Cornflake Cupcakes

Cornflake cupcakes. I think they're really creative and great. Courtesy Nibbledish.

Enjoy!

Becoming a Vegan

The vegetarian to vegan is going well. Yesterday was pretty much 100% vegan. I need to do some more research on these pita I eat yet, but I am almost positive they are vegan.

The boyfriend and I went grocery shopping for while he is here and for me for the rest of the week. We did some meal planning before we went. Last night we made stir fry with my sister, who is a better cook than her passions indicate. The stir fry turned out wonderfully. A huge pot of brown rice and a huge pan filled with two diced green peppers, an onion, corn, spinach, and cucumber. Delicious!

Tonight we are making vegan mac and cheese. I'm excited, the boyfriend is excited, my sister is a little apprehensive. I am also going got make pinto bean dip today. I hope it turns out alright. I'm a little skeptical, but nothing else I can shove some in a pita with hummus for some good protein.

I also found vegan yogurt with live cultures and was really excited, as well as did some research on yeast. Life is making progress. My stomach isn't 100%, but it's working a bit better.

Once again, thanks to everyone for your advice and support!

Cilantro-Jalapeno Hummus

My sister has a vendetta against cilantro. I do not. In fact, I just stocked up today in order to make a pinto bean dip tomorrow that I hope turns out awesome. If not though, I'm still glad I bought the cilantro because look at this hummus! Found over on TasteSpotting, this comes courtesy of the Buff Chickpea and this has definitely made it onto my to make list. I only with I had seen it earlier so I could have posted it yesterday with the others. Oh Well. Check out the Buff Chickpea for the full recipe.

Enjoy!

Stephanie's Kitchen: Chocolate Bowls

Image courtesy Stephanie's Kitchen via Serious Eats

Found these on Serious Eats, fell in love, and thought I'd share.

Enjoy!

Picky Palate: Oatmeal Raisinet Cookies

I'm pretty busy. Since the boyfriend is in town we have a vegan/omnivore grocery trip to plan. But that doesn't mean I'm too busy to post! Right now I want to share with you a recipe I found over on Picky Palate: Oatmeal Raisinet Cookies. They look fabulous. Check out Picky Palate for the full recipe.

Enjoy!

Some Hummus and Dip Recipes

I have lots of things I need to post about, but I also need to clean my room. Life. So I am going to share with you a couple amazing hummus/spread recipes I've seen lately.

First, carrot hummus via cupcake punk. This recipe is amazingly simple and delicious sounding.

Next we have Eggplant Dip via Sea Salt with Food. Amazing recipe on an amazing blog.

And finally, Pumpkin Hummus via appetite for China. Intriguing...my sister would probably be pleased.

Enjoy!

Everybody Likes Sandwiches: Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Kumquat Cookies

Image courtesy everybody likes sandwiches

So far, today is 100% vegan :) My digestive system is still mad, but I can think of at least three reasons for this. I think I need to quit worrying about it. That's probably making it worse. Plus I've gotten some great advice from my fellow bloggers that I'm going to look into a lot of their ideas once the weekend comes...

So onward with oatmeal! I saw theses chocolate chip oatmeal kumquat cookies over on everybody likes sandwiches and was floored. They look amazing. Go check out the recipe, and the amazing blog. You won't be let down.

Enjoy!

Closet Cooking: Roasted Vegetable Quinoa Salad

Image courtesy Closet Cooking

Okay, Closet Cooking is one of my favorite blogs. I love the layout, I love the pictures, I just love it. I am always really excited to see if Kevin has concocted yet another fabulous looking meal. Often I cannot eat them, but I always appreciate them. I've passed several onto family members.

But today's meal I can eat! And I'm thrilled at how delicious it looks and I think I'm going to try it. Roasted Vegetable Quinoa Salad here I come! Check out Closet Cooking for the full recipe.

Enjoy!

Health Benefits of Sugar Cane...?

I found an interesting article on The Food Site about the health benefits of sugar cane...a topic I had never really thought of. I often skim over these kinds of things, but for some reason I stopped to read this one.

According to The Food Site, sugar cane helps digestion and is high in magnesium, calcium, and vitamin B2...hmmm....this is interesting. Kind of like how a lot of people are into coconut oil for various reasons and I never knew about that either.

I'm having trouble finding more information on sugar cane...real information on health benefits. Anyone have any suggestions?

Vegan Philosophy Video

I thought that while I do all this talk on becoming vegan, I should do some explaining of veganism also. There's tons and tons of great blogs out there and I'll hopefully be adding them to my blog roll and linking to them more, but for now here is a video if you are interested. It's 10 minutes, but I don't feel like you have to watch the full thing to start to understand.

I am not big on converting people, mainly because I do not want people to try and convert me, but awareness on all issues is always a good thing.

Enjoy!

Buttermilk Substitute

Image courtesy McArthur

Okay, buttermilk never meant much to me and now of course with the vegan transition it means a lot less...still, this may be useful for some of you out there.

From yumsugar we have how to make a simple buttermilk substitute. I've never tried this, but let me know if you do!

Enjoy!

Becoming a Vegan

Today's vegan adventures...

Were not so vegan. Let me explain.

Three of us in the house are "sick" right now. Well two of us, but my sister's boyfriend is under the weather a bit as well and he's here enough and I like him enough to count him as our own. I put sick in quotations because we aren't throwing up everywhere uncontrollably or running high fevers, but we are pathetic and with various aches and pains. Currently I have major GI distress and a pounding headache. The other two are basically dealing with sore throats.

So why was today not so vegan? My stomach is very thrown off. I noticed it two nights ago mainly when no matter how much water my sister and I drank our stomachs just look pregnant and we barely had to go to the bathroom. Great sign there.

My sister's stomach has calmed down a bit and gone back to working order, but mine has not. What do I do when my stomach is off? Fiber, water, exercise, and yogurt. Usually some combo works. Well I had tried everything except yogurt, obviously, but I broke down and went and bough Activia.

What do vegans do for pro/pre-biotics? This is something I need to look into. Nestle had some straws coming out...I wonder if those are available...ya, I need to look into things...

Or I just need to get healthy.

Enjoy! your not sickness...or take it easy on yourself and enjoy the mandatory downtime if you are in our boat. We feel your pain.

Meat Socks

Image courtesy ashidashi via iliketotallyloveit

I want these. I want to wear them out of total irony and I would love every second of it. Boyfriend? Momma P? I hope you are taking note.

Enjoy!

Tropicana Packaging

Image courtesy The Consumerist

I was kind of resisting the urge to post about this because, well, everyone is posting about it....but I've finally given in. The big news is that people don't like Tropicana's new look and so they're going back. Hmmm....I like the old packaging. Good call.

What do you think?

This is a perfect example of my foodie package love. I really love cereal boxes, but stuff like this piques my interest too.

Enjoy!

What does your body good?: The Genius of Hummus

What does your body good?: The Genius of Hummus

Love this blog, and I think since I am in my vegetarian to vegan transition a spotlight on hummus is in order since I've been eating even more of it than usual lately.

Enjoy!

Fudgy Peanut Butter & Oatmeal Bars

Image courtesy Cooking During Stolen Moments

To start off oat week I thought I'd share a link with you for Fudgy Peanut Butter & Oatmeal Bars courtesy Cooking During Stolen Moments. I made the Pizza Bread she blogged about and it was delicious so I now officially trust her taste!

Enjoy!

Paula Deen has a Bum

Oh. My. Gosh. This is too hysterical. I kind of feel bad because I almost feel like I'm spreading her humiliation and doing a very negative thing, but I love Paula I really do...and so does the rest of my family. Stuff happens. She handles it with true grace.

Enjoy!

Tear Down Tuesday: Oats

Image courtesy WHFoods

Alright I feel like poop and am not going to work where running for three hours will make me feel more like poop, but that doesn't mean I'm going to let the day go to waste. One accomplishment will be to get a real Tear Down Tuesday done. I've decided we should talk about oats. Why? Oatmeal is my current vegan breakfast of choice oats are an ingredient in many delicious dishes!

For a brief overview, oats are a great source of fiber, selenium, and manganese. We all know how much I love fiber. Additionally, they are also a good place to get vitamin B1, magnesium, protein, and phosphorous.

Being a good source of soluble fiber, oats may help prevent heart disease by lowering LDL cholesterol. I did a research paper on soluble fiber a couple months back...I found what I expected to find...soluble fiber is good for your heart. Oats also help to control blood sugar. The American Dietetic Association suggests getting more fiber in your diet by adding oats to things like meatloaf, bread, and cookies.

So there we go. Throughout the week I would love to have your input on oatmeal as well as recipe ideas, but either way I'll provide more information!

More Information:

WHFoods

American Dietetic Association

Enjoy!

Free Food

Free IHOP pancakes today from 7a.m. to 10p.m. for all interested!

Also, anyone want free Quiznos? Thought so.

Well actually I bet a lot of my readers don't want free Quiznos or IHOP, but for the poor college crowd, there you have it!

Enjoy!

Human Vending Machine

Image courtesy Gizmodo via Geekologie

Alas, thanks to those who through email and comment hope I feel better. It's much appreciated and I know everyone is kind of periodically dropping below the healthy mark these days.

That's why I thought I'd post this human vending machine from Geekologie. It's just fun. Talk about easy money. I'd purchase a Kit-Kat out of that. Goes well with the bench I posted about awhile back.

Enjoy!

Becoming a Vegan

I'm sick. I've done everything I know. Taken medicine, slept, walked (exercise), and I've been drinking fluids all day. But I still feel sick.

At first I was worried this might be a sign of my new lifestyle transition from vegetarian to vegan, but I'm convinced it's not. After thinking, I've only been doing this since Thursday, and am still not 100% vegan, so not. It's not that.

But I can list at least three people for you that are very sick, or have been in the past two weeks, and with whom I come in regular contact with. I've had my flu shot, I eat right and exercise, I had a really bad virus over break, I'm pretty convinced my body is just fighting something off. I was a little under the weather for a day about a week and a half ago, and I think I'm still just working out the kinks.

That and the weather here is fluctuating like crazy. I hate that. My body/sinuses cannot handle crazy fluctuations. But I have both worn shorts and chased the cat through the snow in the past week. So crazy weather is probably part of the problem.

Sigh.

But my food is going well. I eat when I am sick for two reasons:

1. I don't see how not eating helps you get better faster. I don't see how depriving your body of calories and nutrients makes things better. This is my intuitive feeling. But even in all my classes, my teacher never stands up there talking about the importance of having sick people not eat. Quite the opposite actually.

2. I am a "recovered" anorexic. I commented about this over on Burp and Slurp earlier today...when you are "recovered" you generally have some things you do and do not do.

*I do not hang out with people who have really poor relationships with food. I just don't. Maybe this explains why I have a lot of guy friends, but....I'm not worried about working with these people, but in my spare time... the people in my closest circle...I am not going to really hang out with people too much who aren't at least trying to be healthy. If you had a problem and are recovering/fighting then I want to be there to support you. If you are some random girl who doesn't eat all day and then has a big bowl of pasta for dinner...I step away. I don't put myself in those situations.

*I also watch my exercise. I once was a server and I worked out. I dropped weight at lighting speed. Now when I go to work, I still walk a lot, I don't work out that day. You learn your lessons.

*And finally? I eat when I'm sick. I never not eat. I never get in the practice of going all day without eating. If I can barely lift my head off the pillow, I will probably weakly do so, tell you vegan is out the door for a day, bring me some sonic cheese fries and a McDonald's shake, eat them, and pass back out. I just don't not eat. It's as simple as that.

So that's that. And what have I been eating today? Almost all vegan food which is good. My salad I made last night was delicious, but I'm adding fruit and beans. I also wish I hadn't eaten it when I felt really sick earlier. Awhile later I regretted it. It was probably a little harsh of a choice. But apples are tasting wonderful and water consumption is sky high. I feel healthy...even though I feel sick.

I hope this subsides by tomorrow.

Enjoy!

White Chocolate Macademia Danish

Image courtesy flickr via vegan.com

Look at what popped up on vegan.com today! I am mainly posting this to give the boyfriend some encouragement. I think he is starting to worry about our future carnivorous/vegan household...

Enjoy!

Sam Adams Tour

Okay, so sometimes I take forever to do posts because I'm busy. If I really want to put effort into a single post, that long solid chunk of time is sometimes hard to find. But there are a couple of posts that need to do one, and the Sam Adams Brewery Tour is one of them. Sorry ahead of time if you have to click around for some of the links. Linking for beer is tricky. I suggest you spend some time of the Sam Adams website though. There's a lot of neat information there.

For the boyfriend's birthday, this is what we did:

As we approached, we are greeted by a warm, friendly sign. And we start to get excited...

Then we notice that even the best brewers are human, and we laugh....

We enter and are wowed with awards....


And greeted by Sam Adams himself!

Oh, and his twin....

We watch a video and look at some memorabilia...

And after a brief lunch, which I'll post about later, we start our tour by crossing through a lit tube of beautifulness. This is the plank down from the lit tube of beautifulness. If you ever tour the brewery, you'll know what I'm talking about.

Cute decor awaits...

And we begin to learn about, and taste, and smell all of the simple, pure ingredients that makes Sam Adams Beer so great...



And my iPhone falters which makes a cool effect....

And just as I'm tempted to sit on more cute decor...


We move on and learn all about storing of Sam Adams and tastings and all of the other neat things that make the tour so great...

And then we enter the tasting room...





Where our fearless leader explains to us "the perfect pint" before teaching us the art of sampling....













And we try three types of beer, all delicious.

Verdict? Totally worth it. The tour is free, although a donation is suggested, and very informative. The total time of tour, time of talking, and time of beer tasting is well balanced. The Guinness Factory in Dublin was awesome, but self-guided...I enjoyed having the guide. The boyfriend couldn't have been happier since Sam Adams Winter Lager is one of his favorite things ever. We had a wonderful afternoon.

Summary:

Price: Free or a couple donated dollars
Time: Hour or so
What: Guided tour and sampling
Where: Boston, MA

Enjoy! and let me know your thoughts if you've been/go!