I'm not an Activist, but...

I am no activist. I don't rally, I don't protest, I don't hold signs or skip work to gather with large groups of people outside the state capitol. I don't hand out flyers or stand downtown with a clipboard. I am no activist. But I have a right to believe what I believe.

I really am able to laugh off most of the teasing I get at work or elsewhere regarding my "weird" beliefs about vegetarianism, animal rights, avoiding plastic when possible, recycling, and the foods humans were made to consume and definitely not made to consume.

It just makes me sad that most people choose to have no clue what they are really putting into their bodies, or how their meat was treated. or would rather change the subject or tell me that I am the cruel and unusual one if I invite them to watch some videos on factory farming.

I am not an activist, but I wish we would open our eyes to what is going on behind the curtain. I do believe the Bible commands us to turn away from animal abuse, which includes factory farming first and foremost in these times. God put all of the creatures of the world in our care. Abuse of this trust shows disrespect for God, in my opinion. Refusing to open your eyes to the welfare of the way animals are treated in factory farms is blatant disregard and I truly believe- a sin. God even commanded a day of rest for animals when he commanded a day of rest for us.

"but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns." ~Exodus 20:10

There are commands to treat animals with care throughout the Bible. One day, we will all have to answer for our sins, and I believe this will be on the list.

Worship of animals is strictly forbidden in scripture. But, we are to respect them as part of God's creation.

Apart from what the Bible says about it, I just don't have the heart not to give a darn about how meat got to the table. My father in law is a hunter, and he eats all of his meat. While I still choose not to eat meat, I respect this form of carnivorism.

"Were the walls of our meat industry to become transparent, literally or even figuratively, we would not continue to raise, kill and eat animals the way we do." ~Michael Pollan

Off my soapbox for today.

My Favorite Vegan Split Pea Soup Recipe

It is hailing and flash flooding here. I love it, because it never happens in Denver. My precious basil was out on the patio, and my handsome M went to grab it for me before it could get ruined. What a guy. Not to mention, he's a goof.

Ham hocks...gross. I don't know what they are, or what part of the body they are, or anything really, but I know they are used in split pea soup.


But not mine! I adore this soup and could have it every night. In fact, I will probably have it for the next five nights, because it makes about five servings (technically this is an 8 serving recipe but I usually eat about two bowls. Mmmmmm.


Oh, do you like my new Pyrex measuing cup? My old one just broke (wasn't Pyrex- I love Pyrex because it doesn't break and is GLASS!) so I was in the market for a new one. I ended up getting this one at Safeway with discounts and coupons for a grand total of 74 cents. Can't beat that with a stick!


I am queen of preparation. Oftentimes, in my head, I repeat the "Why put off until tomorrow, what you can accomplish today!" mantra.

The peas, waiting patiently in the crock.

I prepare things far in advance. I do as much prep for tomorrow as I can today. You have seen some evidence of this in my stuffing ball jars and shakers with fruits and vegetables in anticipation of a smoothie cleanse. To prepare for this meal, I cut all of the veggies the night before, and even measure the dried split peas into the crock pot the night before. In the morning I just mix everything and turn it on. When you wake up at 4am, being prepared is key.


Tonight I prepare for my slow cooked crock pot vegetarian split pea soup. Yum. It is ever so slightly adapted from here. I must say I love Vegetarian Slow Cooker's blog and use it at least once a month.

Recipe:

I use a large crock pot.

Ingredients:
- 2 cups dried split peas
- 10 cups veggie stock (I usually use Better than Bullion Organic)
- 4 cloves garlic (fresh or pre-crushed, I use fresh unless I have a very good excuse)
- 1 huge yellow onion (GMOs! AGH!) or two small, coarsely chopped
- 5 stalks celery chopped, except leave two larger chunks
- 6 whole cloves- poke cloves into larger celery chunks (this is the secret ingredient!)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 1/2 tsp cumin (I love cumin!)
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 2 bay leaves

Mix together and cook on low for about 12 hours. Blend with an immersion blender, after taking out the bay leaves and chunks of celery with the cloves in it. Many times I can't find one or two of them, but I just blend anyway (or I forget). I have never had a problem :)

Enjoy! Split peas are full of fiber (more than beans!) and this soup is delish.

Juiceman Down!

I have an old juicer that was gifted to me from a friend at church. Unfortunately, it is on its last little juicer legs. It sounds like an exploding vacuum. I am secretly overjoyed because I have wanted a new juicer for so long but cannot justify buying one when I have one that works!

I can't afford it this paycheck, however, I am already starting the hunt. This  is my first pick so far as when it comes to value for your money. I wish I could spend $600 but I can't.

Seems reasonable, right?

Does anyone have juicer suggestions? Masitcating? Centrifugal? Cold Press? Most of the good stuff I can't afford. Tell me why you love your juicer!

Smoothies- Round 2

Miss A and I did great on our little smoothie adventure a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, as soon as I came off the cleanse, I gained back the few pounds that I lost. I guess you are not supposed to immediately eat cookie dough and whatever else you want. Who knew?

I am currently doing Junger's cleanse, and I have decided to incorporate a 3 day mini smoothie cleanse within my Junger cleanse to see if I can manage to lose a couple of pounds while also resetting my digestion.

I want to make a side note that I do not do these cleanses with the sole goal of losing weight. In fact, in my most recent adventure on Junger's cleanse, I didn't lose an ounce. And I don't anticipate that I will be losing any this time around either. It is actually a God-send for my bowel issues, though. I have found that by eliminating dairy, soy, gluten, refined sugars, eggs and all processed foods, while also maintaining at least one liquid meal per day (ideally two), I can poop. I recently had a revelation, however, that I can't poop on these cleanses unless I consume a significant amount of healthy fats. When I have tried to cleanse on restricted calories (thus eating less nut butters and oils), I didn't poop right. So this time around I am not counting calories, probably taking in WAY more fat than the average person, but I am pooping. Avocados, avocado oil, olive oil, and almond butter have become (a delicious) routine.

It does make me frustrated and sad to think that in order to poop like a normal person I can't have ice cream or cookies or anything like that. But I just have to make the decision every day. Some days I will choose to eat like crap and pay for it by being constipated, others I will make good choices and be rewarded with a present in the potty.

Back to the smoothie cleanse. Yesterday was day one and it was particularly difficult because my good friend Miss A is out of town. She is gone today too, but back tomorrow so there is hope in sight. Today I made four smoothies. I want to give you the recipe for the little one on your left in the ball jar. I adapted it from here in order to fit into my cleanse.

Melted Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Smoothie:

Ingredients:
1/2 scoop chocolate protein powder (I like Food for Life because it vegan and has amino acids)
1 tablespoon raw cacao
1 ripe pear
1/2 cup fresh spinach
1/4 tsp pure peppermint extract
unsweetened almond milk

Blend and enjoy! It tastes "just like melted mint chocolate chip ice cream" according to M, who politely sampled last night. I love it. The orange one on your right there looks refreshing, I am excited to try that one too.

Tip for Today

Tip for today:

If you get massive quantities of fruit flies like I do as soon as your bananas ripen, put them in cheap plastic baggies (1/2 or 1 banana to a baggie, whatever you prefer) and stick them in the freezer. They are super easy to pop into a smoothie in the morning and make the smoothie ice cold which always tastes better if you ask me.

Board Game Munchies

A few times a year, my good girlfriends and I drag our husbands to one of our houses to play board games and eat good food. Tonight we are going to Abby's new house, I wanted to try to make something fresh and fairly healthy. I came up with a savory recipe and a sweet one. Both were adapted from other ideas I found online.

Zuchinni Caprese Bites:
5 Zuchinni, cut into 3/4 inch peices and cored out with a melon baller or tomato corer (leaving bottoms intact)
Fresh Mozzarella Balls
Fresh Basil
Cherry Tomatoes
Parmesan Cheese

My dogs are big zucchini fans. They went crazy for the cored out centers. Plus I saved what I didn't give them in order to toss into smoothies. I have the best dogs in the world. Saucy is all tuckered out now, with a full belly. He wasn't thrilled about having his photo taken.

I cut the mozzarella balls into 2-3 pieces each and stuffed into the zucchini bites. I love fresh mozzarella.

Once you hollow out the centers of the zucchini, they look like this:

Next, cut up your fresh mozzarella and put inside the bites.

Don't forget to enlist your husband's help. Michael helped layer on the fresh basil. 

Slice some cherry tomatoes thin and layer on top of the basil. Sprinkle Parmesan on top and bake for about 10 minutes. I don't know what temperature. Whatever feels right. These are not baked yet, as I plan on baking them at Abby's house so they are fresh and hot out of the oven. But don't they look adorable?

I also was inspired but some recent pinterest pictures of cheesecake stuffed into strawberries.

I used my own recipe for the filling and enlisted my very helpful and handsome husband to help me pipe the filling into the hollowed out centers of the strawberries.

We ground up some graham cracker crumbs in the dry attachment to the Vitamix. Have I mentioned how much I love my Vitamix?

The finished product here is much less pretty than the pinterest creations, however, I can assure you, these are addictive. I am impressed with the flavor seeing as we used fat free cream cheese and stevia (and a tiny bit of regular powdered sugar) for the filling. These are almost fat free. 

And now it is time to drag the husband out the door so I can win at Cranium!

Ha, ha.

This is the perfect ecard for today. I have been trying to do interval sprints at the gym. Which means about 1 minute of walking and 30 seconds of sprinting at about 9 or 9.5. It is TOUGH. But I like it. It is a welcome break from the jogging I have been doing. Plus intervals are supposed to be very effective.

I did find it funny today that I got on a treadmill next to a heavier guy who was doing a steady jog when I started doing my intervals. It usually surprises people, because 9.5 is a pretty fast run for someone my height, but before you know it I am already reducing the speed. I think I sparked something in him, though, because about halfway through my intervals, he sped up to LIGHTENING speed and went until he couldn't go anymore.

Sometimes I have zero motivation to go to the gym...but I go anyway, and sometimes (not always!) I find my motivation right there in the gym. Sometimes when I am particularly unmotivated I can get on a machine with someone next to me who is either pushing themselves really hard which causes me to push myself hard too, or I get on next to someone who looks like they are waaaay slower than me (and I say this shamefully) to make myself feel better. Like a five star athlete. A Triathlon runner.

Ha. Ha. Ha.