Peace, Love, and Doggie Boots

I always think that when I start blogging again, I'll have something incredibly enthralling or poignant to talk about, as if I've returned from some inspiring sabbatical. The truth is, that's what I feel that I'm truly lacking in life however, inspiration.


I spend so much of my time just simply going through the motions; wake up, go to work, come home, play on the computer, sleep. Rinse and repeat. I don't mind my job on most days, but I definitely would say that I work to live, not live to work.. at least not that kind of work. If I you asked me what I did in 2013, I unfortunately would have to say that I didn't do a whole lot. I remember going on vacation but other than that, I think I just worked alot- pretty pathetic huh?


I want to revert to a life of simplicity, detoxify my world and my surroundings, and take pride in creating things with my own hands instead of just lazily buying it. Who needs all those toxic, chemical-laden products when you can make it from scratch with natural ingredients? I've recently taken an interest in homesteading and have dabbled in some easier projects- and I have to say, I'm in love. I find it incredibly rewarding and I rejoice in the fruits of my labor, even better, it's helped me reconnect.


There's something incredibly soothing and peaceful about standing in a warm, quiet kitchen, up to your elbows in flour as you knead a loaf of bread dough. There's also something therapeutic and spiritual in walking around your back yard, watering thriving plants that you lovingly planted with your own two hands. It gives you a moment of quiet in an otherwise crazy and hectic world, a moment to be alone in your thoughts, meditate, or just "be". I'm hoping to have many, many more of those moments. I have to be realistic though, my yard is NOT conducive for having a gigantic garden and we get alot of shade. I also have zero room for something as grandiose as raising my own chickens or having a dairy cow, but maybe someday.. In the mean time, I can at least clean up my diet and choose the most natural, healthy options for meat, dairy, and eggs (plus LOTS of veggies!!).


My goals for 2014 include the following:

1) Successfully plant and raise all of my own herbs this summer
2) Join a CSA and buy our produce locally
3) Switch to pasture-raised, humanely raised, organic meats from local farms
4) Switch all household products from store-bought to homemade (ex. laundry detergent, face soap, shampoo)
5) Make all of our baked goods from scratch
6) Make most of our dairy products from scratch
7) Make a quilt

That sounds like a good place to start!


Oh.. and I almost forgot....

DOGGIE BOOTS!!!!! 

Summer Family Favorites

Garden vegetables are finally starting to ripen and my CSA boxes are bursting with summer deliciousness!  I was so stoked to get 4 ears of corn and some banana peppers in my box last week- summer staples from my childhood.  Back when I was younger, my family used to live for farm stands and tomatoes fresh from the garden.  My mom used to grow mainly cucumbers, zucchini, tomatoes, and banana peppers, but I think now that my brother and I have moved out, she just sticks to tomatoes.  

I was feeling rather nostalgic today and craving something home style for dinner.  I didn't want anything elaborate, but I did want something familiar.  I think my dinner selection sums up pretty well what my family would eat every night July-August.

And ya know? We never, ever wanted anything else. 

Hot dog with banana peppers, corn on the cob, tomato salad, and cottage cheese. 

Followed by Grandma B's signature dish: green beans and potatoes with bacon, cooked in the pressure cooker. 

I have so many fond memories of eating dinner at my grandparent's house and having this dish.  I can remember it like it was yesterday, everyone sitting around her round wooden table and digging into fresh tomato salad, spooning out steaming green beans and potatoes, dolloping out cottage cheese, passing the bread and butter.  The kitchen is rather small, so whomever was sitting near the fridge could literately reach behind them, open the door, and grab some pop from the fridge without even getting up!  Not only was the food amazing but it was also so fun to share stories and laugh with my family.

The main point is, everything was so fresh, simple, and delicious and so, so comforting.  I could literately eat this exact meal every night for the rest of my life. 

My grandma is such a fantastic cook, her dishes are famous in the family and often requested at holiday get together's.  One time I tried to sit her down and get the recipes in writing only to find out she doesn't measure anything and just throws in "a handful of this, a dollop of that". Oye!  My mother is slowly mastering many of her dishes through trial and error, her oyster dressing, macaroni salad, potato salad.  Oh and my mom also brings some amazing summer dishes to the table!  I crave her fried zucchini this time of year, and her cucumbers and onions are so refreshing and can go on just about anything.  

So, so good. 

I think I'm going to fully embrace the fruits of summer by making and enjoying my family favorites more often- I think I'm hanging up my spatula for the summer so I can just nosh on fresh vegetables.

Family summer must-haves:

Tomato salad

Corn on the Cob

Cottage Cheese

Hot dogs with banana peppers

Green beans & potatoes with bacon 

Fried Zucchini 

Mom's Cucumbers and Onions

Now I'm super curious to know, what is everyone else eating this summer? 

That's amore

Last night I slept like crap, I kept having the weirdest, terrible dreams.  In one, I dreamt that my two most favorite animals in the entire world (Razor and my niece-dog Daisy) had died and we were collectively trying to find dogs to fill the void in our hearts.  Mike got me this awful Frankenstein looking dog that smelled like a sewer and kept snarling at me. When I complained to him about the dog, he said "Oh he'll grow on you!" Nightmare central.  

I need to bake my two pups some treats to show my appreciation after that night of terror. 

Today was uneventful, the first day back after a nice long break is always terrible, and I work this Saturday- boo!! 

I was super busy, so I wasn't able to eat my entire packed deliciousness... I had the Lara bar and some coffee for breakfast, a few almonds and a prune for a snack, and then my PB & J for lunch. Oh yea, I had my hummus and chips too!

Not to worry though, my dinner ROCKED!!! 

Cuz I made pizza... mmmm... 

Pic's a lil blurry, my bad. Actually I didn't take it- but I'm not ratting that person out! 

Trader Joe's herb dough + roasted tomato sauce + mozzarella cheese + onions + black olives + basil leaves + tomatoes + turkey pepperoni 

I'm really failing on this whole vegetarian thing this week. C'mon Lindsey, back on the wagon, back on the wagon. 

Gotta keep the veggies coming! This is my CSA lettuce bag with some heirloom tomatoes ontop. I also added some avocado, red onion, and beets after this photo was taken. 

For dessert we whipped up a batch of my peanut butter nanner ice cream. 

Happy Hump Day!!

I absolutely love Wednesday because (as far as the weekend is concerned) it's all uphill from here! Just gotta get through Thursday and woohoo bring it on Friday! 

Breakfast was the standard, Italian tofu scramble and my coffee with soy creamer and splenda. I volunteered to stay 2 hours in clinic this morning and I was super hungry so I grabbed my Lara bar to munch on while I was down there. 

Now I was a little skeptical about how tasty this would be, the ingredients were literately only dates, peanuts, and salt. I was pleasantly surprised- I actually snarfed it down so fast I forgot to take a picture! It was delightfully delicious and I'll definitely be having this again soon. I can't believe how great it tasted, the dates weren't really noticeable it just tasted like, well, a peanut butter cookie! Also cool, they are: vegan, kosher, raw, gluten free, and soy free. True story. 

After I nommed on my delightful Lara bar I pulled out my bag of orange sections I prepped for a snack. I took one bite, spit it into the bag, and pitched the entire bag. I barely like oranges as it is and if it isn't tart and fresh tasting, gag city for me. Couldn't do it. 

I finished in clinic, saw my patients, and then went back to my desk to nib into my lunch box for some hummus and cukes- my last hummus container!!! I need to get to Costco this weekend. 

Lunch was my leftover from yesterday, quinoa topped with baked yam and tofu, seasoned with Bragg's and nutritional yeast. I had to smile because my coworker said it smelled really good but I knew if she knew what was in it she'd cringe. Oh well, Braggs does smell great.

ALSO, I had a healthy.. surprise... waiting for me when I got home. And by surprise I mean I'm surprised it even showed up. I signed up for a subscription to Healthy Surprise on June 5th, they said it would take 3 days from ordering for it to get to my house, and here we are June 20th and it's just showing up. Need we do the math? Now granted this is partially mostly Fed Ex's slow-ass fault, but it also took 3-4 days for them to process my credit card. I am generation Y- I demand instant gratification! Just kidding, and maybe I've been spoiled by my Amazon Prime account, but that is just far too long especially when they say it'll take 3 days. Not a fan. 

I am however a fan of snacks and surprises (regarding food that is) so I was happy as a clam once I got to open the box. 

SURPRISE!!! What's inside?

A whole lotta snacken' that's what! I'm surprised by how much was included and I got the smallest box.

Fruit bar

Apple chips

Super yummy- only one ingredient- apples :)

Oohh.. fruit nut bar

Vanilla maple flavored almonds

Hemp seeds! I'm super excited to try these out!

An energy bar

Gluten free vanilla cookies

Some sort of cinnamony crisp snack

Thai lemon curry flavored nuts- I tore into this bag because I was so curious to try them out. Pretty decent, I love curry so I was a big fan of the flavor, I'm not a gigantic cashew fan though so that was kind of a downer. Mike liked them alot I think. 

I'm nervous I'm going to have an allergic reaction to the cashews though, keeping my fingers crossed. I hate urushiol with a passion.  Lots of handwashing.

Dinner included: strawberries and snap peas from the CSA followed by a veggie burger with tomato, onion, avocado and veganaise. Did you know veganaise (or mayonaise) mixed with ketchup is the ultimate dip for french fries? Yup. Give it a try. 

Funky Monday/Tuesday

I don't know what my dealio is this week but I just haven't been into recording what I ate througout the day. Partially I've just been trying to keep myself busy at work and didn't want to stop to take pictures, another, I've just been plain lazy about blogging.

Recap:

For breakfast Monday and Tuesday, I had a tofu omelet that I made (here's a pic of my one for Wednesday) and some grapes. This tofu omelet really rocks, it's from Vegan Brunch by Isa Chandra Moskowitz (this girl is like a deity in regards to vegan recipes) and I stuffed it with sauteed mushrooms, spinach, and vegan shredded cheese. I also had a Luna protein bar both days- love those things, keep me much-o full-o.

For lunch yesterday, I had a vegan bologna and cheese sammy on the Mancini bread with lettuce and mustard, and some cucumbers and hummus. I then had some bok choy, seitan and noodles for dinner- gotta keep up on my CSA goodies!

Then some more hummus... then a rice dreams ice cream sammy.. I don't know what was up with my appetite last night haha! The funny part was I was watching the newest episode of Trueblood and I was super nauseated during parts of that, so I have no clue why I kept chomping! Must.. control.. snacking...

For lunch today I had to do a test tray at work so I had: cod, roasted potatoes, sauteed zucchini, fruit cup, chocolate soymilk, and some nilla wafers which I saved for later. I would really hate to be a vegan in our hospital- really, really impossible. Actually, I had a vegan in once and her room looked like a grocery store with all the stuff she had to bring from home- poor thing! Getting protein in her was insanely hard and she was willing to do what she could, lots of peanut butter and beans.

Tonight for dinner I made pesto out of our CSA scapes, walnuts, basil, and olive oil which went over some stuffed pasta, also from our CSA.

Annnnnnnddddddddd I forgot to take a pic. I stink.

I'm so proud of myself for keeping up with our stuff, also our CSA (Penn's Corner Farm Alliance) is really good about including some shelf stable items too so as not to overwhelm us. The food is also exceptionally fresh and keeps forever it seems. If you're in the Pittsburgh area check them out!