In an attempt to recreate corn casserole, I came up with the following recipe. It wasn't as casserole-y because I didn't use Jiffy from a box (or an entire tub of sour cream) but I'd like to think my substitutions made this version of the recipe a hair healthier.
Cheezy Cornbread
1 and 1/4 cup water
1 egg substitute. We used ener-G
2 and 1/2 cups cornbread mix. We used Bob Redmill's
1 cup cheddar daiya cheese
1/2 to 1 cup vegan sour cream
1 ear corn (I cut all the corn off it by slicing the knife down the side. I'm sure you could use canned corn or frozen corn as well)
Mix all ingredients together
Pour into baking pan and sprinkle with extra cheese if desired
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. I took mine out a few minutes early because I was deadly afraid it would become dried out.
We paired our cornbread with a crock of navy bean soup, which was really delicious this time around.
I forgot to take an after picture of the cornbread. We ate it and the soup for two days. I really liked the addition of corn and sour cream in the bread to make it not so dry. How do you like your cornbread?
I have returned from another wedding weekend. This one was in St Louis, and I was a bridesmaid in my good friend's wedding.
The day we flew in we had the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner,
followed by some fun & drinking afterward.
The Bride-To-Be and myself
The next morning we got our hair done and got ready for the wedding.
And posed for lots of pictures
The bride and I:
The ceremony was beautiful. She had 9 bridesmaids! After the ceremony and before the reception we took more professional pictures and the bridal party drove around in a trolley car:
It was my favorite part of the day!
It might have been hers, too!
My favorite pic of the trip is this one:
The next day we had some time to do some sight seeing and get around the city a little.
It was beautiful weather
and we loved seeing the parks and sights .
We even got to go up to the top of the arch!
I didn't take any pics of food because the food we ate there was just okay. It was either lukewarm or had little taste to it. It makes us appreciate Charlotte, NC restaurants after traveling to Ohio, Colorado and Missouri and seeing that most places don't really have that great of food.
This weekend some friends from work and I are doing the warrior dash. It's a 5k run with 13 obstacles including fire pits, ropes to climb, hills to scale, and water to cross.
It should be a really fun time! Check out more about the warrior dash here. Hope the weather holds off.
I am alive! It's been awhile, I know, but we knew this was going to happen. In a few short weeks life should be back to normal. Wedding Season 2011 has been busy, but so much fun! I'm kind of enjoying the craziness of life right now.
Outdoor weddings,
Friends I haven't seen in years,
Family I love,
and lots of dancing!
Add to that keeping up with these two adorable fur babies Sophie and Jake:
and the fact that I got an iPhone and can't stop playing with it:
AND trying to work full time night shift while traveling to other states on the weekend, and things have been less than boring around here!
We did manage to make something yummy to eat, (we actually cooked once in the past two weeks) and I wanted to share it here. My Mom made it for us in Ohio two weekends ago and said she got the recipe from my aunt, whom I was named after. I wasn't too terribly impressed with it when we ate it in Ohio, but strangely enough I found myself wanting it again once we got home. We have made it twice since then, because we had the ingredients and it's so fast and easy!
Quinoa mixer
1 cup quinoa
1/4 cup nayonaise (or mayo or vegan mayonnaise)
green onions
tomato
cucumber
artichokes
avocado
cumin
garlic salt
Cook the quinoa according to directions. Dice up avocado, artichokes, cukes, tomatoes and green onions. Sprinkle with a little cumin, salt, garlic salt, whatever else you desire. Stir in the mayo. Mix the quinoa in once it is done cooking.
I didn't really measure the spices, and we used veggies on hand. It is really yumm-o! Light yet healthy and filling, and refreshing! Hope you enjoy :)
I just finished four night shifts in a row. It was one of the most unpleasant stretches at work I have had there. It wasn't necessarily grueling work as much as emotionally draining. I had a patient who was dying and didn't want to be alone. At one point he asked me if I would simply sit with him because he was afraid to be alone.
I'm still unsure why it was so hard for me to do 4 in a row this week. Last week when I worked four in a row it was effortless. Perhaps I am getting too old for this night shift life. I can't seem to sleep enough or function as a person on my days off. After getting home from work yesterday I wanted to only sleep for four hours and then drive up to Ohio to see my parents. Instead, I fell asleep and didn't wake up until 7 pm. When I did wake up, I went out on the couch and fell back asleep. I only woke up later to drink water something, realizing I had gone all day without eating or drinking. The Boyfriend put me to bed around 10 and I almost slept through the night, but I awoke at 3 am and am now plagued with the ever familiar insomnia.
I apologize for not blogging as much as I would like. If it were up to me, I would write more and work less, but these times call for me to work more, so work I must. I have faith that one day I won't have to work so much overtime and be so tired all the time. In the meantime, I'll post as much as I can, when I can.
I was reading a fellow blogger's post about 50 questions and thought I'd reflect on some of them. These are thought provoking questions that have no right or wrong answers. I found them here and the questions are :
How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?
Which is worse, failing or never trying?
If life is so short, why do we do so many things we don’t like and like so many things we don’t do?
When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done?
What is the one thing you’d most like to change about the world?
If happiness was the national currency, what kind of work would make you rich?
Are you doing what you believe in, or are you settling for what you are doing?
If the average human life span was 40 years, how would you live your life differently?
To what degree have you actually controlled the course your life has taken?
Are you more worried about doing things right, or doing the right things?
You’re having lunch with three people you respect and admire. They all start criticizing a close friend of yours, not knowing she is your friend. The criticism is distasteful and unjustified. What do you do?
If you could offer a newborn child only one piece of advice, what would it be?
Would you break the law to save a loved one?
Have you ever seen insanity where you later saw creativity?
What’s something you know you do differently than most people?
How come the things that make you happy don’t make everyone happy?
Are you holding onto something you need to let go of?
If you had to move to a state or country besides the one you currently live in, where would you move and why?
Do you push the elevator button more than once? Do you really believe it makes the elevator faster?
Would you rather be a worried genius or a joyful simpleton?
Why are you, you?
Have you been the kind of friend you want as a friend?
Which is worse, when a good friend moves away, or losing touch with a good friend who lives right near you?
What are you most grateful for?
Would you rather lose all of your old memories, or never be able to make new ones?
Is is possible to know the truth without challenging it first?
Has your greatest fear ever come true?
Do you remember that time 5 years ago when you were extremely upset? Does it really matter now?
What is your happiest childhood memory? What makes it so special?
At what time in your recent past have you felt most passionate and alive?
If not now, then when?
If you haven’t achieved it yet, what do you have to lose?
Have you ever been with someone, said nothing, and walked away feeling like you just had the best conversation ever?
Why do religions that support love cause so many wars?
Is it possible to know, without a doubt, what is good and what is evil?
If you just won a million dollars, would you quit your job?
Would you rather have less work to do, or more work you actually enjoy doing?
Do you feel like you’ve lived this day a hundred times before?
When was the last time you marched into the dark with only the soft glow of an idea you strongly believed in?
If you knew that everyone you know was going to die tomorrow, who would you visit today?
Would you be willing to reduce your life expectancy by 10 years to become extremely attractive or famous?
What is the difference between being alive and truly living?
When is it time to stop calculating risk and rewards, and just go ahead and do what you know is right?
If we learn from our mistakes, why are we always so afraid to make a mistake?
What would you do differently if you knew nobody would judge you?
When was the last time you noticed the sound of your own breathing?
What do you love? Have any of your recent actions openly expressed this love?
In 5 years from now, will you remember what you did yesterday? What about the day before that? Or the day before that?
Decisions are being made right now. The question is: Are you making them for yourself, or are you letting others make them for you?
My favorite questions are 3, 11, and 24, so I will answer them now.
If life is so short, why do we do so many things we don’t like and like so many things we don’t do? I think that we are taught from a young age that the ingredients of a successful life include certain things, and it's the never-ending attempt to achieve these things that make us unhappy. In order to live up to the expectations we put on ourselves, we become unhappy. We push ourselves to climb the ladder at work, meet someone (anyone) that we can marry, and then start a family. This inevitably leads to great suffering and misery because we're not doing what we really want to be doing, only what we have been told is the practical thing to do with our life. In essence, we are living our lives for some stereotype or image, not doing what we truly want to be doing, just what we think we should be doing.
You’re having lunch with three people you respect and admire. They all start criticizing a close friend of yours, not knowing she is your friend. The criticism is distasteful and unjustified. What do you do? This question immediately made me think of my Dad. One time many years ago my family was talking and someone brought up a person (I can't remember if it was a friend or other family member) and we started talking ill about them. My Dad said, "Well let's bring them in. Let's call them up and see what they have to say." Of course we were aghast at this idea and would never have called them up on the phone and let them know we were talking about them. He said, "If you can't call them up and talk to them about it, we probably shouldn't be talking about them. If they can't be here to defend themselves and give their side of the story, this conversation is one sided." Whenever I hear gossip or rumors now, I think of that situation. I know the question states " you are having lunch with three people you admire", but it makes me think of just two weeks ago at the lunch table at work when I was eating with co workers. Someone brought up a new employee at work and everyone chimed in with what they've heard about her and etc etc. Being opinionated and a great storyteller, the focus was quickly shifted to me and they eagerly asked me to tell what I know about the new employee and tell the stories I've heard. I simply said, "no." They gave quick, nervous glances to each other and waited for me to say I was kidding. I said, "If you want to call her in here and sit her down and ask her to tell her side of the story, we can do that. Otherwise, I won't sit by and listen to everyone talk bad about her. She deserves as much opportunity and respect as anyone else here does." Well that shut down the conversation. It may not have made me any friends that day, but hopefully it sent the message not to gossip in front of me.
Which is worse, when a good friend moves away, or losing touch with a good friend who lives right near you? For me, this is easy. I've moved states away from good friends and things have hardly changed. I still talk to them, visit them, and continue to make memories with them. On the other hand, I've lost a friend while still living in the same city as her. It was heartbreaking to lose a friend, and I cried more than I cried over a boy. It was as if someone had died, and it left a void in my heart that seemed impossible to fill. To make it worse, I continued to see her at college, work, and the gym.
What are your favorite questions? Any thoughts on them?
This is the most delicious black bean dip I have ever made. We make it constantly, almost as much as hummus, and it's just as easy!
Black bean hummus:
1 can black beans, drained
3 tablespoons tahini
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 to 2 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon olive oil
splash of garlic powder, or a little bit of a garlic clove
Place all ingredients in food processor and blend. I blend mine for a long, long time because I like it extra creamy.
We like to dip black corn tortilla chips in our dip, as well as carrot/cucumber/celery/zucchini sticks!
Sometimes on the way home from work in the morning I listen to radio stations where the DJ's just talk. I'd prefer to listen to music, but on occasion they can be really, really funny. The things people say when they call in make me feel better about my own life.
A few mornings ago there was a particularly funny show on about the weird things that people do, including OCD behavior and just downright funny/stupid things. That combined with a similar blog post about the same thing got me thinking about the "crazy" things I do. It's time for a little confession session, my dear bloggys. If I called into the station, I would say:
I confess that when I drive through a yellow light, I have to kiss my fingers and then touch the ceiling of the car. If I don't, I will get in a car accident. It's something I've done my whole life...I thought everyone did that? Guess not. Does that make me crazy??
I confess that each time I leave the apartment, I have to kiss my cat and tell him I will be back. Then I have to kiss my dog and tell her I promise I'll be back soon. If I don't do this, they might get their feelings hurt or think I'm never coming back. No matter how big of a hurry I'm in or how late I'm running, I will find the cat and dog and speak to them.
I confess that I am so paranoid of getting bed bugs from a hotel/motel/holiday inn that I keep my bags and clothes elevated and off the floor at all times (either on the desk or bed). Does this make me super paranoid, or just plain crazy??
I confess that I have a ritualistic order to my shower routine. Shampoo, conditioner, body wash, face wash. Any interruption or change in this makes me have to start all over again and complete it in the right order. Does this mean I have OCD or does it just make me crazy??
I confess that when I see or hear an ambulance, I have to say this huge prayer to myself in my head. If I don't, the person in the ambulance might die.
Okay...so you knew this question was coming... What do you do that makes you crazy?? Don't be shy now....
Hello, happy Friday! Are you ready for the weekend??
I am so happy to have a few days off work. After working every night from Sunday through Wednesday, I came home Thursday morning and crashed! I slept from 8 am to 5 pm, then fell back asleep at 9 pm and slept until 9 am this morning! Oh em gee...Night shift is so exhausting! However, I woke up this morning feeling like a new person and am so happy to be on *day shift* for a few days!
After posting this post about a great movie you can watch on the internet called Fat, Sick, & Nearly Dead I received a lot of positive comments and emails! I loved hearing about everyone's favorite juice recipe and most importantly I was thrilled that people are juicing at all!
After I watched the movie, I was so motivated to juice more. I broke out the juicer again and have vowed to juice at least three times a day. Each day since Sunday, I've been waking up and making a glass of juice. I sip on for about half an hour, then juice another glass. I pack my lunch and get a shower before I go into work and then juice and drink another glass. I have "lunch" around midnight or 1 am at work, which has been a salad and piece of fruit, and then I go home in the morning and go to sleep. Rinse and repeat each day. I've felt great (although tired from working four night shifts in a row) and have decided to continue as long as I can.
This morning I juiced the following vegetables:
That's beet, kale, celery, cucumber, carrot, and apple.
If you watched the movie I posted above, you'll remember that he held a large bowl of fruit and vegetables up and asked, "How long would it take you to eat and chew all these?" The answer is, a long time! If I physically chewed the beet, kale, carrots, celery, cucumber and apple, I'd still be chewing into lunch time! Throw it all into the juicer, however, and you get all the micro & macronutrients you wouldn't get by masticating alone (which means chewing). Juicing breaks down the components and brings out the best you need! People have cured cancer by juicing! Vegetables are good for you!
My beautiful glass of vegetable & apple juice:
The vegetables actually produced two large glasses, (the beets gave almost an entire glass by themselves) so I made two glasses: one all beet, one the rest, and did half and half in each glass. The apple and beet were so sweet that it tasted like fruit juice, but I knew there were lots of vitamin A, C, K and everything else laced into the sweetness! Remember kale alone is a superfood!
Have you been juicing at all? Like I said, I've been doing it every day, making juice at least 50% of my intake each day.
Any plans for the weekend? This weekend is my friend's cambodian wedding. It will be my first non-american wedding i've ever attended. It is a two-day event, each day different and unique in its own way. I'll post pics after the weekend!
I watched a great movie the other night called Sick, Fat & Nearly Dead. This is the trailer:
I streamed it from Netflix, but you might be able to watch the whole thing on youtube as well. I'm not a big fan of The Biggest Loser or I-used-to-be-fat-and-then-I-started-eating-right-and-working-out and look at me now videos, but for some reason this one struck a different chord in me.
Joe, an overweight australian who was over 300 pounds and on numerous medications, came to America to get healthy (ironic, right?) and he did it by living off vegetable juice for 60 days. The movie chronicles his good days, bad days, and entire weight loss, complete with doctors visits, test results and the like. It's no surprise to me, a green-smoothie-drinking, vegetable-juicing raw-food-eating vegan that his health turned around and he was able to lose 200 pounds and get off all his medications, but I think it's a good message to send into the world for non-believers, or even skeptics.
The best part of the movie, for me, was a trucker he met at a truck stop while interviewing random people. I can't tell you what happens or it would be a huge spoiler. You'll have to watch it yourself! :)
Another thing I liked about the movie was how he kept on juicing even when people put him down, discouraged him, or thought he was crazy. He carried a little juicer in the back of his car and he let numerous people try the green juice, wherever he was. He was so enthusiastic and excited about it. Most of the time, that's how I feel about green smoothies, juicing, and veganism, yet the general population is such a downer about it.
After watching the movie I was so incredibly motivated to start juicing more.
I've already done two juice fasts in my life, one which I blogged about here (and each day of the fast is chronicled) and I own a juicer, but after it's put under the cupboard and it's out of sight, out of mind, it's hard to remember to bring it out and juice things.
Perhaps the biggest, and best thing I learned from watching the movie is that it's okay to combine all my vegetables! I used to juice only one thing at a time. A cup of carrot juice in the morning, a cup of celery and apple in the afternoon. This was, of course, boring and lead to me only juicing for one isolated day and going back to my old way of eating. After watching the movie, I did as they instructed and I went to the farmers market and bought everything I laid eyes on:
parsley, romaine, spinach, celery, cucumbers, carrots, kale, apples, peaches, lemons.
Then I put it all into the juicer together! My first juice (and first meal of the day) was parsley, a whole head of romaine, one stalk of celery, one large cucumber, one large carrot, and water. It looked like this but much more:
I thought it would taste like grass and be so awful with all the lettuce and parsley, but it wasn't much different from the other times I've juiced. The carrots did a fine job of sweetening everything up and I didn't even need to add stevia or an apple. It was quite good and I drank it without any problems. I had enough energy to go to the gym and complete a crossfit workout x2. When I got home from the gym, I juiced another batch, same ingredients. For dinner, I had some solid food with more vegetables.
Vegetables contain so many nutrients, minerals and vitamins that can't be released unless you chew, and chew, and chew. It would take you hours to chew all the vegetables that you can drink if you juice them into one cup. Some tips on juicing:
Warm your juice up to room temperature. Either let your vegetables sit out of the fridge for about an hour, or let your juice sit for a little while until it is room temperature. It is better absorbed into your system if it is room temperature and not cold.
"Chew" your juice. Your saliva is meant to integrate digestive enzymes into the food we eat, so drink slowly, allowing this to happen. It will let your body digest and absorb it better.
Drink it slow. Don't drink it all down at once. This could result in a stomach ache. I usually drink a glass in about 15 to 20 minutes, sometimes longer. Imagine if you were chewing all those vegetables, it would certainly take longer than that, so give your stomach time.
Vegetable juice is alkaline. If you have problems with your body or health, there is a chance it is due to to an offset in the acid-base balance. My body needs a lot of alkaline food to balance out the natural acidity of it. When I eat acid-producing food, my body gets way out of balance and I experience skin breakouts, rashes, indigestion, etc. I have noticed the more alkaline foods I eat (carrots, celery, cucumber, spinach) and juice, the better I feel. As hard as it was to quit drinking coffee, I have to admit it was the probably the best thing I've ever done, especially for my skin. Coffee is very acidic and ever since I stopped drinking it, I haven't had to have any prescriptions from my dermatologist.
My goal is to increase my fruit and vegetable juice intake per day, and so far so good. Today I am on day #2, but hopefully soon I won't have to count days because it will just be incorporated into my lifestyle. They say it takes 30 days to form a habit, so here we go!
Do you juice vegetables and/or fruit? What is your favorite combo? Have you seen the movie Sick,Fat & Nearly Dead?
I tried out this recipe from the brilliant Kelli and it came out wonderful! If you have an extra zucchini or two laying around, or you used to like crab cakes before you became vegan (wink wink) I highly recommend this recipe!
Zucchini Better-than-Crab Cakes
4 cups grated zucchini (i used a cheese grater and left the skin on)
2 egg replacers (or two eggs if you aren't vegan)
3 Tablespoons Earth Balance vegan butter, melted
2.5 cups breadcrumbs
1/2 cup flour (I only had garbanzo bean flour and it worked fine)
3-4 teaspoons Old Bay Seasoning
few teaspoons oil for frying
Grate your zucchini and sprinkle with a little salt to sweat the excess water off. Blot with towel or paper towel. This step is important because if you don't get all the water out, the cakes will be too mushy. I actually put all my grated zucchini into a towel and squeezed as much water as I could out.
Mix zucchini in with egg replacer and butter. Add breadcrumbs and seasoning. Mix well and form into patties. I was able to make five good sized patties with my batch. Put oil in frying pan on medium to high heat until hot. Dredge patties in flour before putting on frying pan. Sizzle until each side is golden brown.
These little cakes were the fastest "burgers" we have ever made. Much, much faster than homemade black bean burgers, and faster than homemade falafel. It was literally one, two, and they were done. Bazinga!
The Boyfriend and I made these into sandwiches and enjoyed them for two meals. They were simply wonderful. Thank you Kelli!
Some friends and I have signed up to do a half marathon in South Carolina on Oct 23, 2011!
Initially I had asked my friend Melissa if she wanted to run it with me, and then a few other girls overheard and we asked them too, and then a few others, and now there's quite the group of us ICU nurses running! I am so excited because I've never ran with more than myself or just The Boyfriend. Speaking of boyfriends, mine and a few other of the girls boyfriends/husbands are running it with us, too!
The good thing about running with co-workers is that we can hold each other accountable, check in with one another, and train together!
The run description is that it is an easy, flat road on the boardwalk
And we get little surfboard metals at the end!
The best part, (besides the run, of course) is that there is a beach party afterward, complete with music and beer! My co-worker has rented out a beach house for us that holds 20 people and we can stay the whole weekend. Can you say weekend getaway??
We had a carry-in (potluck) at work the other day, and my friend Kemry brought all the ingredients for do-it-yourself spring rolls. After a quick lesson we were all huddled around the table, stuffing and wrapping our own spring rolls and hungrily eating them. They were so easy and delicious I knew it would be my next meal for an at-home-date-night with The Boyfriend. We decided that night would be last night, since he has a swim meet this weekend and I work until Wednesday.
We ran to the store to pick up hoison sauce, spring roll wraps, and soba noodles. You can use any kind of noodles, these were on sale so I bought them.
Then I cut up some lettuce, cucumbers, and celery. Traditionally, mint leaves and parsley leaves are used, but I was fresh out of these, so I went without. At work, my friend brought grilled chicken to put in the rolls too, but for obvious reasons we did without that as well.
Then you fill a wide-brim bowl with some tap water and dip the spring roll shells into the water. They will not turn soft immediately. Simply dip them in the water until the whole side is wet, then place back on cutting board/table/plate.
Place the noodles and veggies on the wrap near the bottom of the wrap.
At this time, the wrap will be soft and pliable, like magic! You should be able to pick it up and roll it without problems. Roll it from the bottom up, and tuck the sides in.
My finished roll:
And after a few more times I got pretty good!
Dont forget the dipping sauce! I mixed some peanut butter in with the hoison sauce and sweet begeezus it was a peanut buttery goodness that melted in my mouth.
I have fallen in love with a new smoothie creation. The vanilla/peanut butter /banana smoothie:
(Strategically placed on my balcony next to our "seeds of love", which have finally decided to bloom after five months of lying dormant...)
Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie
3 ice cubes
1 cup almond milk
1 banana
2 tablespoons natural peanut butter
1 cup spinach
The rich, dessert-like flavor of this drink makes you feel like you are drinking a real ice cream smoothie, yet almond milk has only 90 calories in 1 cup and no animal fat. It also has Vitamin D and Calcium without hurting anything! Spinach is high in iron, vitamin K, vitamin C, and vitamin E. It also has anti-inflammatory properties, is high in fiber, and aids in digestion, eye, skin, and brain function. So grab a handful (or four) of spinach, some almond milk, and whatever fruit you fancy, and blend away!
I don't know about you, but I've always loved potato skins. Fortunately for me, I found a way to veganize them, so I can still have them if I find myself craving them, (which I may or may not do after a night of adult beverages...)
Potato Boats:
Two potatoes
one tablespoon oil
two tablespoons nutritional yeast
one teaspoon frank's red hot/ sriracha sauce/ other hot sauce
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon vegan sour cream
daiya cheese
Puncture your potatoes with a fork, wrap in plastic baggie or damp paper towel, and put into microwave for about five minutes.
Slice them longways and scoop out all of insides except about 1/4 of an inch around on all sides.
Mix the insides in a bowl with oil, nutritional yeast, hot sauce, and vegan sour cream. You can add more or less nutritional yeast and hot sauce depending on hot cheesy and spicy you want it. Re-pack the insides of the boats with this stuffing mixture. Top with daiya cheese and put boats back into the oven for about 20-25 minutes or until you can tell the cheese is melted.
Dip in additional sour cream/other dressing as desired!
