Yay for Cooking

I have been feeling very guilty for consuming predominantly processed foods by way of veggie burgers & frozen meals based on my fast paced life. However, I was finally able to take an evening to jump start some healthy cooking! The fridge is stocked, and a store pile is started in the freezer, with more to come. This week features, already prepared:
-Stove Top Sweet Potatoe Fries w/ Honey. Ohmyword!!!!! Ok, that wasn't healthy
-Zucchini Garden Chowder.
-Lemon Tofu Stir Fry
-Lemon Walnut Rice Pilaf (unfortunately, this will not freeze)

Still to Come:
-Loaded Chili
-homemade Veggie Burgers
-Famous Black Bean Soup


YeeeeHa

Soy & Estrogen?

I think that needs to be my new research project. How does soy consumption affect your estrogen levels? Because, honestly that's one of the reasons I've chosen to avoid Chicken & cow's milk: because of the added horomones. But, doesn't soy also affect them? I know for a fact that soy is consumed by menopausal women to help regulate them. Crap, am I back-peddling by consuming silk & soy based proteins?

Holiday Meats

That's right folks! I engaged in the two traditional holiday meats: Turkey for Thanksgiving & the Christmas Ham!!!

Since I made the decision to go Veg for myself, I can make my own rules. And my rules are: Major holidays are off. i LOVE turkey. I wasn't that worried about Christmas, but when I started glazing the ham this year, you better believe that I decided it was worth it to splurge.

And it was. For one day. (ok, 2: Thanksgiving & Christmas).
But, now I'm happy to return to my meat free lifestyle. It makes me feel good. Actually, I feel BETTER. Ahhhhhhh, natural foods.

still a pesca-tarian

Let's call it what it is: I eat fish. It's pescatarian.
I'm still here, and I still haven't eaten meat. Although, for some reason, my roommate's Sloppy Joe looked ridiculously tempting the other night. I think I was just hungry.

Here's a thought to ponder: My bagged lettuce mix that I neglected to open & consume stayed fresher than my pedicure. No Joke. I bought the lettuce mix the same weekend I got a Pedi with a girl friend who was in town. A week later I touched it up. Another one or two weeks later, I declared it a lost cause. That same weekend I discovered my un-opened lettuce in the Veggie Drawer and decided to risk it. It was still in decent condition!!!

Should this scare me? I think a little bit so....

i want chicken(s)

I want chickens. Of my own. In my yard. Back yard.


In recent months, I've come across people stating they want their own chickens. I've thought to myself: now, isn't that endearing and quirky?

Now I get it.

Today after reflecting upon the amount of egg whites consumed today, not to mention in this past week I realized how many eggs I should be buying. Then I tried to think about the source of these eggs.

But, that's just the problem. I don't know the source.

And for this reason, I want chickens.
I have a fenced in yard. Not to mention a back field that already has horses in it. They'd fit right in. (ooooooh, but as I type this I also hear the coyotes. would that be a problem??) I'm about ready to go out there with a hammer and nails and build a coop of my very own.

Almost.

lurking animal products

Today, when organizing my pantry/cupboard, I found cans of chicken based soups lurking in the corner. Chicken gumbo (for my favorite kind of sloppy joe's that i obviously no longer eat.....) (why didn't I have a last supper????), and two cans of Healthy Select Cream of Chicken soup - that make up a killer Chicken Tetrazinni.

They have been surrendered -no: transferred, relocated, displaced to my cousin/roommate's food cupboard. Along with (earlier in the game) my emergency in-case-of-illness Chicken Noodle soup's.

I guess I now need emergency Veggie broth...

Struggles

Last week was a challenge.

A new routine brought with it a change in lifestyle. Previous week & weekend of excitement left no time for food preperation. And overall feeling of blah left me... well, blah.

New time schedule of reporting to the high school meant that I skipped out on my normal breakfast of egg whites and opted for Bran Flakes. Whole grains, full of fiber, but lacking in the protein department. Two dinners were split between a large batch of Zuchunni Parmesean (fancy for breaded & baked Zuchinni w/ Marinara). Again, no protein. Exhaustion lent to stupid snacking vs. healthy nurishment.

So, this week is Mission Protein. I've whipped up a large batch of scrambled Egg Whites & Veggies to warm up each morning and eat in a tortilla (sorry folks, this girl doesn't cook at 5:30am). More eggs are hard boiled. Cheese & Yogurt stocked in fridge. And Morningstar Farm products are Buy One Get One currently at Publix. Woo! (This smart Publix shopper save over $23 yesterday...)

I've also decided to start monitoring my eating a little more closely via the WW Points system. I'm pretty anti-dietplan, but I have some old materials that I dig out every now and then when I need to get back to reality in terms of my eating habits. My goal is to lose 10 lbs for a specific event in November that I'd love to have a killer dress for.

Kids, I've consumed all but 5 points so far today. (I'm not going to tell you about my undocumented fat free coffee creamer). Dinner will be Green beans I steamed last night (oooh, those are protein, yes?), Spicy Black bean burger, & Perhaps a hard boiled egg to fill me up for a night full of grad school. Will there be enough points left for a final piece of Dove chocolate???? And let's pray that no one brings a treat in tonight for first week of classes....

Accountability requested.