Watch My Garden Grow

Today is Mother's Day and I have already received exactly what I asked for. Yesterday morning, my husband asked what I would most want to do on Mother's Day and I said that I wanted him to buy me some soil and mulch so that I could work in the garden, undisturbed. We went out after our son's t-ball game and bought the needed items and I spent the afternoon happily planting the tray of herbs and remaining pepper plants that hadn't yet made their way into my garden.

Not my garden.

The 6-year-old and I started our seeds indoors several weeks ago. They all did well and then they all died. THEY ALL DIED. The only seeds that survived were the peas that we threw into a container outside. The rest simply did not have enough sunlight inside our house to continue growing. So, I bought some plants from Walmart but the majority from a local reseller. He is an older man who buys his plants, mostly from nearby Amish growers, then resells at very reasonable prices. I bought peppers, many herbs, marigolds, and let the 6-year-old pick out anything he wanted (he chose a coleus). I plan on going back next week for more flowers, a teacher gift, and possibly a tomato plant or two.

I started a new board on Pinterest with caring tips for all of my garden plants. If I can rely upon the advice of others, instead of believing that I know everything about everything, which I so clearly don't, perhaps I can have the best garden that my very small space will allow.

Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower, Parsley, and Breadcrumbs

Original Recipe

As a general rule, I have a difficult time following recipes. I read through this recipe, which sounds fantastic, but I wanted to use some fresh basil from my garden so I chose instead to sub out some of the ingredients. Instead of red onion, I used white and added chopped green and red peppers. I also reduced the number of garlic cloves from five to four, because the rest of the family is not quite as garlic crazy as I am. For the breadcrumbs, I used whole wheat, and for the pasta I used whole wheat elbow.

I served the dish with nothing but a piece of toasted wheat bread for me. The rest of the family had barbecue pork chops. The verdict? Pretty bland. The husband and the baby did not care for it. The 6-year-old said it was "plain," but ate most of it anyway. I ate mine, but was rather disappointed. Normally, I love cauliflower and I always love basil and garlic. For whatever reason, prepared this way, everything lost its taste. I do not recommend and I will not attempt it again the "right" way. I do think that it could be improved upon by adding some sauteed cherry tomatoes and black olives, though then the 6-year-old would run screaming.

Quick, Healthy, and Clean: A Plethora of Vegetarian Recipes

I was lucky enough to be given an assignment to find five healthy, easy-to-prepare, vegetarian recipes so that I can introduce readers of the particular blog for which I am providing content to nutritious meals. During my search, I found many more than five, and I am sharing the bulk of them right here.

I have not, as yet, made any of these recipes, but I intend to try them all and let you know how they turn out. Anyone who attempts one of these recipes is welcome to drop me a note to let me know how you like them!

Appetizers/Snacks
Black-Eyed Pea Pate with Pickled Onions on Flatbread Crackers
Cheddar Cornbread Jalapeno Poppers - not so quick, but still looks really good!
Creamy Spinach Dip
Lemon Ricotta Kale Dip

Main Dishes
Athenian Pasta Primavera
Black Bean Quesadillas
Crock Pot Porridge
Cuban Black Bean Stew with Rice
Curried Tofu Salad
Easy Indian Stew
Green Pizza
Hot Chile Grilled Cheese
Mediterranean Veggie Burgers with Mint-Yogurt Sauce and Carrot Salad
No-Bake Summer Lasagna
Pasta Lentil Bolognese
Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower, Parsley, and Breadcrumbs

Penne with Creamy Pumpkin Sauce
Pumpkin Pasta
Saag Tofu
Spinach Souffle
Tofu and Peppers with Spicy Peanut Sauce
Vegan Eggplant Parmigiana
Vegan Italian Wedding Soup
Vegan Spinach Lasagna
Vegetable Enchiladas
Zucchini Lasagna

Side Dishes
Coconut Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Cranberry Rainbow Chard
Jewel Tone Pancakes
Mediterranean Grain Salad
Pumpkin Oatmeal Casserole
Quick Indian Style Couscous
Quick Pesto with Broiled Tomatoes
Roasted Green Beans with Walnuts and Rosemary
Simple Vegetable Curry
Spiced Cauliflower and Tofu Over Bulgur Wheat
Spinach and Cheddar Strata
Spinach Mac and Cheese
Sweet Potato Sticks with Creamy Chipotle Dipping Sauce

Desserts/Beverages
Blueberry Muffin Smoothie
Chocolate Almond Cake
Moroccan Mint Tea
Noah's Ginger Ale
Peppermint Stick Vegan Ice Cream - not sure how healthy this is, but it looks amazing!
Pineapple Breeze Smoothie
Sweet Potato Hot Cocoa
Tofu Chocolate Mousse
Virgin Mojito
Watermelon Agua Fresca
Watermelon Lemonade
Vegan Fudgy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Blog Content Overhaul

As the three of you who read this blog may have noticed, I have taken a break from writing every day for about a week now. Mostly it is because time is definitely a factor, but partly it's also because I have basically the same thing to say every single day. Worked out, felt great, ate clean, it was yummy, shampoo, rinse, repeat.  In my spare time - that two minutes between waking up and brushing my teeth at 5 AM - I have been thinking about how I can make changes to this bog for it to serve two functions:

1.) An educational center for those who may stumble upon my blog and want to know more about clean eating and whole body health, and
2.) A place for me to store all of the information I have so that I can find it quickly and easily.

Granted, number 2 is more important to me, which is a phrase that would make both my husband and my six-year old son giggle.

So, from now on, I will likely be creating posts that are far more informational and far less personal. The personal blog posts served their purpose during those first two months when I was struggling and then flourishing in my diet overhaul. Now, they are redundant and unnecessary. That doesn't mean I don't still need a spot for all of the information I gather, and maybe, at some point, the info I find will help others as well.

Cleano de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo was yesterday, and I managed a totally clean approach to my meal. I made a whole wheat tortilla wrap with chili-spiced tofu, fresh spinach, chopped tomatoes, avocado, and a tomatillo salsa. It was fantastic. In fact, I made plenty of extra so that I can have leftovers for subsequent meals. Remember not so long ago when I was struggling with clean eating? Now, it's hardly even an issue.

One thing that is an issue is having enough energy to get through the afternoon without snacking. I eat lunch with the 2 year old at 10:30 - incredibly early (however, I have breakfast at 5, so I am usually very hungry by then anyway). I decided yesterday that I need a low-calorie protein shake in the afternoon to keep me from being hungry all day. I discovered one that is easy to make, only 140 calories (including milk), and tastes so bad I can't even tell you. It's like sawdust sort of, but if I decided that the sawdust wasn't bad enough so I mixed in some poo and then drank it. That's what it tasted like. Not sure I can force myself to drink that every day.

Harbingers of Death

I also have a friend who is a distributor for Juice Plus and she gave me some samples of their smoothie mix. Luckily, I thought to look through the ingredients list before giving the sample a shot. It seems like a wonderful product, but unfortunately it uses one of the foods to which I am the most allergic - cherries. I have a lot of food allergies, exclusively related to fruit, and the most painful one is the cherry allergy. The last time I actually ate a cherry was when I was in high school. I was constantly getting very itchy, bleeding rashes, not dissimilar from those I experienced from strawberries, but much more intense. Years later, when I was on my own and able to see an allergist, I had a series of tests done and tried some different treatments but I found that the best option was just to give up on foods that gave me adverse reactions. As the years passed, I saw my cherry allergy increase. At one point, I ate a brownie that had been covered in whipped cream with a maraschino cherry on top. I scraped off all of the whipped cream and still had a reaction. At another time, I ate some cut vegetables that had been on the same tray as cherries, but not next to each other and certainly not touching. Same reaction. Unfortunately, Juice Plus uses cherries as part of their blend. As such, I'll never know what it tastes like because it's just not worth it.

And so, today I am going to go on a hunt for a decent tasting, low calorie, protein drink. I think this will help to fuel my afternoons, leave me feeling full, and help with my workout routines.

Speaking of workout routines, I started a new arms routine yesterday. Amazingly, only a few days after complaining again and again to Oxygen about not receiving my magazines, I received a magazine. Funny how that works. So I started this arms routine and it promises me that within a month, I will have killer arms. If my arms are not shapely and awesome within one month, I'm going to ask that anyone and everyone berate me for not trying hard enough and/or trusting a magazine to give me the approach I need for my physique.

I also worked out last week with a friend of mine who is a professional trainer and is taking part in the same weight loss competition I am. She created a workout routine that we can do with our strollers that involves walking up and down hilly streets, doing squats, walking lunges, pushups, and ab work. I seemed like a good workout at the time. The next day, I could barely walk down the stairs in our house. Three days later, and I am still sore and very much looking forward to the next workout.

As far as the scale is concerned, I'm really floating in the same area I've been in for a while. I dropped several pounds after the initial weigh in, which we all know were dummy pounds anyway, and now I need to find a way to go past this spot where my body seems to be comfortable. I need to lose at least 10 more pounds over the course of the next 11 weeks, but I refuse to do so in a way that could be unhealthy or detrimental to me in the long run.

Self Drop 10

I just very spontaneously decided to read an email I received from Self Magazine, detailing the Self Drop 10 Diet. Apparently I can start losing weight RIGHT NOW! Fantastic! I read through the entire plan and I didn't lose any weight at all, so I'm thinking it's false advertising.

Right off the bat, I'm skeptical of this diet. I was given my meal plan for the day, and apparently I'm supposed to have time to make quinoa/banana pancakes for breakfast. Self apparently is unaware that I have a toddler who has decided, once again, that sleep is over-rated. However, Self did do some research regarding my banana allergy. If I eat even a bite of a banana, my entire mouth breaks out in a painful rash, making eating any food quite uncomfortable. So, you know, weight loss! Yay!

I did decide, on a whim, to subscribe to Self Magazine. Their promotional item worked! Actually, it wouldn't have if it wasn't for my sudden frustration with Oxygen. What's that, you ask? My love affair with Oxygen Mag is over? It's not that I no longer love the magazine, it's just that I'm having some terrible experience with my subscription. Basically, I only received one magazine in the mail and the follow-ups have only come after I emailed complaints stating that I'm not getting my magazines. Either they're not sending them to me or my postal carrier is going to start looking really buff one of these days. Whichever has happened, I've asked for a refund because I don't have the time or the will to call in complaints every month about not receiving my already paid for subscription.

Self Magazine is kind of horrible but it was super, duper cheap and I do think some good things can come from reading magazines that focus on healthy living. Plus, I need something to look at while I'm on the stairclimber. I can zone out on the elliptical, but the stairclimber kills me if I'm not totally distracted while I'm climbing my 70th floor.

In other news, I just downloaded the Zombies! Run! app and I'm hoping it will be fun. I've heard it's fun and then everyone stopped talking about it so maybe it's super lame.

Yesterday I ate all clean foods except for a bite of cupcake I chewed up and then spit out. I know, gross, right? But I was only weak for a moment and then I threw the rest of the cupcakes into the trash where they belong.

Second Birthday FAIL

I had some hiccups over the weekend with the baby's birthday party. I made about four dozen cupcakes, each one more delicious than the last. Add to that the cake balls, candy, ice cream, and mountains of food for the 40+ people who visited during the weekend, not to mention the "no time to exercise" phenomena, and I definitely had a backslide.

Yesterday, I redoubled my efforts and had a decently clean day that was low in fat and calories. I did a solid workout at the gym that left me sore and caked in sweat. I also did a weigh in at the gym and one at home - the scales sadly do not match. At all. I did learn that I can weigh in at the official kiosk for the challenge I am taking a part in, so I may do that once a week instead of weighing at home. Consistency! Yay!

Speaking of the challenge, it started today and my team is already in 4th place Not bad considering the first place team seems to be a "test" team and the second one has a person that claims to have already lost 50% of his body weight. Um, I think not. I thought I was going overboard with wearing shoes to the weigh in!

So, today I am back at it and I hope that I don't let the extreme lack of sleep from the last two days (thank you, baby!) cause me to be too exhausted to, you know, move.