Snack bombs

I love peanut butter, and I love snacks. When I know I have a butt-kicking busy week ahead, I whip up a batch of these babies for quicks snacks or meals. They're little, but don't underestimate them. These little guys pack an energy punch and they're delicious!

It's more of an idea than a recipe. Basically you start with oats and a few other dry ingredients.



Here's the oats, flaked coconut, raisins, sunflower seeds, and ground flaxseed. Use any kind of seed or chopped nut, dried fruit, and chocolate chips.

Then add enough nut butter to make everything stick and sweetener to taste if you want it sweet. You could probably do a savory snack bomb, but I always go for sweet.

So add your nut butter of choice:


Check. I like the original Adam's because it's just peanuts and salt, and after you stir it's all soupy and creamy on top, but there's still a bit of thicker stuff on the bottom to be eaten with a spoon.

I added a little agave and a stevia packet, then I decided I wanted some cinnamon too.



Then mix it all up and drop spoonfuls onto squares of tin foil or plastic wrap.



Now bundle them up and throw 'em in the fridge, and you have a yummy snack to grab on your way to the class you almost slept through. These snack bombs are gluten-free, 100% vegan and can easily be "rawified", so they work for everyone!

And now for the goofy pet picture of the day:



Ruby has free reign of the top of the bookshelf she sits on, and her favorite place to hang out these days is in the ugly bowl I made in a high school ceramics class. I fill her cage with nice, soft bedding and she wants to sit in a cold, hard bowl. Go figure.
So cute though.

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter!

Kella

Happy Easter!

I might do a real post later, but for now, enjoy your chocolate!

My body hates me right now.

Though I am sprawled on the couch feeling a little sick (Burger, fries, ice cream) I think this is a step in the right direction. I knew animal products didn't make me feel great, but after eating so much wonderful plant food and then stuffing myself with garbage, my body is screaming "You are suck a JERK!"

I'm ready to jump back on the healthy train.

Sam and I just decided that if we could go for a whole month without eating out, we'd indulge in one nice restaurant meal. Eating out is killing our bodies and our bank account, so I think I'd rather do without it for awhile.

I want my tummy ache to go away:( More carrots please.

A very sad, sick Kellapillar.

Dinner and a show (and by show, I mean a rant)

I'm off work until Tuesday because the school's out for Easter Break (one of the many perks of working in a school) so Sam and I had an "adventure day". We went to see How to Train Your Dragon, which I loved. The dragon was adorable; like a kitty and a puppy and a bat all rolled into one.

For dinner, we hit up one of my favorite restaurants, Jasoh Prime and Pub. I love it because everything is made fresh; the bread, the salad dressing, everything! The restaurant's split into two parts: fine dining and the 'pub'. We sat on the indoor patio of the pub side with a lovely view of Historic 25th Street (if you don't mind telephone wires)

I ordered the pear and goat cheese salad because it always looked amazing and I've been dying to try it for months. It didn't disappoint:

Mixed greens, d'anjou pears, pistachios, and few pieces of goat cheese tossed with homemade sherry vinagrette. Yummy! It filled me right up, and I enjoyed it with a piece of bread dipped in olive oil and pomegranate-infused balsamic. They offer the bread and dipping oils free of charge if you ask.

Sam ordered the Picasso burger, which is a build-your-own burger dish with gourmet toppings like sun-dried tomatoes and sauteed mushrooms. I stole most of his sweet frittes, which are thin-cut sweet potato fries. They have a really good veggie burger. This place is seriously amazing and the service is wonderful.

Husband did not want his picture taken.

That's better.

Next topic: Something that makes me very, very sad and very angry.

Diets

Did you know this word comes from the Latin word for "to die"? I think there's a reason for that.

I see so many amazing people, who were blessed with incredible talents using so much of their precious time and brain space worrying about how they look and pushing themselves through grueling workouts and eating 1000 calories a day. It really upsets me, because I know what it's like to spend less time doing things I love so I can count calories, plan menus, feel like crap, etc. I know how it feels to eat lettuce and vinegar for lunch while getting up at five in the morning to work out and never see the scale budge. I've had otherwise perfect days ruined by a stupid number on the scale. I've hated myself, my body, moaned about my round hips and thick legs and soft triceps when I could have been enjoying my life. I've wasted vacations hiding in a car or hotel counting calories from restaurant meals and planning an attack plan for when I get back.

I've wasted too much of my life.

The ironic thing is, I once lost 50 pounds effortlessly because I didn't worry about it. Life was more exciting than food, and I only thought about food when I was hungry. As soon as I started obsessing about food again, I gained 20 pounds. Strange huh?

I believe that by treating your body well and not subjecting it to the mental and physical stress of dieting, it will find it's healthy size. Easier said than done; and believe me, sometimes dieting is a lot easier, but our bodies are smart. Throw away the scale, the meal replacement shakes, the dieting books and pills, all that garbage and listen to your body. It will always tell you what it needs, and by working with it and giving it the respect it deserves, weight problems will take care of themselves.

If anyone reading this is struggling with dieting or weight issues, I strongly recommend the books Intuitive Eating by Elysse Resch and Evelyn Tribole. Check out blogs like Beautiful You and Healthy Girl. Wear flattering clothes that fit, move your body in a way you enjoy, eat food that feels good in your body and don't apologize to anyone for not fitting into some cookie cutter idea of beauty. I can't stress this enough.

Diets don't work; and they can destroy you. Do yourself a favor and swear off dieting. You'll never regret it.

Kella

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

Everybody knows America doesn't have the healthiest diet in the world. This is a great show for anyone who think the SAD is awful and needs to change. I just watched the first episode and I loved it. Check it out here.

I loved that he focused on the schools first. "This is what I know. I know if you can get kids eating healthy, they'll keep it up." I've worked in schools and youth centers for a few years and the food these kids eat is horrendous. One youth center served carrot cake with cream cheese frosting for snack, because it counted as a grain, dairy, and a vegetable. It had frosting on it! I think one can safely assume that if something has frosting on it, it's not a veggie.

In this cafeteria, he finds boxes and boxes of pre-cooked, processed garbage. While helping prepare school lunch, he asked if the potato pearls were made of potatoes and one of the cooks said "I hope so."

This is an amazing show, and I can wait to see how it works out. Hopefully, Jamie Oliver can do as much good here as he did across the pond.

Kella

My Motivations

Before I continue with this blog, I should probably clarify my motivations a little bit.

For the past few months, I’ve been experimenting with eating less animal products and more plants. Right now about 5 out of 6 of my meals are completely plant-based. I still have pizza sometimes, occasionally ice cream or other desserts made with eggs and butter, and I eat whatever my mom makes when I visit my family. I’ve stopped eating meat at home and I’ve switched to homemade almond milk instead of moo juice.

Why?

1. I feel better. My skin and hair are softer and my body feels lighter, even though I haven’t lost any weight. If I overeat plant-based food, I’ll be full but I won’t feel as blobby.

2. It’s fun. I love to cook and eat, and I see this as a fun challenge. I love learning about different ways to use food (I had no idea nuts were so versatile) and discovering new foods I love (hello oatmeal concoctions and fudge babies!). Vegan cooking skips all the parts of cooking I don’t like, like cutting and cooking meat. Never liked it, never good at it.

3. The ethical issue. I know this is a touchy subject, so here’s my take on it: I believe that God creating everything on Earth for the use of man. My religion teaches that God gave man dominion over the earth, but also the responsibility to take care of it. This includes animals. They’re here for our companionship, use in working, and yes, for our food. I don’t think eating animals is inherently wrong, but there’s a right and wrong way to go about it. I have a problem with packing thousands of animals into factory farms so people can eat way more meat than is healthy. The abuse these animals abuse is terrible, and in a society where we have an abundance of plant food to keep us healthy, I don’t think we need many animal products at all.

Truly pasture-raised meats are fine with me, but I can’t afford that stuff, so it’s way easier for me to just cut back. But I believe that animals foods, produced responsibly and in moderation, have a place in a healthy diet.

However, I’m not planning on taking the plunge and going 100% vegan. Why?

I’ve struggled with food and body issues all my life and I’ve been learning (Sloooowly learning) to eat intuitively, and at this point in the game, I feel that labeling or setting any hard rules, for whatever reason, will only complicate things and I’ll be right back in the old diet/stuff myself cycle. I’m learning to eat moderately and to take care of my body. If my body wants eggs from my Dad’s chickens, I’ll eat it. I’ll still eat my cccs until I can find a vegan version that’s just as good or better. I won’t completely cut anything from my diet forever until I’m ready, and right now, I’m not. I’m focusing more on adding right now; more veggies, more fruits, and more plant food. The subtracting thing is taking care of itself.

So even though I’ll be playing with lots of vegan recipes, this isn’t necessarily a vegan blog. I may post non-vegan recipes from time to time, but mostly this blog is about me learning, being healthy, and having fun. If I find myself ready to take the next step, I will. I’m just not in a place I can healthfully do that right now.

Happy Hump Day!

Kella

Body image booster shot

Sorry for the absence all weekend, but I'm up to my eyeballs in homework (four weeks till graduation!) and I've been hanging around with friends.

Almost every woman has "bad body days," when she just feels insecure about the way she looks, nothing seems to fit right, and she just feels lucky. During a homework break, I was cruising around the net and I stumbled on Beautiful You, and amazing site that celebrates real women of all sizes. That homework break turned into almost an afternoon, and it really made me feel better about my body.

I've struggled with bad body image nearly all my life, thinking I was always fat. I have been overweight, but I've never been unhealthy. Reading these posts and seeing pictures of beautiful models with figures like mine gave me quite a boost, and I hope it can do the same for you. Bookmark this one for a rainy day.

Kella