Vegas and Lime...random, I know

First of all, WHOA! It's been a long time since my last post. I have no excuse I guess. I haven't been on the computer for much of anything lately. I have one month to go until my Vegas vacation so I've really been concentrating on eating better and working out more than anything this last month. I did lose 8lbs last month. Of course, with this past Memorial Day holiday and all the BBQ's, I think I gained a couple of pounds back. No worries though! I'm really stepping it up in June. I was only working out about 3 times a week last month. This month I'm adding another 2 days to that. I was also only eating super healthy five out of seven days in May. With one month left to go I will be eating super healthy seven out of seven days this month! Which means, no drinking. Ugh...I think that's harder than the eating healthy thing. Is that bad? :)

I just made a really yummy salad for lunch. I would've taken a picture but it was nothing special, just romaine lettuce and all my favorite chopped up veggies. I'm not a big lettuce fan so my salads tend to be tons of chopped up veggies with just a bit of lettuce thrown in. But I found the yummiest dressing! It's SO good and perfect for summer salads. It's Newman's Own Light Lime Vinaigrette. Holy YUM! I love lime anything so I think it's my new favorite dressing. I also sprinkled on some Mrs. Dash Mediterranean Herb seasoning. Wow! That salad was really flavorful! I'm thinking about making a cold pasta salad with the dressing and seasoning or maybe marinating some shrimp in it. It was delish!

One hour

AAAAHHH!! It's too early for me to be up right now. This week has kinda sucked. I've worked 7-4 for the last 11 years and suddenly my boss decided that no one could work before 8 anymore. So I'm working 8-5 and I've had to change everything around and I'm amazed at how much of a difference one little hour can make.

I'm waking up before the alarm goes off, having way too much time in the morning (hence this blog at 6am), eating breakfast later so 1pm keeps rolling around and I realize I'm still not hungry but I need to get some lunch! My dog is all confused because usually I leave for work and he hangs with my roomie until she leaves and puts him in his kennel. Now I'm putting him in his kennel and I can tell he's confused every time I do it because I'm never the one to put him in there! I hate going to the gym now because getting there at 4:45 is fine but getting there at 5:45 is like walking into a crowded singles bar on steroids. Lastly, I'm eating dinner too late because by the time I'm hungry it's like 8pm! SIGH. Hopefully by Monday, my body will have adjusted and I can function normally again.

Epiphany

Well I finally have my voice back! Thank you lord. I was really starting to get frustrated. I've worked from home every day this week and honestly, I can't wait to go back to the office on Monday. I'm a little stir-crazy right now. Really the only person I've seen this whole week is my roommate and the employees at Whole Foods. (Actually I did get to see my B-I-L and nephew today.)

Anyway, I had an epiphany this week. As I've said before, I'm a vegetarian. I would be a strict vegan if it weren't so dang hard and expensive! So the more research I did on vegetarianism and veganism, the more I became sort of an animal rights activist. Now I don't mean I was breaking into labs and stealing mice or anything. The whole animal perspective was what made me become a vegetarian to begin with. But now, a lot of my research has steered me into a different path...kinda like a fork in my vegetarian research road. I'm starting to turn into more of a food activist instead of an animal rights activist. I've been reading all these books and watching these documentaries and even tv shows...Jamie Olivers Food Revolution is a great one. Stop eating processed food people!!! It's SO horrible for you! (I know I've blogged about this once before.) I'm just really irritated by our government when it comes to America's health. They know this food is horrible but they don't care! I just wish I could open all of my family and friends eyes to the problem with the SAD (Standard American Diet and yes it is sad!)

I've been harping on my family for years now to change their diets. My mom FINALLY listened after her best friend was enlightened and changed her ways of eating. Now I've finally got someone else on board.

So I don't want to preach anymore than I already have. But if any of my friends or family have any questions, thoughts, complaints (lol) or anything about all of this, I KNOW you guys know where to come!

Talking Is Underrated

Saturday I was outside for awhile, probably more than I should have been considering the pollen index was 5,836. FYI, anything over 120 is extremely high. What can I say? It was a moment of insanity. Over the last 7 0r 8 years, I've developed pretty bad allergies to pollen. Anyway, later Sat night, around 9pm I guess, I started getting very hoarse. Ya know at first I was thinking "Hey, I sound kinda seexxxy. Oh yay-ah". Then as the night progressed, I got a little more hoarse and I started thinking, "Wow, I'm really losing my voice! Hee hee!" Then Monday I woke up and started looking online for dry erase board necklaces. That's right. I have NO voice. It's completely gone and it REALLY SUCKS. There's nothing blissful about not being able to speak (which had me contemplating my blog name and whether I should change it).

I didn't realize how often you actually speak nor did I realize how much I LIKE to speak! I've been working from home so I can avoid using my voice at all. But I went to Whole Foods on my lunch break today and had to explain to a random employee, the cashier and my bagger that I had no voice and couldn't speak. By the time I got in my car and was on my way home, my throat was hurting. But I bought this tea made by Yogi. It's called Honey Lemon Throat Comfort. The person that referred it said it works wonders. It has slippery elm bark in it which is supposed to really help with throat irritation. It did soothe my throat quite a bit. I resisted the temptation to add a hundred packets of Stevia which really would've made it taste waaaay better. You're supposed to drink it twice a day. Blech.

I guess before I go to bed tonight I'll chug another mug down and then pray that it has miracle healing powers and I'll be able to talk in the morning.

Wish me luck!

Bruschetta

I went to a friends birthday party last night and everyone was supposed to bring an appetizer. As much as I love bruschetta, I've never really made it myself. But I made it last night and every last bit was gobbled up within an hour. It was SO yummy and definitely something I will be making again. Here is the recipe:

6 Roma tomatoes, diced
1 small red onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 clove garlic, whole
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 1/4 tbsp balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp fresh cracked pepper
2 Italian baguettes, sliced (about 3/4 inch thick slices)


Whisk together diced garlic, salt & pepper, vinegar & basil.
Slowly drizzle in olive oil. Add the tomatoes and onions to the mixture.
Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes so the flavors can blend together. Brush both sides of the bread with more olive oil and rub them down with the whole clove of garlic. Broil on low and flip so both sides are golden brown. Top with bruschetta mixture and serve.

Obsessed Part 2

Ok, I think I was having a meltdown yesterday when I wrote my last blog. Hee hee. I was working from home and had way too much time to be doing research (more time than I should admit). I'm over it today...although I still think Twinkies are gross.

I'm going to Vegas in July and I want to lose a few pounds so starting this week I'll be hitting the gym hard and getting my fruits, veggies & water in as often as possible. Any yummy vegetarian recipes anyone has, please pass them on! I could really motivate myself by posting a "before" picture on here. But I'm not that crazy!

Wish me luck! :)

Obsessed

So...I have a new obsession. It's not really a good one either. I mean I guess it is in some aspects. I'm obsessed with what I put in my body. I don't mean like, do I choose fat free dressing over regular dressing. I mean I'm not putting anything in my body unless I make it myself. I've been doing a lot of reading and research over the last two or three years and from what I've read, I'm just disgusted with our government. I don't really want to go into the politics side of it because you would be sitting here reading this all night. But basically, I'm just trying to not eat any processed food. It's very hard. We live in such a fast-paced, convenience driven society that I understand why people grab fast food. But if most people knew what I knew, they probably wouldn't want to eat processed food anymore.

I have Blockbuster Online and I'm currently waiting to receive Fast Food Nation, King of Corn, Food Inc., and some other crazy documentary that would bore most people but I'm nerdish-ly excited to get. I've read Skinny Bitch and Vegan Freak and The Kind Diet (by Alicia Silverstone) and countless others. It's really scary how people will eat something that was chemically engineered in lab and not think twice about it. Or...like one of my closest friends, when I tried to tell her that the Twinkie she was eating did not have one single recognizable food product in it, she got mad and told me that not everyone wants to hear that kind of stuff. Um..ok, keep eating rat poison and small doses of ingredients that they use in rocket fuel. Your body...your call (and your ignorance). (They do not put rat poison or rocket fuel in Twinkies, that I'm aware of...just using that as an example as those ingredients are in some other common American foods).

If I told you something you were eating was engineered in a lab and several of the ingredients in it were statistically shown to cause cancer, heart disease, autism in young children and several other diseases, would you get mad at me and keep eating it? Or would you be completely shocked and vow to TRY to cut it out of your diet as much as possible? Call me crazy or obsessed, but I want to know what I'm putting in my body.

Maybe that's just me though.

What's This Blog All About Anyway?

I realized today that I haven't really explained what this blog is supposed to be about so I thought I would do that. It's mostly about anything that makes me blissfully happy!

I will probably post lots of recipes because I love to cook and I love to eat. I am a vegetarian so they will all be yummy vegetarian recipes. There may be some vegan recipes here and there too. I also love to write and I love to read. So I will probably post some books that I love. I'm also writing my own story so maybe one day soon I will post the first chapter. I'd love to get some feedback! I'll also be writing about places I've traveled or would like to travel. The rest will be about whatever else is making me happy at that moment...clothes, my dog Oscar, my friends, wine, lamp shades (ha ha), ANYTHING!

Stay tuned...

Shin splints kinda suck

Well, this has been an unusually cold winter. I mean, 10 degrees is NOT normal for Atlanta during any part of the year. So I've been desperately trying to get through this winter and make it to spring because when I say I love winter, I mean I love it because 30 degrees means I can make a fire and eat soup. At 10 degrees I want to set the house on fire and soak my body in some soup. Not to mention the fact that I was always in a bad mood and wanting to scream at everyone constantly but I couldn't because my face was so tight and dry that it hurt.

So FINALLY mother nature redeemed herself! This past weekend was GORGEOUS. It was sunny and about 60 degrees. I decided Saturday morning to go for a walk. It was such a nice walk that I did it Sunday morning too. I went to the Big Creek Greenway in Alpharetta and between the two days, I walked a total of 8.2 miles! It was exhilarating! It was energizing! It was motivating! It was...BLISSFUL! It was just me and my iPod both days and honestly, I kinda liked it like that. I thought I would be scared walking alone but there were so many people out running, walking, biking, roller blading, and riding these weird scooter things (that I've never seen before) that I felt completely safe. I was never alone on that trail for more than a full minute. So I enjoyed it so much that I've decided to make it my new Saturday/Sunday morning habit. But I have to take it a little slower next time I guess. I got the WORST shin splints! I was hobbling around work today like a little old lady. Yeah, shin splints kinda suck!

Orzo Stuffed Peppers

Geez, I've been getting beat up for not posting for awhile, especially considering I wanted to do this so bad and I've only posted once. I've been busy! Gimme a break. :)

Anyway, I just thought I would share this recipe that I made for dinner the other night. I was tired of the same old meals so I started looking for something I had never had before. I know stuffed peppers aren't all that "different" but I had never had them. I found the recipe on Giada De Laurentiis' website. (I love her!) I tweaked it a little bit to my taste. I used all red peppers because they're my favorite. I also used vegetable broth instead of chicken broth because I'm vegetarian. There's a bit of prep work for this recipe but it's not too bad and was totally worth it in the end. It made my house smell SO good too. Here ya go!



INGREDIENTS:
1 (28oz) can diced Italian tomatoes
2 zucchini, grated
1/2 cups chopped fresh mint leaves (I used basil instead because basil is AWESOME)
1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano, plus more for sprinkling
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
4 cups vegetable broth (or chicken broth)
1 1/2 cups orzo pasta
6 sweet bell peppers (red, yellow or orange)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat over to 400 degrees F.

Pour the tomatoes into a large bowl. Add the zucchini, mint, cheese, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Stir to combine.

Meanwhile, bring the broth to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Add the orzo and cook for 4 minutes. The orzo should only be partially cooked. Use a fine mesh sieve to transfer the orzo to the large bowl with the other vegetables, Stir the orzo into the vegetable mix to combine. Transfer the warm broth to a 3 quart baking dish.

Slice the tops off the peppers and remove all ribs and seeds. Cut a very thin slice from the base to help the peppers stand up.

Place the peppers in the baking dish with the warm chicken broth. Spoon the orzo mixture into the peppers. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil, sprinkle the top of each pepper with cheese and continue baking until the cheese is golden, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and carefully transfer the orzo stuffed pepper to a serving plate. Eat up!


Cook Time: 1 hour / Level: Intermediate / Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Tip #1: I halved the recipe and it still made almost 4 whole peppers.
Tip #2: Use real Pecorino Romano cheese if you can. It's SO SO SO much better than that pre-grated packaged stuff!