Keeping my stomach, my boyfriend, and my wallet happy!

So I decided I would be the perfect gracious girlfriend and make my boyfriend dinner! Problem! He's not vegan and absolutely loves meat! AND I'm on a strict budget! Can you see my conundrum? Luckily, I found a solution! All men love pizza and pasta...(at least mine does!) So I thought modify the normal greasy, heavy pizza and pasta meal and make it vegan! I found a list of vegan items at Trader Joe's and it helped, a lot! http://www.traderjoes.com/pdf/lists/list-vegan.pdf I looked through my pantry and tried to use what I had (vegan marinara and vegan caesar salad dressing), but for the rest, I went to TJ's! Here it goes...

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

Vegan Marinara

Soy Cheese (be careful because some of the soy cheeses at TJ's are not actually vegan)

Red pepper

zucchini

onion

with these ingredients I made a pizza...duh.

Next, I boiled some whole grain pasta and once it was done, I drained it and added pine nuts, olive oil, and basil! And then I threw some chicken-less chicken strips into the pasta dish!

For dessert, strawberries with a bit of stevia sprinkled on top!

Now go! Go make this! That's all for now! :)

grilled perfection

Try this:

marinated and grilled zucchini, eggplant, red pepper, yellow pepper, cherry tomatoes, and asparagus! I typically marinate in olive oil, thyme, rosemary, garlic, and a pinch of salt & pepper! Let them soak up for about an hour and then grill! (I usually have my dad grill it for me) As for a protein, I go for quinoa (a protein, grain, and has tons of fiber!) I had this the other day and absolutely loved it! The perfect summer dish!

Party's over...

So my birthday came and went and now back to reality. I chowed down on vegan cake and cupcakes all week and boy, were they delicious. My mom found a vegan bakery called Baby Cakes in downtown LA! They were made with spelt flour, and egg free, dairy free, caesin free and soy free! No guilt whatsoever! http://www.babycakesnyc.com/ check it out! They were absolutely fabulous! My dad, a carnivore, ate TWO vegan carrot cake cupcakes and THREE vegan vanilla cupcakes (with lemon zest frosting)! He knew they were vegan, but ate them anyway! Also, for my birthday dinner we went to Sisley Italian Kitchen in Valenica http://www.sisleykitchen.com/ and I had the Vegetarian Chicken Marsala! Soy cutlets in a marsala sauce with veggies instead of pasta (to make it vegan)! Try it!

Whole Foods = GOD!

Rather than making my own birthday cake, I decided to cruise on over to Whole Foods in which I found a VEGAN CHOCOLATE CAKE! YES! It's in the bakery/gelato section of the store. Happy Birthday to me....

What's for lunch?

Grilled veggie and edamame hummus sandwich! (with a side salad of course)....so tasty and so healthy! Toast 2 pieces of Trader Joe's Whole Grain bread, spread 2 tablespoons of Trader Joe's edamame hummus onto the toasted bread, then load 'er up with grilled veggies (my veggies were left over from the night before) and you've got yourself an amazing sandwich!

My amazing personal trainer gave me the idea to spread avocado and wasabi on a piece of whole grain bread and make a sandwich! SO GOOD! As you can probably tell I'm a sandwich person and that's because for years I attempted to eliminate all bread from my diet. As a result, I failed time after time. I just love bread WAY TOO MUCH to give it up for life! For a while I eliminated gluten from my diet; therefore, I transitioned to quinoa bread. Quinoa is slightly higher in calories, but just as satisfying. That's all for now!

I guess I can have my cake and eat it too

I'm in math right now and something dawned upon me...my birthday is Monday and I won't be able to eat a normal birthday cake! When I say "normal" I mean tons of yucky sugar, bad fat, and all that jazz. I realized it's all about modification and substitution. Here's a recipe I can upon...I'll give it a shot and let you know IF it worked and IF it's delicious!
http://www.randomgirl.com/recipes.html#markscake

VEGAN FOR LIFE

My name is Kelly and I recently turned vegan. I'm about two months in and I'm hooked. What did it for me was the book "Skinny Bitch".....un-f*%$king believable! No red meat, chicken, turkey, pork, eggs, or dairy. Basically, nothing that once lived. I realized that if you want to get thin, you have to eat healthy. I have literally been shrinking! I usually start my day with a tofu shake, edamame for a snack, salad and lentils for lunch, a vegan veggie burger for dinner, and maybe finish the night off with a "tofutti cutie ice cream" sandwich. It's really not that hard. I have to constantly remind myself...."Vegan is a lifestyle, not a diet!"

People often ask me if it's bothersome if someone eats a piece of pizza or sirloin in front of me, but the truth is not at all. I will never think less of anyone if they choose to eat meat or dairy, nor will I judge. My boyfriend and I often go to a burger place in town and he'll get his usual burger and fries and I'll get my veggie burger on wheat with veggies instead of fries...you just have to make it work.