Seems Like Forever

Ok it has been forever since I've posted. However I only have one person that follows this blog so I'm probably not disappointing too many people out there.

But this post is going to be different. I need an outlet for my thoughts and even though I have another, more public blog, I feel this conversation is better left somewhat private and anonymous. And to those that know me and may read this...do not say a word! To anyone. Oh, and I love you!

So we begin. The topic is babies. More specifically pregnancy. My husband and I have been married for a year and a half and we have been talking about babies a lot. In my overly controlling brain I keep thinking about the time for conception in order to have the "right" due date. My husband is an accountant and as such has a busy time of year. Not tax season as most people associate with accountants but year-end. January through March, especially February. Every February I've ever known him, he's had one day off a week. Last February you could say I saw him more as we were married, therefore living together so I saw him in the morning before I left for work. But does that actually count? Needlesss to say, February's are busy. Obviously, this would be a less than ideal time for a baby to arrive. I realize in talking about ideal times that things don't happen at our determined ideal times. They happen at their ideal times. But like I said before my overly controlling, anxiety-ridden brain has a very tough time with alternative timelines. This whole talk about babies and time lines got me to thinking...which can be a terrible thing for a brain like mine.

When I start thinking I start doing research. So I've been reading, a lot. About Doulas, Midwives, Birth Centers, Natural vs aided births, Ovulation calculating, Fertility awareness, the list goes on and on. It's enough to make you crazy. And if those choices aren't enough there's the postpartum stuff to worry about and the statistics of what could happen and how often it does happen. There seems to be no easy way to navigate the craziness of information out there. Who do you turn to? Who do you trust? Just because something worked for one person doesn't mean it will work for you. I feel like having a child should be simple and natural, not confusing. There are things about what you can eat and drink. There are the obvious things, no alcohol, smoking is bad, reduce caffiene etc, but did you know there's things about what you can use in your skincare or in your house? I feel like I should've realized this was an issue but it never really clicked. Funny thing though, I checked my skincare and the "bad stuff" isn't in it. And my favorite cleaning product is white vinegar so I'm pretty safe there too. I just didn't realize it I guess. Or I didn't think about it.

I don't really have any definite conclusions on anything because I haven't really put much thought into it. I do know one thing, it's kinda scary. The Mother Guilt stuff. I'm not even pregnant and I'm terrified I'm going to make the wrong chose somehow. I'm not even sure this post made sense but I had to get it off my chest.

PS the follow-up to the last post was supposed to be my pumpkin chocolate chip cupcakes with cinnamon icing from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. Great cookbook. AMAZING cupcakes. Everyone LOVES them. The first time I tried them, I made 4 batches from Thursday night until Sunday. Yep 4 dozen cupcakes in 4 days. It was crazy! They are THAT good. Made them twice over Thanksgiving per my Brother-in-law's requests or begging whichever you want to say.

Pumpkin French Toast

A few weeks ago I was looking at cookbooks and found Vegan Brunch by Isa Moskowitz. Her website, Post Punk Kitchen, has some sample recipes for you to try. As I was looking through them trying to decided what recipe my hubby would like too. I found Pumpkin French Toast. I don't know about you but I thought it sounded yummy. I love french toast and I love pumpkin pie. So why not?

The recipe calls for 3 day old french bread, which I happened to have. It wasn't 3 days old but it was stale so I thought it would be perfect. You are supposed to soak the bread for about a half hour. I didn't find this really easy to do as my pumpkin mixture seemed really thick. In the end I was half soaking have slathering the mixture on before I put it in the pan. Aside from that it turned out wonderfully! I was so excited. They browned up really nicely and were perfectly crispy on the outside while having that great custard texture in the middle. My hubby said it was good but he likes plain better. He generally doesn't like his food too fussy or dressed up. I thought it was great. Definitely something to make again.

The problem was, the recipe calls for 1 cup of pumpkin. So I still had a cup left to do something with. Oh what to do?

Black Bean Burrito

I didn't take a picture of this one. I was in a hurry today. I have to admit my food menu today left a lot to be desired. Which is probably the reason I ended up with a migraine. I also haven't been sleeping well with out the hubs at home. Everything combined equals one nasty headache. But I digress.

Breakfast - I don't actually remember. I'm pretty sure it involved cinnamon raisin toast, orange juice and a brownie.

Lunch - I met up with some friends at Olive Garden. I had Minestrone Soup and their house salad.

Dinner - Amy's Black Bean and Vegetable Burrito. It's a frozen burrito from Amy's Kitchen and can be found at Whole Foods and some grocery stores. It was actually really good. It's Vegan too. I thought I'd miss the cheese but I didn't. It was great

Stir Fry & Coconut Rice

This is a day late, but better late than never right? Monday I made an easy fix. I made rice Monday morning while I was making my oatmeal for breakfast. So other than the brownies I made Monday night I was dairy and meat free.

Breakfast - Oatmeal with cinnamon and raisins.

Lunch - Jasmine Rice with mixed veggies, herbs and fresh lemon juice.

Dinner - Tereyaki Veggie Stir Fry with Coconut Rice.

This is by far my favorite meal. The hubs loves it and it's quick and easy. I use the stir fry mix from Costco. I can make as much or as little as I want and it has veggies that I love! I use Braggs Amino Acids instead of soy sauce and add just a little Teryaki sauce. The Coconut Rice recipe can be found at Herbivoracious. This is definitely one of my favorite webisites so check it out when you get a chance.

Overall lunch and dinner had the same base of rice but they are different. Definitely a favorite but not something new.

One Week

It's been awhile since I've posted, I apologize. I'll try to do better this week. This week my hubby is out of town again on a work trip. I'm on a quest to find more vegetarian/vegan menus that I like and that my hubby will enjoy. I will post the meals I make this week. I'm really looking for good dairy alternatives. I've got the milk and butter but cheese is tough. Really tough. So stay tuned this week for so new recipes to try.

Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes

I originally got this idea from La Fuji Mama's blog. I couldn't wait to try it. With my company in town I couldn't help but try it. I used the recipe from The Joy of Vegan Baking. I love the cinnamon roll recipe in it. I usually make them the day before and refrigerate them over night.

I double paper liners on some and on others I used the Reynold's foil cups. The foil cups were great! they didn't stick to the buns and they kept the gooeyness out of the pan (much easier for the dishes). I overcooked them just a touch but other than that the reviews were good. I do wonder if I would've had bigger rolls had I not refrigerated them. Next time I will try that.

I love that these are Vegan, and no one notices! It's a true test of a recipe when no one really misses the butter, eggs or milk in a recipe. I'm still working on this one but it's coming along nicely. I enjoy it.

Oh and my company was wonderful! We had great meals and to be honest my meals were vegetarian all weekend. My DH was so sweet. He was super supportive of meals. It was great. Yet another reason why I love him!

Cake

Here's a cake I made for a get-together last night. I've never made a bundt cake before and I've never made chocolate ganache. So it was a serious first for me! I made a yellow cake, stuffed berries in the middle and poured chocolate over it all. The ganache didn't work exactly like I had wanted but everyone seemed to like it and it was dairy-free. I accidentally used dark chocolate instead of semi-sweet chocolate. I really liked the contrast of the dark chocolate with the yellow cake and the very sweet berries.

I don't have the confidence in my homemade cakes yet so I still use the boxes which are chock full of yuckiness. But I've tried one mix that's dairy-free, soy-free, gluten-free, etc. It turns out really good. It's made by Nameste Foods. I'll make one soon and post it. Enjoy the picture!

It's Summer!

Yes here in the Soutwest it is summer. Full blown, without a doubt, 100+ degree temperatures, summertime. It's great! The best part about summer for me is the fruit! Ok the veggies too. I went to Whole Foods today. The sights and smells when I walked in were wonderful! It makes me so happy! I bought pineapple, watermelon, berries, corn, asparagus, and radishes. In my head all I could think about was all the yummy stuff I could make and how much I didn't miss meat in my diet. Look at what I would miss out on!

So, I have company coming in for Memorial Day weekend. This is the first time I've ever had house guests since I've been married and since I started my journey to vegetarianism. Needless to say I'm nervous. I was worried about what to have in my kitchen and what to make for dinners and lunch while they are here. You see, my house guests are friends of my Dear Hubby. DH and the visiting husband have been friends for years. The visiting husband comes from a family of cattle ranchers. He isn't exactly fond of those that are vegetarians. I am worried. Like I said before only a few people, ok 2, know about my desire to be a vegetarian. I don't really know how to tell people, especially my family. It would be the equivalent of telling them that I suddenly want to become a man. Anyway, I've got some of our favorite vegetarian receipes ready. Wish me luck for this weekend!

It happened...

It all happened back in December of 2008. I had been married for about 6 months and was suffering from severe anxiety attacks, migraine headaches (which has been normal for my adult life), and I was gaining weight. It was terrible. I was looking for something to change in my life. A way to stop this seemingly endless downward spiral. I had heard about the book Skinny Bitch from the a few of my friends and I was skeptical. I read it. A lot of it made sense to me. Even though, the language was often to be desired it really made me think.

Much to my darling new husband's dismay. He had married an omnivore and here I was telling him I no longer wanted to eat meat AND I wanted to give up dairy as well. He was/is wonderful about it. He had hoped it was a phase. But he soon realized that it was a little more then a phase and he started to make adjustments to fit my new lifestyle.

Which brings me to the title of the blog. Yes inconvenient at times as I'm sure many of you who have made this move have experienced. But it seems to be worth it. As I've stopped eating meat most of the time and avoid dairy I've experienced some changes in my life. My anxiety attacks have become practically nonexistent along with my migraines. Both absolutely wonderful things to be rid of! Also my weight gain has stopped. When I really avoid all dairy, the extra weight seems to disappear. But I have a really hard time being without cheese in my life. I'm working on it though.

Baby steps... it's all about baby steps. That's what the blog is about. Sometimes it will be my frustration with inconvenience of it all. But most of the time it will be about the food. I love food! I love finding other things I can do to make recipes not only vegetarian and good but dairy free as well. So that's the story in a nutshell. I hope you enjoy reading my blog. I welcome comments and suggestions.