Vegan Mishmash for VeganMoFo

Posted on 10/05/2009 by Julia

veganmofo Happy Monday!

I found this vegan survey over at The Geeky White Girl Grows Up and thought I’d play along

Favorite non-dairy milk? Homemade vanilla almond milk.
What are the top 3 dishes/recipes you are planning to cook? Rice and beans (a staple at my home), scrambled tofu (we have this every week!), and Crispy Cajun Chickpea Cutlets, a new-to-me recipe from vegandad.
Topping of choice for popcorn? Earth Balance and salt – sometimes a touch of nutritional yeast.
Most disastrous recipe/meal failure? Gnocchi! It turned into a gloopy flour soup! Total nightmare.
Favorite pickled item? Sauerkraut. I get very excited when I see Tempeh Reuben Sandwich on the menu!
How do you organize your recipes? I have tons of cookbooks in my kitchen. If I find a recipe online that looks interesting I’ll email it to myself and then store it in a file in my Mail called “recipes.” I also have a binder in my kitchen where I save hard copies of any online recipes I’ve tried and liked.
Compost, trash, or garbage disposal? Trash and garbage disposal. I’d like to compost but haven’t figured that one out yet.
If you were stranded on an island and could only bring 3 foods…what would they be (don’t worry about how you’ll cook them)? Almonds, Bananas, and spinach. That’s a very tough question.
Fondest food memory from your childhood? Eating my mom’s rigatoni. I LOVED it.
Favorite vegan ice cream? Purely Decadent Coconut Milk Cookie Dough. Nom.
Most loved kitchen appliance? VitaMix.
Spice/herb you would die without? Salt.
Cookbook you have owned for the longest time? Better Homes and Garden New Cookbook. I’ve had this since 1990 and it’s falling apart but I just can’t give it up. I can’t quit you BHG!
Favorite flavor of jam/jelly? Cherry.
Favorite vegan recipe to serve to an omni friend? Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie (made with tofu)
Seitan, tofu, or tempeh? Tofu.
Favorite meal to cook (or time of day to cook)? Dinner – but I often make breakfast for dinner
What is sitting on top of your refrigerator? Bamboo cutting board.
Name 3 items in your freezer without looking. Frozen blueberries, Viana Veggie Doner Kebabs, frozen bananas.
What’s on your grocery list? Always: bananas, spinach, non-dairy milk, tofu, tortillas.
Favorite grocery store? Whole Foods.
Name a recipe you’d love to veganize, but haven’t yet. My grandmother’s pierogies recipe.
Food blog you read the most (besides Isa’s because I know you check it everyday). Or maybe the top 3? Wow I read a TON of foodie blogs! Here are three of them: Oh She Glows, Have Cake Will Travel, Happy Herbivore.
Favorite vegan candy/chocolate? Dark chocolate.
Most extravagant food item purchased lately? Laura Lee’s Macadamia Coconut Peanut Butter Treats.
Ingredients you are scared to work with? Tempeh. I haven’t been able to cook it so it doesn’t taste bitter. By the end of VeganMoFo I’ll have it down!

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Sweet Dreams

Posted on 09/30/2009 by Julia

D. and I have a problem in bed.

HA! No…not THAT. I’m talking about the fact that I am a Reader and he is Not a Reader.

I LOVE to read before I go to sleep.
I like to climb into bed and read for about 1/2 hour or so until I get so sleepy that I turn out the light and I’m out like a light.
Sometimes I read until I actually fall asleep with the light on.
Then I wake up just enough to toss my book to the floor and turn the light off.
Ahhhhh….

But D. doesn’t really go for that.
He’s like, It’s 10PM, Lights Out, and that’s it.
Literally, that’s it. As soon as the light is off and he closes his eyes, he’s fast asleep.
Meanwhile (if I haven’t read myself to sleep) I lay there and wait for sleep to arrive. This can take anywhere up to an hour!

So you see, reading before I go to sleep is CRITICAL.

But what to do?
We’ve tried a teeny tiny reading light.
We’ve tried an eye mask.
The light is still “too much.” (I have to say I find this strange since he naps on the weekends in broad daylight.)
The turning of book pages or the clicking of my Kindle are both too loud.

I could go read in the other room but then I can’t just drift off to sleep. I’d have to get up and move and then I’d be awake again.

I’m sure there are other couples out there where on is a Reader and the other is Not a Reader.
So I’m wondering, how do you handle this?

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But I Don’t FEEEEEEEEL Like Practicing Yoga

Posted on 09/24/2009 by Julia

MIAMI BEACH, FL - JUNE 11: Julia Meshcheryako...

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

There are certain things in life that you know are good for you.
And there are certain things that you know are good for you AND you happen to enjoy them as well.
Let’s call these things “Healthy and Good.”

My list of Healthy and Good include eating healthy food, taking the pups on long walks, playing my guitar, meditating, practicing yoga, reading.
There’s more but that’s a good start.

What’s on your list of Healthy and Good?

Go ahead and think about it…write them down. I’ll wait.

Click here for thinking music

Now look at your list.
How many of the Healthy and Good are you doing on a regular basis?

When I look at my list, I see SEVERAL Healthy and Good that I am NOT doing regularly.
Instead, I opt to spend my time dallying on the InterWebs, playing WordTwist on Facebook, or zoning out in front of the TV.
All of which at the time SEEM to be what I want to do.
But if you ask me for my OPINION of those activities, I would say they are uninteresting and a waste of precious time.
They don’t make me feel especially good.
They don’t help me get closer to accomplishing any of my goals.

So WHY do I keep doing them?
WHY do I do them at the expense of doing Healthy and Good activities that better reflect my values and make me feel HAPPY?

I just don’t get it.
Why do we avoid the very things we know are good for us and we enjoy doing?

VEGANMOFO III

Posted on 09/23/2009 by Julia

No I’m not swearing at you in some weird vegan way veganmofo

VeganMoFo is the Vegan Month of Food, being celebrated throughout cyberspace by bloggers who are interested in all things vegan.
Here’s the VeganMoFo challenge: for the month of October, blog every weekday about vegan food.

And so, I’m excited to say that I will accept this challenge.
I will finally face tempeh head on.
I will explore new ways to enjoy nutritional yeast.
I will debate the value of bamboo vs plastic cutting boards.
I will cook up a storm from my billions of cookbooks and share my results with you.
I will veganize the heck out of any non-vegan recipe that crosses my path.

I’m excited.
I hope you are too.
Whether you are vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, omnivore, flexitarian, whatever (!)
I’m sure you’ll find the VeganMoFo experience to be fun and educational.
And if you are a blogger, I hope you’ll join me!

On another note, here’s the latest Marty Update!
As you know, Marty had her second surgery two weeks ago to remove her fibro sarcoma.
We go the biopsy results back last week and learned that Marty is now cancer free!
Today I am taking Marty back to South Paws to get her stitches removed.
And thus this chapter has ended.
I am ecstatic!

Peace and love,

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PS: IMPORTANT! I just switched over to wordpress. org and a new host. So if you are signed up for the Eat. Run. Do Yoga. blog feed, you need to re-subscribe at

http://feeds.feedburner.com/eatrundoyoga/wayG

you might still be getting the new blog posts at the “old” feed, but that will run out in 30 days so please sign up using the above link and delete the old feed!

Extra Life Produce Preserver – Two Thumbs Up

Posted on 09/22/2009 by Julia

Back in July I decided to try the Extra Life Produce Preserver. ExtraLife

The “preserver” is a little green disk that you place in your refrigerator’s produce drawer.
Inside the disk is a little breathable pouch filled with natural zeolite pellets that have been coated with a 6% solution of potassium permanganate.
That does sound a little scary to me but Extra Life’s website assures us that it’s all natural and safe and has been used in the produce industry for over 50 years.

Anyway, as fruits and vegetables age they release ethylene, which causes them to ripen.
When fruits and veggies are outside in their natural state, the ethylene allows them to ripen naturally.
But when they are in a closed container, like your produce drawer, the trapped ethylene causes them to ripen at an accelerated pace.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had fruits and veggies go bad on me!

So the ethylene released by the f&v’s is attracted to the potassium permanganate in the Extra Life Produce Preserver. The preserver then converts the “pp” to water vapor and carbon dioxide (both harmless), thus preventing your produce from ripening so quickly and spoiling.

I can say that these really seem to work! I’ve noticed that produce is lasting longer in my refrigerator. I just threw out my original Extra Life Produce Preserver and just ordered a new pack. At $13.99 for a set of three, I think they are a real bargain.

And no I’m not being paid to say this.

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I’m Still Here!

Posted on 09/21/2009 by Julia

Wow what a weekend I just had!

As you know I’ve been noticeably absent from my blog for the last few days.
We started our new yoga teacher training program at Flow Yoga and I was so busy both getting ready for it and then teaching it!

So today has been Recovery Day.
I took a long nap this morning,
and then a shorter one this afternoon.

It’s so odd to me to nap in the middle of the day. Especially during the week!
I really had to work at shaking off the feeling that I “should” be doing something constructive.
Even though I worked all weekend!
What is THAT all about?

How about you? Do you feel OK taking a break (or nap!) in the middle of the day?

Yay for Being Home!

Posted on 08/31/2009 by doubledogyoga

We arrived home last night after 10 days on the road. During our vacation we:

Explored Door County – walked around the cute towns, shopped, got massages at the Lavender Spa in Egg Harbor, and loved the Greens and Grains health food store, also in Egg Harbor.
Visited our friends Sam and Tessa in Neenah, Wi – went out with several of my friends from high school and had a blast seeing everyone!
Hung out in Madison with Kiljoong and Christina – walked on State Street, watched the boats and students from the Union Terrace, had a vegan breakfast at Monty’s Blue Plate Diner, and enjoyed Nepalese dinner at veg-friendly Himul Chuli.
Went to Lambeau Field in Green Bay (aka “Mecca)!
Visited Gary and Tiffany in Fort Collins and got an in-depth tour of the city and surrounding area – thanks Gary and Tiffany!! xoxo
Ate at Watercourse in Denver. A lot.
Explored the city of Denver by foot. Fell in love with Denver.
Spent lots of time with Jonathan and Lisa, who showed us parts of Denver we hadn’t even thought to explore!
Spent time with D’s friends from college and had a great time at Benji’s wedding in Keystone, CO.

DSCN0032 DSCN0101

Wow what a trip, huh?

During our trip I managed to run 6-8 miles nearly every other day. I skipped the last day because we were in Keystone and honestly I was having trouble breathing at times! We also walked a lot in Denver and in Keystone so I’m pretty happy with how I exercised during our trip.

Ok well my eating is another story. As always I struggled with food on the trip. We were able to find vegan food everywhere we went, and once I found it I ate a lot of it! This was especially at WaterCourse, which is definitely my favorite restaurant. It’s so unusual to walk into a restaurant and be able to eat anything that’s on the menu – sandwiches, soups, breakfast scrambles, biscuits, desserts. I loved it and literally ate it up! We ate a lot of food – and then walked most of it off afterwards.

When I go on vacation, I tend to teeter between “hey I’m on vacation and I’m gonna eat whatever I want!” and “just eat when you’re hungry.” I think I did a better job than usual of not beating myself up for eating so much – in the past I probably would have felt really bad about it. This time I figured I’ll get “back on track” when I get home. So I jumped on the scale this morning and see that I only gained two pounds while on our trip. Ok – I can handle that!

How do you approach food and exercise while you are on vacation? Do you indulge (Hey you’re on vacation!) or do you try to maintain good habits (stay the course!)??

The Two Million Calorie Sweet Treat

Posted on 08/23/2009 by doubledogyoga

Ok – so try to guess. What treat has two million calories?

I’m not kidding! Two million calories.

Give up?

It’s the world’s largest cupcake!

Just a few days ago the great folks over at gourmetgiftbaskets.com created the World’s Largest Cupcake – a new Guiness record! Their 1,224 pound cupcake stood four feet tall and ten feet wide. It was made with 200 pounds of flour, 200 pounds of butter, 200 pounds of sugar, and 1000 eggs. Yikes!

Guinness-Center4

Slices of the cupcake were sold to benefit the Susan G Komen foundation,
which is “dedicated to education and research about causes, treatment, and the search for a [breast cancer] cure.”

OK.

So I love cupcakes just like the next person,
and the idea of a 1000+ pound cupcake makes me drool.
And as you know I LOVE to bake.
And the idea of such a HUGE CUPCAKE is so impressive to me.
But I have to point out the irony in selling pieces of the world’s largest cupcake to benefit an organization that is dedicated to finding a cancer cure.

200 pounds of sugar: A study published on Aug 18 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences revealed the results of a study that shows glucose (sugar) actually drives cancer growth.
200 pounds of butter: Some studies have shown that eating lots of dairy can increase your chances of cancer, but some studies have shown this is not the case. The results are mixed – however given the power of the dairy industry in the US…well..you can fill in the blanks.
200 pounds of flour: A new study published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Mile Markers, and Prevention presents evidence of the link between the consumption of refined carbohydrates and cancer.
1000 eggs: The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology released a study last December that found a link between consumption of eggs during pregnancy and breast cancer rates in the mother’s offspring.

Maybe they would have been better off providing the World’s Largest Veggie Stir Fry?

I know, I’m such a Debbie Downer.

Root Canal OY!

Posted on 08/20/2009 by doubledogyoga

Sorry I’ve been MIA for a few days. I’ve had “stuff” come up.

First and most important, we heard back from the vet that Marty’s test was “inconclusive.”
Sooooo….we’re set up for surgery on Aug 31 – they’ll remove the lump and then biopsy it.
In the meantime we observe it.
I feel so like “Really? Is that all we can do?”
PATIENCE.

Second, I had to have an unexpected “root canal retreatment” yesterday.
Oh boy was that fun – NOT!
It started with a minor dull toothache on Tuesday.
I thought, oh I can just ignore this.
And then it got worse and my AWESOME DENTIST Dr. Clark was able to fit me in yesterday. He then sent me to the Endodontist, Dr. Suh, who – miraculously – was also able to see me yesterday.

The “retreatment” took an HOUR! That’s one solid hour with my mouth wide open while he worked on completely removing an old root canal, cleaning it out, and then putting it all back together. UGH! Then on the way home the numbness started to wear off and I experienced the worse pain I’ve felt maybe ever. Luckily I have some *help* for relieving the pain LOL. OH and now I need to get a new crown too!

BTW I actually FLOSS every day.

Oh AND I had a teeny little car accident on Tuesday to top it all off. It’s nothing – just a scratch, that happened as I was at Matchless getting an estimate for some body damage my car has from a different teeny little car accident! Can you imagine – getting into a mishap at the auto body shop?!

So needless to say it’s been a NUTTY WEEK.

RIT and I ran yesterday:

walk 5 minutes
run 2 minutes / walk 1 minute for 24 minutes (8 sets total)
walk 5 minutes

It was super humid outside but we persevered!

I’m grateful for:

my dentist and endodontist who both got me in immediately when I really need it
the fact that I have access to great health care
pain killers – I usually avoid taking meds but I’m so glad to have them right now!
RIT for really giving it her all

What are you grateful for?

PS I’ve been making changes to my diet – will update on that later

My Weekend

Posted on 08/09/2009 by doubledogyoga

What a delicious weekend

Friday night: Ate Lotus dinner + birthday cupcakes with Kat + Will (Kat’s birthday)
Saturday morning: Practiced yoga, walked the girls, shopped at the Reston Farmers Market, taught at Flow Leesburg
Saturday afternoon: Ate a rice tortilla + Veggie Shreds + spinach for lunch, lounged around the house, went for a run (6 mi, 8:27 ave mph)

Saturday evening: Baked cookies, walked the girls with Kate + Doug, drank a smoothie for dinner, watched “Africa Unite” at home
Sunday morning: Walked the girls, rode the elliptical cross trainer (50 min), taught at Flow Yoga, stopped at Shoppers for a few things
Sunday afternoon: Ummmm…Hmmmm….Made tofu scramble. Napped – that’s about it!

My nap today was wonderful – I RARELY take naps! When is the last time you napped?

Me Napping in 1985 or So

My intentions / goals for the upcoming week:

Eat only when I am hungry. I’m sure some people do this naturally but not me. I’m like my dogs – I eat and eat and eat until nothing’s left. So…this week I am focused on eating when I am hungry. This will be challenging.
Continue with my daily morning yoga practice. I slept in today and missed it but maybe I’ll still do it later. Focus my practice on releasing neck and upper shoulders.
Increase my running mileage by 1/2 mile. For now this will mean walking the extra 1/2 mile – eventually (maybe next week) I will run it.
Finish my online anatomy course.
Set up Double Dog’s yoga classes for September.

What are your intentions / goals for the week?