One week down

I have been vegan for one week!!!

Its not as hard as I thought it would be. I found some shredded rice cheese yesterday that I used on some baked potatoes that we had for dinner last night. It was good and it melted too. I have also found that I really like the Tofuttie brand of cream cheese and sour cream. I haven't had either of those things in years and am sooo happy to have found them. And even happier that I like them more than the cow milk versions.

This morning we had banana pancakes. Almond milk to sub the cow milk, veg spread to sub the butter, egg replacer to sub the eggs and they were fantastic!!!

I have noticed many things about myself since becoming a vegetarian. One is I have lost 60 pounds! I should also add I have done that without effort and very little exercise. I exercise but I don't kill myself doing it. Some pilates, yoga, and walking is about it. The thing I have noticed just recently is my skin. I still have some acne...I have heard rumors that when the dairy leaves so does the acne so I am crossing my fingers. But, the dryness in my skin has disappeared. I am a transplant to Colorado, originally from Texas. So when I moved here my skin and hair went into shock and 15 years later I still don't think I am fully acclimated.  My feet and elbows being the worst. This year I have had no issues at all with that and I think its awesome, and I din't need any expensive miracle creams to do it...just veggies!

Yes....the power of veggies!

Silk Almond Milk

On my birthday almost two years ago I got the book "Skinny Bitch". I think its the greatest book, its very graphic, really tells it how it is. At that point I was one year into being a vegetarian and I learned things about the dairy industry that I didn't know. After that I tried only to buy milk from dairy's I thought were being nice to their cows. Then I realized that I really didn't know how these cows were being treated. So I tried to look up the dairy but I couldn't find anything on it. So I stopped buying milk all together....

I started doing Soy but not a lot because soy in large amounts is not healthy for you either and then there is a lot of corn syrup in it. I have tried many other milks....rice, some almond, but I just wasn't happy with any of it.

Silk just came out with an almond milk....I LOVE it! It is good with my granola and I can bake with it and best of all there is no corn syrup!

Happy Mothers Day!

I made these newspaper roses for my daughters Grandma for Mothers day. The vase I got at Hobby Lobby for $2, it was on sale! I used this tutorial. It was super fun and easy. I decided if I ever get married again I want to use these as my bouquet!

Happy Mothers day!!

Stress...

I have stress in my life. Who doesn't have stress? There are very normal stresses like traffic and raising children. Or there are very abnormal stresses like ex-husbands. I am no expert on how to handle stress. Acupuncture is good.... I try to avoid stress at all costs. I have eliminated everything from my home that was clutter, that I didn't use or need any more. That helped. I don't do things that would cause unnecessary stress in my life. I meditate and exercise.

Im talking about stress because I have spent the last two days stressed out. And what I know now with my healthy life style is that stress is a deal breaker. When I have stress I don't sleep or eat well.

Sleep is really important for your body and mind and when you are stressed you don't sleep well. Food is really important for your mind and your body and when you are stressed you don't eat well. In order for you to function well you need both sleep and food. They are essential to life.

I took the day off of work today to try to get back in balance. I needed the time to sleep and to eat or I would have been worthless all week long. And I would have been trying to play catch up for a couple of weeks all because of one day. I don't know or care what will happen at work and I wish Americans were less about work and more about taking care of ourselves.

And as for the stress that forced on me yesterday, well, I think I may have to induce some stress on myself so that I may deal with him once and for all.

For the birds

Today I will hang this out in a tree in our back yard. Its all of the yarn bits that I have saved for a year wrapped up in a cutie bag. The birds can make nests and its an excellent way to recycle!

Nail polish!

At the beginning of the year I decided that one of my new years resolutions would be to stop wearing fingernail polish. In my quest to be green I found out that there are horrible chemicals in the stuff. I don't paint my fingernails any more but I have worn nothing but loud funky colors on my toes for many, many years!!!


Today I found OPI Nicole at my local Target. I was shocked. OPI at Target? And, it was only $6.99!!! And there was a lovely sign next to the display that said...."free of toluene, phthalate, formaldehyde and animal testing" So I bought a bottle of "loyalty to royalty". 


When I got home I checked on the Peta website and found they are a cruelty free company and they don't use the harsh chemicals!


I am sooo excited to paint my toenails tonight! They have been naked for 5 months! I think next time I'll do a ton of research before making any super rash decisions!

Well its been a while...

I haven't been writing, I want to write, I need to write...

So here I am again to try and write. Ive done many things over the last year. Making things, knitting and getting greener, but I think my main focus has been on food.

Im almost two years into being a vegetarian. I have lost 60 pounds and think I am calling myself a purist now. I have researched and read and still am researching and reading. I am cooking from scratch trying and testing recipes, and am becoming a very good cook in the process.

This is what compels me to write. I feel like I need to get my story out there. I feel like what I have learned can help others.

In learning about food, I have learned about myself.....