Day 6 in Veganville....population 2ish

I say 2 ish because Alex is a fair weather vegan. He eats meat when EVER he can which is any time we are not at home. Yesterday we rode our bikes from Salem to Marblehead, if you have never been to Marblehead it is BEAUTIFUL! It is one of my favorite places on the North Shore by far.

This is a view from the restaurant we ate lunch at, the Landing. They have THE BEST blood mary's and lobster rolls around for sure. It's a very unassuming place but man is it good!

Yesterday I had to watch Alex inhale a lobster roll and drink a bloody mary with a VERY large shrimp hanging out of it....It was so sad, so, so, sad for this guy. I love all things lobster but I just kept telling myself that once I am done with Veganville I can ALWAYS come and get one or make one at home. I had a grilled veggie wrap...so sad. I did feel good though after I ate it for our bike ride back.

But I have to share this...so tonight we tried this product for the first time, www.beyondmeat.com. Alex said right away, "I would not be able to tell this difference between this and real chicken in this chicken salad". It was so true. I have to say it was really amazing! I tasted it before we mixed in the earth balance mayo and curry powder and it tasted chicken-ish but once everything was mixed in...BAM chicken salad! At the moment you can only buy this at Whole Foods, about $5.99 for 12 oz but 100% worth the effort to go to Whole Foods. Alex also said (and I quote) "I could easily be vegetarian and with things like this is makes being vegan MUCH easier!" (end quote) He most likely is saying this because we are almost half way through the Veganville challenge and he sees (well thinks he sees) all things pork in his future. I am not one to preach about anything, ok too many things but if you can give it a try I would! It's GMO free and made from pea protein! (Who doesn't love peas?!?!) I LOVE peas!!!

To be honest there are TOO MANY reasons why eating meat is bad you and for the environment but I know it's hard not to give up especially when it's all you know and how you grew up. Even if you are ok with slaughtering animals it's the mass factory farming that I don't think ANYONE would be ok with when you really think about it. 

Honestly though I am not preaching because after these 2 weeks are over I am sure I will eat some kind of meat or seafood again at some point in my life but with products like the one above I can see why I would not need to eat chicken again. I mean it's not PERFECT but it's about as close as you can get to the real deal. It has a texture of a very tender chicken breast.

Try it and let me know what you guys think! I do have to say after 6 days of being vegan I do feel better. I think I might have a slight dairy issue that I never knew about. I feel lighter (not that I lost weight) and I also am noticing how I am tasting food. I know it sounds odd but food tastes different to me in a great way. 

5 years....and carrot cake pancakes for breakfast

Happy Sunday All! This was one of those rare unplanned weekends in my life. We had NOTHING, absolutely nothing planned. I had a few things I had to get accomplished but nothing planned and it was a FABULOUS weekend! One of the best Alex and I have had in a long time. Relaxing, productive, active, lazy, jewels were bought and good food was had! What more could a girl ask for!

 Alex and I just celebrated our 5 year anniversary, this is the longest relationship either one of us has ever had, last week. Nope he has still not proposed but I think he knows TIME IS A TICKING AND I AM NOT WAITING MUCH LONGER!!!! He did however try 3 times to pick out an anniversary gift for yours truly...third times a charm and it was 5 carats. (Again nope it was not a ring and YES I went to the jewelry store with him the third time to "help" pick something special out) I figured it was a must since after the second attempt he thought I would like something Liz Taylor would have worn...well her's would have been MUCH bigger but you get the idea....

After we returned the emeralds above we went to a few other jewelry stores and I kept saying to Alex I wanted to go to a store that had an armed guard standing at the front of the store with a very large gun. He told me he doesn't have enough credit on ALL of his credit cards combined to afford something from one of those stores. I didn't believe him until we started looking at yellow diamonds (I wanted something "happy" were my exact words)...HOLY GOD THEY ARE EXPENSIVE!!!! A TINY pair of earrings (about a carat) was $18,000.00!!! (I have NEVER owned very nice jewelry beyond a few necklaces from Tiffany's nor do I ever find myself in jewelry stores that often so I have no concept of what things should cost when it comes to this stuff. I am not the most graceful person in the world and really even at 32 I still can not have nice things because I break, loose and stain everything that I come into contact with)

After much looking "we" found these!! 5 carats total, 1 carat for each year of being in love!!! That's what I said to Alex!

So with some new bling in my ears we had to have a nice night out on the town to celebrate these new beauties, I mean to celebrate our anniversary!

Dinner in Rozzie and ending the night with roof deck drinks at Nicky and Chads....WHAT A FUN AND PERFECT NIGHT!!!! The 5 year anniversary gift is wood so Alex bought us a nice bottle of scotch aged in a sherry barrel... I cracked that puppy right open to kick the night off. It is DELISH!

Who doesn't love a handsome man in a bow tie?!?!?! While at dinner some 80 year old women came up to our table and asked me that! She goes, "He is just so handsome! You are one lucky gal!"Her friend walked by us and asked if he was a doctor! He can pick up anyone over the age of 75.

Yet another tough week....and there was one other tragedy. (My pants)

Yesterday I was lucky enough to work the memorial reception for the fallen MIT Officer. And by lucky I truly mean it. I, with many others, ran and executed the catering for the reception which was about 12,000 guests (8,000 of those being officers and other officials from ALL over the world). It was humbling to be in the presence. Meeting the Newtown, CT fire fighters and shaking hands with the man who took down the first brother in Watertown were amazing but what was unimaginable were the officers saying, "Thank you" to me over and over again for just being there when really the thank you went to them for everything they do.

I have also NEVER been involved with an event that had THAT MANY sharp shooters and detailed officers. The security on campus yesterday made the the id check at the airport feel like going to a spa. Needless to say I now see the words "lock down" in a TOTALLY different light.

I was at the event site at 4:45am so there wasn't much security in place at that point, well there were 100's of officers zipping around in patrol cars but once the sun started to rise you could feel the lock down in place. Looking up on every roof top and seeing dozens of sharp shooters was surreal. So there I was in the middle of setting up my tent...no staff yet just me and a few other managers running around...I bend over and RIIIIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPPPP this happened....

Yep I completely, I mean COMPLETELY, ripped the ENTIRE seat of my ONLY black suite pants.... "HOLY SHIT BALLS!!!!!" I take off my fleece, wrap it around my waist and run for my suite jacket because it was 5am and about 32 degrees outside and raining. Then I worked like this for the rest of the 12 hour day. You should see the blisters on my feet but it was beyond worth it. 

To give you an idea of the size of this, this was the very end of the lineup of officers walking into the memorial service. It took well over an hour just to walk them into the service. I know I keep saying this but it really was humbling to be in their presence and they are SO MUCH nicer when they are not pulling you over!!!

Yesterday also marked my first day of eating the plant based diet....after ripping the seat of my pants THAT COULDN'T COME FAST ENOUGH!!!!  So far so good on this whole no meat/no dairy thing. I have to say it is actually much easier than I thought it would be. Like tonight for dinner...

BBQ portobello mushroom burger...AWESOME! With some sweet potato fries and this melon that was a cross between honey dew and cantaloupe. No idea what is was called but I do know it was a $1.99 at Trader Joes, thank you trader joes! Delish! 

The dust has settled...the challenge is on!

What a week for all of us! It's Sunday, the sun is shinning and I am being lazy on the couch watching Lincoln and reading blogs. Can't complain a bit!!

Since our anniversary is on Tuesday and things are a little crazy at the work I have decided to start this plant based food diet challenge on Wednesday. So Wednesday morning I am going to wake up and be a vegan for two weeks. :)

At the end of the week I am going to post everything I ate with recipes if you want to join in on this roller coaster ride of fun. (Alex is already screaming to get off the ride! No not really he's actually being very supportive because we both know he will be eating pastrami sandwiches and ice cream after I go to bed every night.)

I have to share this though...I just made it and I am trying to keep my mind off of eating every bite of it.

Freezer, Vegan Cookie Dough Fudge...(YEP! adapted from Oh She Glows, http://ohsheglows.com/2012/02/14/vegan-cookie-dough-freezer-fudge/)

- I subbed out the banana for apple sauce
- Used 1/2 cup of maple syrup instead of the sugar
- When I mixed the wet ingredients into the dry I found that I didn't need to use all the wet, I think I tossed about 3 TBSP or so.
- I also didn't let it sit in the freezer for a 1/2 hour I just poured it on a cookie sheet and sprinkled the chocolate chips on top...worked out FINE!

**The hard part of this recipe is NOT EATING THEM ALL RIGHT AWAY!!! I made this so I could have a little sweet treat after dinner that didn't involve refined sugars and crap....I could easily eat the entire batch right now. Mine version has about 34 calories per piece if you can cut it up into 56 pieces.

I also would like to share an almond milk update....I like it. I KNOW! I didn't think that would happen either but surprise surprise it did! I have fallen in love with the 365 Vanilla Almond Milk in my coffee. I think the key was to use decent coffee. SO it wasn't the almond milk that tasted like shit...nope...it was my CHEAP coffee that I was tasting. I have switched to Gevalia ("Why have a cup of Joe when you can have a cup of Johan!" LOVE) and Almond Milk and I have fallen in love. (Second times a charm!) Next weekend I am going to attempt to make some homemade stuff again and see how what goes. But for now the Organic 365 Almond Milk will do just fine!

I also love those reusable K cups you see in the picture....they come with these tiny little filters.. little k cups and 50 filters for 8 bucks. 100% worth it and less waste! No more pilgrimages to Merrimack, NH for K Cups at the vending store. They were super cheap though!!! It also didn't help that the outlets where right there as well. The K Cups became even more expensive after a little shopping at the Bloomingdale's Outlet!

Alright folks...I am off to practice my Uke (it's what the cool kids are calling it these days). Happy Monday!

This may not be my brightest idea....

I need to start this off by saying I am not one to jump on a fad diet. I never did the "lemonade diet" (who thought that drinking water with lemon juice, cayenne and honey for 7 days straight was a good idea...they should be thrown off a bridge), I tried a juice cleanse once in 2004 (by day 3 I was seeing stars that were not there and so hungry I almost threw my tv out the window when a pizza commercial came one) and I had one SMALL adventure with the "south beach diet" but the no fruit thing I thought was just dumb and I again was so angry hungry after the first week of this I almost killed Alex. (poor poor Alex).

Since giving up cable a few months ago we, please read I...Alex tends to just sleep through them, have been watching A LOT of documentaries and most of them happen to be about food. Sure I feel bad for dairy cows as you all know and of course there are pigs and chicken (NO ONE should kick an animal!) but yet I still eat them. The one thing I have taken away from these documentaries (well there is more than one thing...we do have my hate for homemade almond milk...I still don't feel that bad for dairy cows) is that people who eat a plant based diet (it's a new phrase for being vegan) look and feel amazing.

Now I know when you start something new you 75% of the time you feel amazing. I mean when I go to the gym for a few weeks in a row I feel amazing and then that feeling goes away (or at least I think so I haven't made it a few weeks solid to the gym in the awhile...ok, this could be problem number 1). I feel sluggish, BLAH and all around uninspired....

So I decided to do a 2 week plant based diet challenge (I have many vegan friends, please stop laughing at me while reading this...I think this will be a challenge, I LOVE CHEESE!!!). It's a challenge I am 100% making up but I think giving up dairy, sugar and crap (did you know Oreo's are vegan!?!) will make me feel better. After some research I have all my recipes for the week (yep I am that organized) and so far Alex has no clue*. He is doing this by default so I am thinking by mid-week next week he is going to say, "Wait, where is the cheese?" "What are you trying to do me!!??" I figured the longer he doesn't know the better!

*I started writing this last night...Alex figured it out. Not by looking at the grocery list, oh no! He was laying on the couch grabbing his stomach going, "I think I put on pregnancy weight without being pregnant!!"I said,"I have that problem solved for next week!"

Alex "Wait!? What are you making me do?? Are we going to be VEGAN!?!"

(How the hell did he jump straight to that!!!)

Me "No no no, don't worry about it!"

Alex, now in a panic with sweat beading down his face, "Wait, Are you taking away my bacon!!! Are we going to be vegan all week!?"

Me "No, not a week!"

Alex "Oh thank god!"

Me "Two weeks!!!" (and then I ran into the bedroom)

Alex "OH MY GOD!"

(I can promise you that by mid week next week he will be sneaking hot roast beef sandwiches after I go to sleep! He will be a closet pastrami eater.)

The more the merrier so please join in if you feel the same way! Most people think I am crazy to try this but what the hell! I'll post what we are eating next week over the weekend. If anyone has any great recipes let me know! I am open to trying anything. Alex also just figured out peanut butter and jelly sammy's are also vegan so I think he's starting to calm down a bit. :)

Jesus...cupcakes are not worth this much pain!

Hello All! I was going to post this yesterday but in light of everything that has happened in the great city I live in I decided to hold off. I am not going to say anything about the horrific tragedy except for this, it humbles me to have so many people call, text and care to make sure myself and Alex were ok. Some of you I haven't talked to in a long time and it means a lot to know I am still floating around in your thoughts. Thank you. Honestly thank you. I am trying to look at the good stories now of people helping, caring and sharing everything they have to help comfort those who need it the most. It shows that most people are good and they do care. "We" as a community will get through this. But thank you all for caring so much. *including the New York Yankee's for playing "Sweet Caroline" during the 3rd inning tonight.

So that being said yesterday I went hiking with my good friend Lisa. We lived in Ireland together when we were 19 and have always been close. So when she said on Sunday night, "Wanna climb a mountain, I have to SWEAT!" I said, "Hell yes I do!" and the fact that I ate chicken and waffles for dinner was also a little bit of a motivator as well. (OH MY DIET)

On my way to the mountain I decided to make a new smoothie...I call it liquid sunshine because that is exactly what it looks like. It's BRIGHT yellow and so cheery. What's in it you ask?!

2-3 TBSP of Non Fat Greek Yogurt
1/3 cup of Freshly Squeezed OJ (or the Simply Orange if you are lazy or don't have time to squeeze your own oranges)
1/2 cup of Frozen Pineapple
1/2 cup of Frozen Mango
1/2 of a Yellow Small Bell Pepper
1 Banana
**toss in a couple of ice cubes to thicken it up
***and if you like a twist or want to bulk it up put a little bit of sparkling water in the blender too...

Blend everything together and BAM! Liquid Sunshine. You can put some flaxseed in this as well. It is DELISH about 250 calories total

So on to the Mountain.... Lisa is a great old friend of mine. She is creative, funny, stylish, smart, pretty and an all around fabu gal. What she is not is on time ha ha ha ha. No honestly she isn't that bad she is however VERY apologetic for not being on time. On our way to said mountain we had to make a FEW quick pit stops...

 A little air in the tires, some gas and we were off!!! Me, Lis and Moose (her fearless pooch). I figured if I broke my ankle or leg we could take a bunch of branches off the trees and tie me to Moose. He could bring me down off the mountain. No not really.

I think he would be more apt to lick me to death before dragging me down a mountain. 

We get there and here we go...I thought we were going to do the easy trail....Oh no...Oh no...(*please keep in mind I am 100% absolutely not a outdoorsy gal. I remember when I first moved back to Boston I went up to NH to visit my mom and there I am sitting in her living room. It's a BEAUTIFUL sunny warm spring day, the windows are all open and I say to her, "Why the hell do you have a cd of birds on? It's so loud!!" She goes, "Oh man you have been in city for too long. It's OUTSIDE! They are REAL birds") Yep that pretty much sums that up!

 After an hour and some change of this, straight up, climbing over BIG rocks I felt AWESOME!!!!

 It was only 2,300 feet up but it felt good to do and had such a great time chit chatting with such a great person. Thanks Lis for such a great day!!

 This morning I woke up with a sad heart (for our neighbors and friends in Boston) but a really (good) sore tush and calves! I can't wait to do more this summer!!!

2nd Update on the Ukulele

SO it's been a week with my battle ax, I mean hatchet and it's pretty awesome. I haven't had much time this week to practice AND I am still on the same song but I haven't stopped yet. THERE IS HOPE for this ukulele band!!!! **Auditions are just going to be postponed. I will keep you all in loop on that one.

I have all three cords down now and without SMACKING my fingers on my left hand to find said cords. I do however have the problem of switching from one cord to the next without taking a super long break in between but as Alex said, "For someone NEVER (truly stress never) picking an instrument in their life, EVER you are doing great!" Again he sleeps next to me and he also knows how hard I can hit so he could just be being nice but I am surprised at myself on how well I am picking this baby up!

On another completely unrelated subject I have begun carbo-loading for the Boston Marathon on Monday. I am not running said marathon but I was craving homemade spaghetti and meatballs this morning (yes these are the thoughts running through my head at 8am) so during my grocery shopping adventure I grabbed everything to make it for lunch. Alex and I are now in a food carb coma and I am trying to muster up the energy to get to the mall and run some errands. It's PAINFUL! But the plus side is I have been wearing my gym clothes all morning in hopes of actually going. Alex has asked me three times, "Are you seriously going to wear that in public?!" (It's black gym pants and a t-shirt....YES!)

UPDATE: (This blog post is taking me FOREVER to write we are officially on day 3 and look how far I've gotten) Made it outside, bought some TOMS and now back on the couch...may or may not nap before going to the gym, before ATTEMPTING to go to the gym.

The gym won (after a nap on the couch). Woooooo Hoooooo! While I was huffing and puffing on the treadmill I thought I have to tell you guys about these...sweaty bands....The BEST headband for working out I have ever found...Lululemon can KISS IT!!! ($100 for really comfortable yoga pants!! Psssssh)

They come in a TON of fun colors and do not move AN INCH while you are working out. All you have to is hand wash them in the sink and good as new. My bestie, Lauren, sang high praises about them (so TECHNICALLY she deserves all the credit for this find). They run about $20 for 2 of them on amazon.com but it is SO WORTH IT!!!

*Yep I am back on the couch. (OH LAZY SATURDAYS!!!!)

If you live in Massachusetts, Happy 3 Day weekend! For all of you who do not live in this state, which does not believe in HAPPY HOUR yet they these people would suck the alcohol out of a deodorant stick if they could, hope you have a fabulous 2 day weekend.

That is all! Tonight is salsa dancing with my father so I am SURE there will be a good story for me to tell tomorrow! :)