Outlet Malls

 Hey everyone! Wow this week is going by so fast! Doesn't it always feel like the days creep along when you have to work, but fly by when you don't? I can't believe it's already Thursday!

Today was another fun day for us as we continued to spend time together and do things outside of the apartment since it is The Boyfriend's spring break. He teaches kids, so they are on spring break, and I just so happen to have the weekdays off since I'm working every weekend.  We decided to take some time to go to the outlet malls today! We had never been to the outlet malls here in north carolina, and we quickly discovered they are different from Ohio outlet malls. Not bad, just different, especially the lay out. (I didn't take pictures because I forgot my camera)

 The day before we left for Savannah, I had pulled out my summer clothes box and eagerly dove in. It was going to be really hot in Georgia, so I needed some shorts, or maybe a jean skirt, or at least some capris to wear there! I was so excited as I pulled out my plaid shorts I had bought last fall at the Gap outlet mall in Ohio and have only worn once. I held up my khaki shorts and my favorite jean skirt and then laid them all out on the bed to debate. Decisions, decisions...
 Good thing I tried them on the night before instead of having to go through the process that ensued the next morning. Nothing fit. I'm not talking a-little-loose-around-the-waist, I'm talking falling-off-my-hips-and-onto-the-floor. As you might have noticed in my Savannah pictures, I had to wear this pair of dark capris (it was either them or my winter skinny jeans) that my sister gave me two years ago and I have never worn because they were always too small. Not a single one of my old shorts or skirts fit. So what's a girl to do? Go shopping! Perfect opportunity to explore a different part of the city and get some cute summer clothes! I love the outlet malls because you know you're getting a good deal, and who doesn't love a good deal?

 In the dressing room at the mall, I was surprised to find out that my clothing size had dropped so much. After all, I'm eating almost every two hours, and I don't feel like I've lost that much weight, but apparently I have. I feel great, and I'm able to work out more than I ever have before. So, I get to feel great, eat great, and drop sizes? That sounds like a deal! And you can do it, too! Eliminate dairy & meat from your diet, quit drinking the pop, stop the extra (empty) sugar calories, and start feeling better immediately! Sound too overwhelming? Eliminate one thing from your diet at a time. Baby steps...

 Today's breakfast was raw oatmeal:

That's whole rolled oats, almond milk, chia seeds, a little brown sugar, and a dollop of peanut butter.
Of course I had my shots of wheat grass instead of coffee:

And then we set out for the outlet malls.

When we came home, lunch was a large salad:

The more colors the better! I love my salads with romaine lettuce, mushrooms, carrots, celery, radishes, tomatoes, sugar snap peas, anything I can find to throw in!

I even added some daiya shreds on top and then poured some of this great dressing on:

Then we ran some errands and took care of a friend's dog for him, then we came home and were really thirsty! So we juiced some carrots

It really hit the spot!

 Then we went to the gym. I ran 5 miles while The Boyfriend lifted weights.
Dinner was nachos:

These were pretty amazing.
We always use the blue corn tortilla chips because they are all natural, and in our opinion, taste better than white or yellow corn chips anyways.
The "meat" was our taco meat - read more on that in this post. It's walnuts and sundried tomatoes mixed together in a food processor.
The "cheese" is of course non-dairy daiya cheese. Pictured below is mozzarella, but we used cheddar for the nachos.

 I recently turned my brother onto this cheese, and made him try it while on the phone with me today so I could gauge his reaction to it. It was so cute, I could hear him crunching on the nachos, then he told me how much he liked the cheese. For the record, he said "Wow.. it tastes like real cheese..This is great!" (By the way Brother, I was silently fist-pumping down here in north carolina :)
The non-dairy sour cream is from the health food store, and the salsa is natural salsa from the grocery store.
 Healthier than beef and cheddar nachos? I think so! But still amazingly delicious and I almost felt unhealthy eating them, although there is nothing unhealthy about them.

 Case in point: you can still eat delicious, indulging food without feeling gross or guilty about it. The best part of it, and the reason for this entire blog and the reason for everything I do in life, is that we did not have to kill, steal, manipulate, exploit, or harm any other living thing in order for us to be happy. I fully believe that no true or lasting happiness can come from depriving others of happiness. Therefor I always try to do the thing that will cause the least amount of harm and cause others the least amount of pain.  It is absolutely possible to live happy, healthy lives without hurting others, so why wouldn't we strive to do that?

 I was craving something for dessert, which is rare because I hardly ever crave sweets. I decided to put plain frozen strawberries in the smoothie maker with a splash of almond milk. No added sugar needed, strawberries are naturally sweet.

 It looks like sorbet, doesn't it? It tasted like it too!
I was feeling froggy, so I added some vegan  chocolate chips and toffee chips:

Uhh-mazing. Wow.

 As you can see, most of our day consisted of raw food, and all of it was delicious and easy to make. No cross-contamination with meat, no blood on your counter top or knives. No extensive preparation or waiting for things to cook. I think the only non-raw things we had were in the nachos, but even the "meat" was raw, and the salsa was too. If going vegan or raw-food seems drastic or overwhelming for you, just eliminate one thing at a time, like I said before. Maybe have No-meat-Mondays, where you don't eat meat for the whole day on Mondays. Then progress to two days a week. Then progress to three. Maybe you want to cut out pop, then after a few weeks cut out sour cream. Doing this one-thing-at-a-time method has worked for numerous people I've talked to, and they are still going strong to this day. Great job, guys! I am much more of an extreme, drastic person, and going vegan happened overnight for me, but I understand not everyone is like this.

 I know I have some new followers (welcome!) and I have recently joined Twitter, (click here to follow me) which has generated a large amount of traffic for this site, (hooray!) so if you are just now tuning in, I encourage you to read some of my favorite posts:

Why Vegan? - My first post which explains my philosophy and lifestyle

Frequently Asked Questions

Green Smoothies - you have to try one!

Wheatgrass - of course by now you have figured out I am in love with wheatgrass and how it has changed my life!

Lasagna  - this stuff is so great we have made it twice already!

Taco "meat" - so easy, and it's raw! You can put it on anything!

Pain - this is a short story about the day in the life of an ICU nurse

A vegan birthday - this post was about my boyfriend's birthday, our day of fun and the vegan desserts I made!

 I do try to incorporate a little bit of my personality, a little bit of food, and a little bit of fun into each and every post, but the above are some of the posts which had have the most views (according to my stats page) so I guess they are extra special ;)

  Have a great evening!