veggie and vegan friendly. I had some tea sandwiches and nappa rolls while we talked  girl stuff and real estate. But Jes wanted ice cream so of course we had to head over to Amy’s Ice Cream! Ok Misha and i both cheated a bit here. It’s Amy’s…which is a wonderful establishment but yeah they use white sugar and milk and all that

But how can you pass up Honey Habanero ice cream? Turns out, we should have. Don’t get me wrong, it was tasty…for the first 5 bites. But after that it was a little much. It’s a bit like eating sweet icy hot…you take a nice cold spoonful and then the burning begins, so you take another cold spoonful and the burning intensifies, rinse and repeat!
Fun! But I didn’t even eat half of my tiny.

Saturday I got to do one of my favorite things in the world, though, massage! 90 minutes of deep tissue wonder! If you’ve never had a deep tissue massage, I highly suggest it but be warned, you will not want to do anything after. It’s like a workout and you can feel just as sore after but it’s a good thing. It was overdue for me though, I’m pretty sure I pulled my hamstring. Movement has been difficult since Thursday.

Anyway!! I took my friend James to Beet’s! He had the burger and I had the ELT! It was delicious stuff and he really enjoyed it, including the banana walnut ice-scream, so yay!!

We followed up later that evening at Galaxy cafe where I snagged some polenta (delicious!)and a strawberry shortcake (pass it up)

PHOTO DUMP!

Today, though, I got to try another recipes from engine 2 and my order from greenling.

Vegan spinach and mushroom enchilada stack! Overall, it’s good, even without cheese. The spices are great and it was super simple. The recipe instructions are pretty much: mix spices with tomato, layer everything and stick in the oven. This isn’t bad but I think next time I’ll caramelize the onions with the mushrooms before layering since neither have time to really cook down in the oven. Still, tasty and vibrant

It’s two servings and the whole recipe is about 550 calories so you really can’t beat it. I’ve been really impressed with the recipe kits from greenling so far. Tomorrow I think I’m going to make the mac and cash, vegan mac and cheese!

Ugh…so full. I think i’ve spent most of this weekend eating lol

awesome.

My cat is judging me

 

 

This is Meira. She’s almost three and she is judging me while I write this blog. Why? Because I’m using my lap for my computer and not for belly rubs. I’ll make this quick so that judgement doesn’t turn to homicide planning.

Today I ate my southwestern polenta casserole! Well one 1/4th of it! Which turns out to be a  big slice that weighs in at only 265 cals 😀 Delicious!!

If you order from greenling, try it!  I will def be getting it again!

Dinner has been another adventure. Today was about portobella fajitas on spelt tortillas from Engine Two

Ingredients! All chopped up and ready to go! This one was suuuuuuuuuuuper easy, it comprised of dumping the veggies in a skillet, let the onions, peppers and mushrooms sizzle, head up the tortillas and then scoop up it all in those tortillas, add salsa and peppers and some avocado and BOOM! done!

Bonus! Black beans as a side included! Ridiculously easy.

How about taste?

Well, all in all it was pretty nice! The salsa was mild so I made liberal use of those jalapenos. The big surprise was the spelt tortillas! They are delicious! This recipe came with four and it was meant to be a two serving meal but I ended up eating all the fajitas with two tortillas.    What will I do with the other two? Oh i’m going to find some use for them, they’re way too yummy to let go to waste.

The drawbacks of this meal? It’s a bit moist! I think I might need to cook it down a bit more so they’re less juicy lol

It’s also lacking in spices but if you toss in a few mexi spices it’ll be good. I mean, it was good, but it could be better. Still, it turns out pretty!

 

Ravenous!

Oh man, guys, it feels like spring and I’ve been eating like a maniac the past couple of days!

But first, you remember how i mentioned Rogue Republic doing a giveaway? well it ends tomorrow!

The special is as follows:

Active NOW through 9AM EST tomorrow:
25% off EVERYTHING in our store, including sample packs and the Valentine’s Day special. NO CODE needed; discount taken automatically at checkout.

EVERY order of any amount will also receive a free 3-pack of samples chosen at random (but we will be sure not to repeat pigments in your order).

We thank you.

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25% off AND a free sample pack! I mean c’mon! Live a little!

Alright, now on to some product review:

Tanka Bars:

Rating: 2/10

This is perhaps one of the worst things I’ve put in my mouth in months. I hate to be mean about it but OMG WTF.

It’s all natural and supposed to be free of all chemicals and whatnot but it tastes about as real as a Slim Jim…a sweet Slim Jim.

I bought it because I was intrigued by the combination of buffalo and cranberry. I thought, surely if someone thought that was a tasty enough combo to make  a series of bars with then it has to be good!

WRONG.

Want to experience it without the $3 price tag? Get a slim jim and some craisins.

Sorry guys. I didn’t finish it, I actually spit it out.

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Now for happier fare!

Spinach mushroom enchilada casserole. Unf! I know this box doesn’t look absolutely fabulous but it is. Kale and beet salad (i’m working so hard to like kale), steamed veggies and spinach and mushroom enchiladas. There wasn’t much sauce involved here, it was more like corn tortillas, mushrooms, spinach and cheese. I will be replicating this for sure!

I’ve been really into cheese lately. It’s been my only dairy and actually until tonight it’s been my only animal product aside from two instances of sashimi this year. I’ve been really conscious about my animal product intake since going raw. I’m a little  surprised to say that I’ve become a vegan sympathizer.

I generally don’t like vegans and vegan philosophy for a couple of reasons:

1) I believe you can be an ethical omnivore. It takes work but it’s possible. Eggs and milk and fiber especially. Eggs might be the easiest as it’s very easy to even get a hen for yourself and she’ll lay any and everywhere. She’s a pet, a companion, and she produces breakfast while being adorable. Same with wool or milk, etc.

2) Too many people equate vegan diets (not the philosophy) with being uber healthy. Sad to say, this isn’t necessarily true. It is certainly VERY possible to be vegan and amazingly healthy, but inherently there are issues when going vegan and supplements are often required. B-12, for instance. But more to the point here’s a list of foods that are vegan and way unhealthy:

Tofu dogs. They’re maybe not just as bad as your Oscar Meyer frank but they’re close!

Potato chips!

Oreos!

Crisco

Most commercial premade icings/frostings including the majority of the icing used in grocery stores. The ‘butter cream’ is actually “Better cream” and it’s a liquid that is made from veg oil (crisco) and is whipped until spreadable. I know because I used to have to make HUGE batches of the stuff.

Actually a lot of junk food is vegan because veg oil is cheaper than animal product oil.

Want a good list of aptly named Accidentally Vegan products? ask PETA!

See, you can be vegan and not be plant based. You can be a normal American and suffer from all the American health problems even if you switch that steak with seitan.

But still, I’ve become more sympathetic and have made the choice to be plant based, to have only the occasional ethically sourced animal product.

Greenling and Whole Foods provide that. Funny, I sent out several emails to restaurants I frequent about their animal sourcing. No one has gotten back to me…yet.

SPEAKING of Greenling.com

I got my boxes! Boxes? YES! They had to use two lol and they were filled with wonder and happiness

As you can see, my meal packs were bundled and portioned already and I started off by making the breakfast casserole I ordered.

Southwestern Polenta Casserole

 

 

 

 

 

The whole pan is about 1000 calories! That’s it! and that’s a 9×9 cake pan!

Its a very nice flavor, hearty but not heavy and it tastes southwestern without being spicy. Now I love spicy so I added in a little red pepper after but really, all together a very nice flavor! Can’t wait to eat more of it in the morning!

Ravenous as I’ve been, I’ve been sticking to things I’ve previously enjoyed lately. Thunderbird, kombucha, mean green and citrus sunrise juices, etc, so I’m really glad I’ll now get to try some recipes I’d otherwise have never gotten around to. Excited!

But I haven’t just been eating! It’s been very warm here this week so I got the bug to do some planting. Fresh herbs are now in pots and will hopefully flourish as much as my catnip and mint has. I’ve had to transplant my mint four times now because it just gets bigger and bigger and bigger. I’ve decided on a variety of herbs this year since last year I had difficulty with veg and fruits, but I’ve still got a couple for funsies.

So far I’ve got:

-Chives

-Purple basil

-lavendar

-thyme

-parsely

-strawberries

-a beet. just one. lol

-ginger

-violets

-aloe

-mint

-catnip

I’ll be adding more soon, I just have to find starts for some things since I’m rubbish with starting from seed. BUT i’ve plopped down a few chickpeas ;p we’ll see

I love growing things. There’s something peaceful about it, and something so nice about walking outside and smelling all the herbs and growing things. Sigh. I need a garden!

Pizza: breaking the fast!

True to form, my first home cooked food was packaged. BUT this is for a couple of reasons

1) I really wanted pizza

2) This pizza was SO popular even though it was a new item that this was the LAST one on the shelf. So of course, I had to try it.

3) This is part of an effort by me to clean up even when I eat frozen meals. This really limits me to Kashi and Amy’s…moreso Amy’s since some of Kashi’s dishes use GMO crops

I know that with my lifestyle I cannot commit to never eating frozen meals, what will be important is minimizing them and only having the ones that are genuine food. The rest of this week will be fresh and home cooked, but I’ve wanted pizza for aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagggggggggggggeeeeeeeeeeeeesss

So how was my Naked Pizza?

Pretty darned tasty!

Rating: 7/10

Pros:

-Veggies are really great

-The crust was hearty and browned nicely in the oven. I followed the directions, 400F for 10 mins on bake but then I tossed in my own quick broil to brown up the top a bit. It turned out beautifully

-Great nutrition and generous serving size. Half a pizza for 350 and a whopping 18g of protein and 9 g protein? YUH!

-Good cold. I told myself I’d have the other half tomorrow (I am trying to lose weight after all) and that lasted until..oh 10 mins ago. I tried a cold bite, fabulous. Tried another and another and…welp, there’s my second serving.

-It bakes up pretty! (see below)

Cons:

-This is really a personal size pizza. The serving size is 2, and they’re significant! But don’t think you can have this pizza as a party item.

-They’re light on the sauce. While I don’t like a soggy pizza, there are areas that weren’t covered properly. This might be just a defect with mine so meh

-The sauce isn’t very spicy or zesty. It’s not bad, by any means, but I prefer a slightly spicier and garlicky sauce. That’s easily remedied and I usually employ sriracha on my pizza anyway, so to each their own.

This pizza does use wheat and it’s not vegan, it does use Mozzarella. But all that withstanding, I’d likely get it again and can see why it was sold out so quickly.

The next I’ll be trying is an Amy’s pizza but they were out of the gluten free crust at the store so that will have to wait!

Oh Pizza, you are so loved!

The rest of this week will be home cooked, as I mentioned, and Wednesday I’ll be getting my greenling box complete with Engine Two meal kits. Can’t wait to review those!

and suddenly: ALL THE ENERGY

I don’t know what my deal was today but I was hyperactive. Actually, I woke up this morning with a horrific headache due, I think, to the mold running rampant in the atmosphere. I slept with my windows open and I imagine that didn’t help at all.  But, I don’t know. I decided to take a nice walk down to Wal-greens. It’s a mile and a half away through the neighborhood and since it felt so lovely outside and all I figured it’d be worth it to get the paper. It was lovely, really, but my headache did not improve. In fact, it got much worse and I resorted to some aleve and a cold compress when I got home.

But once it subsided I was all energy. This is a 180 from yesterday where I didn’t even break 4000 steps. But today…over 20k! It’s not my best (that’s 24k) but pretty close.

Whatevs, juice has that effect.

Speaking of juice!  Today I concocted what might be my ugliest juice yet! But it was mighty tasty! The berry beetaful! (oh puns!) I have the feeling it would be very pretty if not for the kale that really throws off the whole bright warm color pallet. But it tastes lovely and is nice and thick thanks to the strawberries. Love it!

I’m not sure how long I’ll stay juicy or if I’ll add in a dinner and juice breakfast and lunch. It’s important to remember than juice can be a meal. Seriously, I’ve made juices that are 700 calories and wonderful but if you think that’s a snack you’re nuts! Or a marathon runner (one day!).  We’ll see! It’s time to drop the strict rules and just kind of roll with what I want.

Want juice? Juice!

Want a salad? Chomp!

Want to cook up something delicious? Get sizzling!

One thing is for sure, I love this freaking energy!

Now on to stats, my measurements haven’t actually changed all that much since my last measurement update but they’re posted 🙂 My body fat has gone down though and my blood pressure is currently pretty awesome.

yay!

What hasn’t yet improved, and I hope does, is my allergies. Most of my allergies are skin related. I have very sensitive skin and it can be problem skin too. I’m going to be switching some products soon so we’ll see if there’s improvement there. For years I’ve used the following:

Mane n Tail shampoo

Aussie or Herbal Essence conditioner

Neutrogena Grapefruit Bodywash

St Ives Apricot scrub

And that’s it. I’ve always been really spotty with my lotions and such but I tend to use Aveeno sunscreen because…sun allergy. In the world of makeup I use neutrogena mineral powder and various eyeliners but my pigments are all Rogue Republic! (which you should like on Facebook!   for a freebie!)

Now, I’ve been looking at the things I use and realizing that they might be part of the problem. Of all of the things I currently use, I know only Rogue Republic to be 100% good for my skin.

It’s time I be better about what I use on the biggest organ of my body every day. I’m very very very very very tired of having hives and rashes and being generally uncomfortable in my own skin. If you’ve ever seen me have an allergic skin reaction you know just how miserable it is. So it’s time I invest in my skin as well as my food. It’s all a part of health and wellness.

Agreed?

I’ve started with Jason’s Tea Time anti-aging moisturizer. Because the other day I looked in the mirror and saw wrinkles. Well, fine lines. I’m 26, I don’t want lines! We’ll see how it goes, but I must be diligent about it. I mean, if you don’t use it you can’t expect it to work, can you?

If nothing else, I know that I will have FABULOUS pigments from Rogue Republic!

Have I mentioned how much I love them yet?

I think I might have.

Maybe. Hard to say.

I love them almost as much as I love Rox Chox! Okay, actually just as much!

Check them both out!

 

Why hello again, dear juice

Friday was a cray cray day! Sorry for not posting but I didn’t get home til about 12:30 and was way too sleepy to do an entry.

In fact all damn day I’ve been really sleepy and not feeling that great. Why? Ohhhhhhhhhh I don’t know, but I suspect it had something to do with my first really and truly ‘free food’ day of the year.

I took full advantage.

Breakfast was nanogreens and kombucha, nothing fancy. I was set to go Beet’s with the co-workers BUT my old department (where they all still reside) was apparently having a cray week of their own and so everyone was a bit too frazzled and busy to be able to take a lunch outside the office. Having had those days for the past year, I totally sympathize. We plan on rescheduling for this coming week! But we did all manage to head over to the Whole Foods express where I indulged! Cabbage crunch (yummy!), very lightly sauteed broccoli and this magnificent beautiful delicious creamy warm baked mac and cheese (that I added some more shredded cheddar to ;p)

SO GOOD!

If that had been the extent of the abuse I planned on giving my stomach I’m sure I’d have been fine. As you can see the mac and cheese is only about a 1/4 of the plate, the cabbage was the largest component and the broc wasn’t insignificant.

However…you remember pancakes right? Yeah. Pancakes. Delicious freaking pancakes. Kerbey Lane, me, Misha, Tim, and Will and cinnamon roll pancakes.

I got one, just one, because I told myself that I didn’t need a full stack. Kerbey’s pancakes are large and while they are by far more wholesome and natural than just about any restaurant anywhere, they’re still flour and sugar and all that. Still, it was beautiful. Worth the wait.

But if the abuse I put my stomach to had just been the mac and cheese and the pancake (which didn’t really need syrup but I had a bit, small bit) I think I’d have been ok…ish.

But oh no, no no no no no nonononooooooo I couldn’t just say mmm pancake! I’m good! I’ll have some beans or a salad or  whatever (kerbey had a million healthy clean and even some raw options) no I had to say…mmm you know what sounds awesome?

A burger.

Yeah, a burger.  On a whole wheat bun with avocado and sweet potato fries. Yeah that sounds marvelous!

Well, it was! I only ate a few fries (too occupied with my pancake!) but the burger was fabulous…at the moment.

But see from there, all full and bursting with food I haven’t had in a month, we ventured downtown to our friend Deepu’s birthday party. There I was, in a club, and was very very glad I was with people who do not drink. I managed, wisely, to abstain from the boozahol all around. This was helped, in part, by the fact that my stomach was now protesting very very much. And not just my stomach, but my pancreas. It has been a long time since I’ve felt my blood sugar crash like I did last night. I do not miss it.

Needless to say, this morning I welcomed back my juice with open arms and have been battling the food hangover all day. I am tired and have zero energy, been feeling so cold and my stomach has been wonky this morning but I’m sure that will pass by tomorrow.

I began today with a really really really really big juice from Whole Foods while I did a bit of shopping for juicing supplies . Green goodness with double beets and spirulina! 36 oz of pure awesome. It carried me through the morning and most of lunch. Other than that, I’ve had a kombucha, a bunch of tea (i’ve been cold, so cold)  and coconut water from 3 young coconuts. I love them. I LOVE THEM! But a very nice surprise has come with dinner, citrus sunrise! I’ll have it again for breakfast:

1 grapefruit

2 oranges

4 oz cherry juice (you can score it at whole fuds or use pom’s cherry)

that’s it! Doesn’t even need a juicer, you can just squeeze. Delicious.

But while grocery shopping I also picked up a new milk that I’m going to be interested to try along with my Vega One protein. Flax milk with pea protein. I got the unsweetened kind because I plan on using it to mix things not to drink on its own but it might also be good for cooking. We will see! I like almond milk but it’s very much almond flavored and while I really enjoy the vanilla variety, that limits it’s use. Also it’s higher in calories than this is without the added protein benefit. I’ll try some tomorrow morning with my vega one and report back.

That is a difference in this fast too, I am not just juicing, I’m also incorporating as meals my protein mix and other supplements. What is similar, however, is that it’s all vegan and natural still. Check em out! I’ve got my NanoGreens, my Vega One Chai, bee pollen and spirulina and of course my gummy vitamins…because I’m 5, and also vitamin supplements make me vomit when in pill form. I don’t know why, but they do.

Neat huh? And I have to say, Vega One is perhaps the best tasting protein mix I’ve ever tried and I’ve tried a LOT of them. After I finish this one I might switch to their sport line since it’s heavier in the protein department but doesn’t yet come in chai, which is what drew me to this one in the first place.  Plant based ftw!

Meanwhile, I’ve been thinking a lot about what my clean phase will mean to me. I’ve read a lot of different interpretations on ‘clean’ that vary depending on source, body builders, vegans, dieters, etc…even some people who would claim that slim fast style shakes are considered clean???

Sigh, here are my simple rules for what I will consider clean:

-Can I identify every ingredient as having come from something I can grow or raise?

-Is the word bleached, hydrogenated, or artificial present in the ingredient list?

-Can I (in theory) from scratch, as in right from the ground or pasture, make what I am eating?

Basically, is what I’m eating real food?

No hard and fast rules but there will be some things I choose to avoid because there are better options– wheat, for example. I’m not banning it but I will opt, when I can, for gluten free.

I will also strive to avoid soy and other GMO crops. Not only are GMO crops creepy as sin they’re also a major source of economic conflict in the world. I’ve always felt strongly about GMO but have been lazy about avoiding it (also poor) and it’s about damn time I cut them out.

For health and nutritional reasons I’ll be limiting the amount of grains of any sort I take in, fact is I can get a lot more bang for my calorie without them and to be honest, I don’t miss them all that much. Still, I’ll have them from time to time. 🙂

I’ve also been thinking a lot, recently, about my animal product intake. I love meat, of all kinds. I really do. But I’ve lived for years without pork and shellfish (three guesses why!) and haven’t had so much trouble.

I don’t want to go vegan or vegetarian but I do want to be much more responsible with my animal product intake. I’ve decided then that I will only eat meat and poultry from responsibly sourced humane providers. When possible at restaurants I will opt for vegan entrees or vegetarian if there are no vegan choices unless I have verified that they source from humane providers. You can bet your ass I’ll be making a list of those places 🙂

When I shop for meat it’ll likely be from Whole Foods as they have an Animal Welfare Standards program that is handy dandy. (They have a similar program for seafood sustainability)  I, personally, won’t accept less than standard 4. I realize that many restaurants won’t  be meeting that standard, but I will applaud any efforts they make.

Why? Because I love animals, and while I believe that we are omnivores and it has a place in our diet, I also think what we do in commercial ranching is a crime, both to the animals and to ourselves.  Conventional beef and grass fed beef have DEMONSTRABLE nutritional differences. Why? Conventional beef is raised on the cheapest diet they can produce and it’s often corn mixed with other leftovers and supplements as well as hormones and antibiotics. We feed them trash and that’s what they become. Grass fed beef is not only better for you and for the cow but it tastes better too!

We all deserve better, cows, birds and people. It’s about respect, in a lot of ways, for me. The animal is being raised to one day nourish me, which means until that day we have a responsibility to them to care for them and make their life worth living. That means no tiny cages, socialization, enrichment, natural diet and ability to see the sun. There’s no excuse for less.