mmmm food...

Let's talk about food. I love food.

Sunday was a long overdue Brother and sister day for Mark and I. We headed to Toronto to one of the best restaurants ever. Fresh on Spadina.

We both got elixirs to drink, his was a hot lung lover elixir and mine was Urgen-C for a fantastic boost of vitamin C.

We shared these quinoa crusted onion rings for an appitizer, soooooo yummy.I had an energy bowl. It was brown rice, with a vegetable & chick pea stew with a coconut curry sauce. It was full of red onion, tomatoes, cucumber, tofu and sunflower sprouts. LOVE it.

Mark had a warrior bowl. It was similar to mine, brown rice, veg & chickpea stew, and tonnes of spinach.

After our fantastic lunch we wandered around Queen St, for a while. Took a trip to lush so I could pick up some fantastic skincare products. We walked around for a while longer and found DavidsTea. They had so many choices of tea, I had no clue how I was going to choose. Eventually we did and enjoyed our people watching from a window seat. I wish we had some places like this closer to me. If I won the lottery I would definitely open something with great food and tea.

After our afternoon in Toronto we went to my parent's place and Rollin met us there after he was done work. It was superbowl Sunday and my dad needed someone to watchthe game with. My mom made us vegan meatball subs. (brand names for Andie and whoever else wants them: we used president's choice soy meatballs, earth balance soy mozerella, and rice parmesan). my mom made an apple pastry for dessert, sugar, egg & dairy free. So tasty.

Monday I decided to cleanse my diet and planned on eating brown rice and broccoli or beans for 3 days. I made it through breakfast, lunch and snack...dinner I freaked and decided I wanted pasta. Mind you, I made brown rice pasta, but still. I definitely caved and decided now is not the time for me to cleanse. ...because I love flavour and food.

ugh work

(wow so I just typed a legthy blog and then it got erased...i'm pretty sure it was autosaving but its nowhere to be found....grrrr)
Today was my first day back at work, I got in, looked at my schedule, and it was a very full book. I'm not surprised, just a tad annoyed, not sure why people don't spread things out. But anyway, it looked as though I wasn't going to get a chance to eat or pee I was so jam packed. Thankfully I wasn't working at a sloth's rate so I was able to have a chance to eat the yummy lunch I packed for myself (President's Choice world's best meatless chicken breast with a side of quinoa cooked in garlic and seasoned with hot sauce and soy sauce, yum)

I always find it hard to go back to work after vacation, you just get in the mode of eating when you want, sleeping with you want, reading when you want...peeing when you want. But I found it especially hard to go back to work today. When I left for vacation a few awesome girls had just left the salon, and although replaced with an awesome girl that used to work with us, it was just too different. stations had been moved around, it just felt weird. I realize that I work in an industry of change, and I should probably just get used to it, but seriously, I just wanted to throw a tantrum today...even though things ran very smoothly.

Yesterday, was a usual Tuesday for me, went to the chiropractor, picked up Rollin from work, went to pick up some seriously needed equipment for work, went to starbucks (totally necessary, had to pick up a treat for brigitte who got shoved by our elderly insane neighbour because she complained about this woman's rooster alarm clock waking her up at 4am daily, insanity). Then rollin took the car to go to job #2 (btw, the is working 74 hours this week without a day off, insane, I probably shouldn't complain about my busy schedule.). I sat around reading for the rest of the evening which was good I had no plans on doing anything, I felt quite sick after an accidental dairy incident. I went to Montfort's for lunch on Monday with my mom and they servedme rice even though I didn't order it, so I took it home and heated it up with soy and hot sauce and dug right in last night. It didn't take long for me to realize I just ate buttered rice, the tummy ache and headache was brutal, one way to learn a lesson about remembering to always ask how things are prepared...ick.

anyway, time to finish the book I started last night. the 5th book in that vampire series. It'll be the 7th or 8th book of the year. then its on to the 6th book of the series if it doesn't keep me up too late. Goodnight all...

watch out for the fullmoon crazies by the way, itson Saturday, but don't worry the crzies usually just find me.

viva las vegas

Oh I've officially been on vacation time as of 6pm on Saturday. I spent the day getting pampered by my coworkers, blowdry, foot detox, manicure and pedicure after having a nice lunch with Brigitte. Followed by a wonderful vegan dinner at my parents place. (Brown rice pasta with tomato sauce, tofurky's italian sausage and gardein's "chicken" cutlets...and rice pudding for dessert. YUM)

I just finished packing, but am annoyed with my memory. I forgot my plastic bags to pack my snacks (raw almonds & pumpkin seeds) and my vitamins for the trip. I guess it could be worse and I could have forgotten my printed tickets. I'll figure out the plastic baggie situation in the morning.

I'm looking forward to this trip to Vegas. I don't care if its rain or shine, fun & relaxation are in my forecast for the week.

Sorry it will be a blogless week to my "followers".

Have a great week:)

random nutritional information that I thought was neat about the food I eat.....

•An avocado has more than twice as much potassium as a banana.
•For a delicious, creamy salad dressing, mix together avocado and fresh carrot juice.
•Don’t eat bananas on an empty stomach; combining them with a bit of protein will help to normalize the insulin response caused by the sugar in the banana
• Because bananas are so popular, rainforests are often destroyed to make way for banana plantations, so maybe skip the banana and go for the avocado
•Broccoli contains twice the vitamin C of an orange
•It has almost as much calcium as whole milk--and the calcium is better absorbed
•Cilantro may be useful to treat urinary tract infections
•Both the leaves and seeds aid digestion, relieve intestinal gas, pain and distention
•They also treat nausea, soothe inflammation, rheumatic pain, headaches, coughs and mental stress
•Cilantro is a member of the carrot family
•Fennel can be useful for indigestion and spasms of the digestive tract
•It also helps expel phlegm from the lung (that part I didn't know, always used it for my belly)
•Kale eases lung congestion and is beneficial to the stomach, liver and immune system
•Onions are an excellent antioxidant, and they contain anti-allergy, antiviral and antihistamine properties.
•Sulfur compounds in onions help to detoxify the body.
•Peanuts contain about the same amount of protein as soy and are low in starchy carbohydrates
•Pumpkin seeds are high in zinc, which is good for the prostate and building the immune system.
•They also contain fatty acids that kill parasites.
•Raw pumpkin seeds contain essential fatty acids and beneficial proteins.
•For maximum nutritional benefits, seeds should be eaten raw.
•Roasted seeds contain damaged fat that can lead to plaque in the arteries
•Sweet potatoes contain calcium, are high in vitamins A and C and contain thiamine
•Be careful: eating too many may cause abdominal swelling and indigestion
•Sweet potatoes are also high in sugar and therefore should be used sparingly
•Sweet potatoes are not related to the potato nor the yam--they are actually a member of the morning glory family
•A tomato grown in a hothouse has half the vitamin C content as a vine-ripened tomato
•Zucchinis can grow as large as baseball bats but have little flavor when they reach this size

I found this information on mercola.com. Enjoy:)

5th book & noodle soup

Wow, I'm not sure where I'm finding the time, or perhaps I've always had the time, I just haven't been as productive....but anyhow, I just finished my 5th book of the year. "Lover Awakened" - J.R. Ward. Another book in the series about the vampires and such. It was good, this particular vampire had alot of major issues, so there was a lot to the story.

Anyway, I spent my day off yesterday getting quite a bit of stuff done, but still I left a few things off my to-do list, but I'll get them done eventually. like today, before work.

I had a big craving for an asian style noodle soup yesterday, but I had no car, and I wasn't going to go for a walk to go get some. So, I boiled water, since I have rice vermicelli noodles, added chunksof garlics and shallots to the water, added the noodles. Then I squeezed half a lime, added some soy sauce and some hot chili sauce. The result was that I rock. So good. Too bad I didn't have carrots or celery or lemongrass...I could have made something kickass. But I'm pretty proud of "andrea's garlicky kick the craving's bum noodle soup"

Be Kind to yourself

Oh goodness, I've been so focused on being healthy and eating whats good for my body. Part of my choice in becoming vegan was because I was sick of the unrequitted love relationship I had with dairy. I love dairy, it hated me, we broke up, I'm not sure I'm 100% over the relationship even though I know I am better off without it. So I dove into veganism, and explored all my other options. I think I swam a bit to deep into soy. I've had rash like/eczema/psorasis symptoms on my face for a while, they get better, they get worse. I was pretty sure it was a yeast intolerance, I did a cleanse, it got better...then it came back. Oh body, please stop being sensitive to the things I love.

I had a conversation online with a holistic health practioner wo is a part of the kind life forum, he's pretty sure its a symptom of an intolerance to soy. Its possible he's wrong, he said so, but I have this nagging intuition that he's right. So, it looks like I have a lot more planning into what I eat if I decide to emlinate soy until my immune system stops freaking out. No replacement meats or cheeses or eggs, and pretty much no processed food. With my hours, and working in a mall, this will take some serious planning.

I know that my health is priority, I haven't let it sit at the top of my priority list in years...sad, right? I'm sure after really focusing on everything I will feel amazing, but its really going to take work. I'm a hard worker, but when it comes to myself, I can be lax. I always have the best advice for people and their own health and eating habits, I have the information and the know how...I just seem to allow myself to slip more than I should. I know I shouldn't be too hard on myself, I know I eat a lot healthier than I have in probably my whole life, and better than most people...but I'm a perfectionist. When I feel like I am failing at something, I amlost prefer to give up instead of getting a less than perfect grade in my eyes. (does anyone else feel this way.)

Wish me luck. A fully plant based, whole grain, meat-free, dairy-free and soy-free me soon to arrive...oh the adventures of health.

To end this little ranty blog, I will leave you with a conversation I had recently.

"so Andrea, if you eat this great, and everything is good for you, then why is your skin off and you notice every single time you feel off from eating"
"well, i pay attention, I do myself the favour and I pay attention"

So to all of you struggling with your health, please just pay attention. let's stop ignoring our intolerances, and ignoring our bodies screaming at us to eat what we need to heal us. Be Kind to yourself.
Love, Andrea

days off...they never last long enough.

Well, its been a nice day off. I took down all the Christmas from my apartment...its quite sad that it doesn't sparkle. I always want to move or redecorate every January because of this. I'm choosing to resist this urge.

I spent most of my day reading...finished "Lover Eternal - J.R. Ward". I enjoyed it. Quite the sacrificial love story. Once again, I will let you know this is more romance than action, but a little romance never hurt anyone.

I've been putting off weighing myself after the holidays, things were fitting a little tighter, I was feeling a little sluggish..but I could have jumped for joy when I saw that I only gained 1 pound over the holidays. Of course I celebrated this by going out for lunch with Rollin..and actually ate all my entree, which I usually split in 2. =\ Oh but it was tasty, tofu lemongrass spicy stir-fry...soooo good. Then I mourned the removal of Christmas with a plate of crispy french fries dipped in veganaise.

Now I'm deciding what book to start next, but no rush, the Biggest Loser season 9 starts tonight.

01-03-2010

Oh goodness, I love Indigo books. I think I just love bookstores in general. They smell amazing. I picked up 2 new books (the next 2 in the Brotherhood of the daggars series by J.R. Ward and an address book. Rollin picked up a few books as well. Considering I just finished book 2 of 2010 I'm itching to get going into my next book.

I was hoping to pick up a new cookbook. I had read about Alicia Silverstone's new book: The Kind Diet. It wasn't in stock, so I'll find that eventually. Until then I'll just read her blog, especially since she inspired my Be Kind resolution.

http://www.thekindlife.com/

As for trying new things foodwise, I've been hooked on scrambled "eggs". Using tofu, scrambled in olive oil, garlic, onion and tumeric. We had breakfast burritos on New Year's Day and today I had 'eggs' on toast with 'cheese' (rice slices). Who knows what I'll do for dinner, maybe a tortilla pizza. (use a whole wheat tortilla with whatever toppings you want and bake for 15 minutes or so, super crispy thin crust and zero effort, great way to get the veggies in too...I also use earth balance mozerella style soy cheese, it even melts)