the whole darn menu!

Tomorrow I have a Dr.'s appointment and I'm hoping I get to be in a walking cast.  I'm not sure if this will happen or not, and rather than worry about it, I'd rather reflect on something more pleasant...like food!  Oh, yes.  The love of food has not gone away with my new eating lifestyle, but has evolved.  Gone are the days when I can sit down at a restaurant and order whatever I want.  Now, I'm lucky to get two or three actual meals to order and more often than not, have to have them alter a menu item to suit my needs.  Except in Chicago.  This summer (while I was on blog leave of absence) I took the South Shore into Chi town and visited my bestie from college.  We immediately went to dinner at The Chicago Diner.  It is a vegetarian/vegan restaurant that has been spotlighted on one of the many restaurant shows on The Food Network.  I'm not necessarily proud of what I'm going to tell you, but for the sake of honesty and understanding my true nature, I have to divulge the truth.  In the 3 days I was there, I ate at the restaurant 3 times.  Hahahahaha!  It's true, I swear.  I was so overcome by the ability to once again look at a menu and order whatever I wanted, that I had to do it.  Again and again.  Also, admittedly, it was a slight departure for my uber (I'm too lazy to try to find the little dots that are supposed to go over the "u" in uber....sorry) I ate a cinnamon roll that would make a Cinnabon lover cry.  Actually, I don't usually go for the real sweet stuff being a savory over sweet girl, however being the true rebel I am I did it because...well, because I could.  And we took home like three desserts to try too. So there!  Listen to  my rebel yell!!  Yikes!!   Excessive?  Definitely.  Worth it?  Well, that's for each of us to decide.  For me it shows a couple things.  One:  Just cause I've changed how I eat doesn't mean I've changed who I am.  I cannot be lulled in thinking I'm immune to unchecked rampant eating.  But knowing this makes me stronger and more guarded against it.  Possibly (I say this as I have no experience with the program) like the 12 step program....isn't admitting there is a problem half the battle?  I would say I definitely have a "more is better" problem.  Two:  Sometimes it's okay to be human.  I mean, right?  The pure joy I felt ordering from that menu was real.  I was so happy and felt like a restaurant loved me and cared about nutritional oddities that I could have cried.  It felt good and I was inspired by the creative offerings.  My favorite by far was the Radical Reuben.  (by the way, I had to look up how to spell that as I kept getting the red lines...you know spelling is not one of my strengths!).  Third:  In eating somewhat not healthy, it reminds me how great I feel when I do eat healthy, so that kind of reminder is a good thing!!  Anyway, long and short of it is I regret nothing, but I'm probably glad I don't live by it.  Man, but that Reuben really was awesome!  :)

I can't give an update on my weight until I get this stupid cast off.  I wish I would have checked before I broke my ankle when I was running 5 days a week...grrrrr.  However, I was told that I looked like I lost a lot of weight from some people I haven't seen since May, so let's hope that's true and not just people being encouraging to the chubby girl!!  Wish me luck for a walking cast!  Night all :)

Danielle

Living La Vegan Loca

Hi everyone!  Yep, it's really me, back from blogger oblivion!!  I cannot believe I haven't blogged since April. What have I been doing lately?  Am I still eating a plant based diet?  Kick back it's been a long summer....

First of  all, I am still living  la vegan loca.  Here's the cool part:  It's been almost 9 months now!  No slip ups.  No scoring a chicken leg and eating it behind the house.  I feel so much more comfortable about it now, especially the cooking.  I've gotten better ordering out as well.  It's amazing the difference between timidly asking what they have for vegans, as opposed to telling them what they can do for me.  I have paid way too much for poor vegan options for so long, that now I channel Gordon Ramsey and put my foot down now.  I am definitely in a routine in my meals.  I adapted this from the book "The Two Week Wellness Solution" by Tess Challis.  I find that this works for me.  My weight loss has slowed, but is steady I think.  The main thing is I feel I have achieved the healthy life style I was seeking.  My typical day goes like this:

Glass of water with fresh, organic lemon squeezed and 1 cup of whole, organic fruit.
If I'm still hungry, like after working out, I may follow up later with some cereal in almond milk.
For lunch I'll have soup and salad  or one of my many recipes (my favorites are from Tess Challis' books)
Dinner is stir fry or  beans.
I try to get 4 to 6 c. of veggies in a day.  Yes, I will even measure to be sure...that's how obsessed I am about it.  I try to keep 3 to 4 c. raw.

When I stick to this, my energy is high, I don't get ill and my body feels light.  I don't eat 100% perfect all the time.  I have a penchant for vegan smores by my favorite vegan, gluten free baker, Scarlet O'Cara.  I found her, as well as many awesome producers at the Purple Porch Co-op, although Cara has a stall at the Farmer's Market too.  Because of Purple Poch, I have been eating seasonally this year.

I quit writing in my blog after a particularly stressful end of school year.  I resolved to take the summer off, although I didn't realize it at first.  I kept thinking I was going to write but then I never felt like doing it.  I needed some down time.  May was getting a little too vegan junk foodish for me.  I was starting to notice an over all yukky feeling 'cause I wasn't eating enough of the right things.  June 3rd, I decided to start walking.  Up to this point I had incorporated no kind of exercise routine, but I knew I needed to.  I hooked up with some friends who had mapped out a walk that was approx. 4 miles that they walked every morning.  I went with them and did the walk and felt pretty exerted by the end.  Eventually, their lives got busy and stopped, but I kept going every day except the weekend.  By the end of June I could do the walk without breathing hard, so I kicked it up a notch.  I extended the walk to 5 miles.  I started to then add running.  Every day I walked, I strove to add more running than the time before.  By the end of August, I was walking 1 mile and running 4.  That is crazy for me!  I  got so good at it, that I could talk the whole time I ran...my breathing never got ragged.  It was in the mists of this exercise frenzy that I began to feel an itch to be even more active.  My sister-in-law had joined the South Bend Roller Derby, and it made me decide to join as well.  It appealed to that rebel, edgy side that I have lurking underneath my mini van driving, Stay-at-home-Mom, PTO President persona.  Little did I know this would be my exercise downfall.  I had been out doing it a couple times (learning- not the actual derby yet).  I am a decent skater, but I got my new wheels (sweet, red Reiddel Diablo's) and needed to break them in and get used to them.  I watched something on a roller derby site, where they recommend you wear them around the house as you do house work etc.  One day ( Mon. Aug. 30th) I was doing this.  I was on my cell phone & my dog was outside going nuts barking.  I couldn't see where she was and she has been known to follow and bark at walkers.  Without thinking (I was distracted), I forgot my skates and stepped out on the steps to my back porch.  All it took was that first step and I fell (did I mention how nice & rolly my skates are?).  My phone flew up in the air and hung up on who I was talking to and I landed on my left side and knew immediately that my ankle was broken.  After laying there a minute, I remember thinking maybe it's sprained?  Yeah, it was hanging and I could feel the bones sliding around.  Nope, definitely broke.  I tried to call my husband, no answer.  I tried to call my friend/neighbor, no answer.  I knew I couldn't crawl inside the pain was intense.  It was around 1:00 p.m. and my kids wouldn't get home until 2:30, so I was alone.  I had no choice; I called 911.  Long story short, I broke in several places my outside, right ankle bone and broke the inside one.  Both ligaments were torn and I fractured the back of my tibia.  A surgery to fix the bone with a plate and pins later, I am home.  Its been a little more than a month now, and I'm doing better.  Recovery has been long, tedious and depressing.  I cannot put any weight on my leg yet and I'm on crutches.  It looks like I'll be this way until November.  So now here I am and I'm back to just good eating.  Although, really my upper body has gotten a work out with the crutches!  I guess things happen for a reason and I've decided not to return to roller derby.  For no other reason than the recovery time and inconvenience of an injury like this, not to mention roller derby is quite dangerous and filled with injuries all the time.  Ah well.  I will have to find a different way to vent my impending mid-life crisis! :) 

So, that's living La Vegan loca.  I have funny stories in there...scenes from a shower, my trip to The Chicago Diner (before ankle break), I will catch you all up.  Hey, I've got a lot of time on my hands and you're my semi-captive audience.  Check back, more to come.

"You Paid How Much for Nettles?"

Okay, so I started off strong and have been fading out lately.  I can't believe the last time I wrote in my blog was April 5th!!!!!  Bad me.  Where do I begin?  I can't let you all miss a moment of my exciting world as a meat lover turned vegan (only said with a hint of sarcasm).  Where did I leave off?  Ahh, the composting.  Well I got my compost drum and my husband even put it together for me (very shocking since he told me to take it back)!  I still need to read the directions so I know what the heck I'm doing.  It has stuff in there, but I need to get some yard waste in there which would happen if I could ever work in my yard.  I fear this will be an on going theme in my blogging this summer.  Hey, it's not easy being green.  Had a big "duh" moment with my husband when he looked at me as I was making him answer questions to a quiz to find out which one is his dosha  (he's Kapha for anyone who knows what the heck I'm talking about and I'm Pitta) in Ayurveda, and he said: "I should have known you would be into weird things since you were an art major".  You think Rick?  I have ever been drawn to the left of center.  And he is not, so yeah we are an odd couple but balance each other out somewhat.  It's been a very stressful April.  HA!  As, I just wrote that I realized that our wedding anniversary is tomorrow.  It is 14 years of wedded bliss.  The year before last, we missed it altogether (both of us completely forgot) and didn't remember until May.  It's not that it's against out religion or anything to celebrate it, but we have been a couple for 21 years and forget that there was ever a time we weren't together.  It's true.  Sorry, Rick putting together my composting drum diverted me into reflecting on us!  I've had a lot of stress this month and had to deal with a lot of issues.  I'm unhappy to report I still have a salt craving during these times.  I wish I never realized that Fritos and potato chips are essentially vegan.  Notice I didn't say healthy.  So to distract myself from salty Frito badness, I got these homemade yummy, toasted sesame nori crisps.  I really want to figure out how to make them.  They are nori sheets, torn into "chips" and toasted with some oil, brown rice syrup, sesames, cayenne pepper (just a hint), nutmeg and salt.  I got them from a vendor at the Purple Porch Co-op that I joined.  (www.purpleporchcoop.com) Here's from their website: 
Welcome to the Purple Porch Cooperative (PPC), Michiana's online local food cooperative. The Purple Porch Co-op is a member owned food cooperative committed to growing a sustainable local economy. We connect people in Michiana who want local, organic or fair trade food with the local growers who produce it.

I love it!  I shop on line and then every Wed. I pick up the food and chit chat with the producers.  It's all organic veggies and fruit and the meat I get my family is grass fed and no hormones (that makes me feel a little better anyway).  There's a vegan & gluten free baker there, and she's awesome.  I stalk her goods and try to figure out how to do them on my own.  Hence, the nori crisps.  She's so nice though, she'd probably show me how to do it!!  The only thing is my friend's farm is a producer there.  One day she picked up my orders for me and noticed I had bought nettles from someone.  She made fun of me because apparently on their farm they have TONS of it growing all over and she never realized people use it.  She couldn't believe I paid $3 a bag.  Well, there you go.  I'm a city girl!!  So, Michelle don't be surprised if you see me wandering around your farm with long sleeves and rubber gloves (nettles sting) and a paper sack....just a warning ;).  Oh, there's a lot going on I have to fill you in on, but I'm so tired!!!  Oh, I'm still losing weight!  It's slower now than it had been, but steady.  I am now 225.  Getting there.  My clothes are what I notice.  It feels like more.  This is getting to be the weight I always stalled at and then gained back.  I can't wait to get past it and say: "nah nah!".  Also, I have not been ill since changing my lifestyle.  I came close twice, but managed to keep it away!  That's 3 months, and for someone who has allergies (although that's way better too) and 3 boys, that's a long time not getting sick. 

I promise I will write again soon, no more stress keeping me away.  Although, you were all probably saying it's safe to come out, Danielle hasn't been blogging!  Haha, I'm back!  It's not so safe anymore!!  I thought about stats as I used to do them and think that time is done.  I rarely have cravings anymore, my mood is better (except when I'm moody, lol) and my health is awesome.  Sigh.  We must keep on keeping on, and I'm entering a new  phase of my diet.  Stay tuned....it's gonna rock!!  Goodnight all and be happy =)

Danielle

First Eater Holiday

Technically this was my first "bigger" family eater holiday since becoming vegan.  I have run through a gambit of emotions that I've been reflecting on.  One thing is that I realize how exactly it's possible to be a chubby vegan.  There is a way to eat poorly and still adhere to being a plant based diet.  I experienced this as I was all busy preparing for Easter.  I really have to force myself to eat veggies.  I just don't naturally go for them, especially when I'm distracted.  I think I really noticed it because as I mentioned in my last post I was fighting off illness and maybe I was compromised by my low veggie consumption.  I was able to fight it off, I'm so amazed even my husband get it!  But as I got busy, I noticed my low veggie consumption and the high level of eating "junk" vegan food.  I'm getting better, but it's still a chore for me to get in the veggies...I don't know why.  I like them better now, but I still have to force myself to remember to get them in.  So anyway, potato chips are vegan.  I didn't say healthy, but there's definitely no meat or dairy in it.  I also found vegan donuts.  So like I said, you can be chubby as a vegan.  But eating that way causes a nasty chain reaction where you're caught in a web of constant hunger cause you're not eating nourishing food and you end up craving the junk that got you there in the first place.  One has to be ever vigilant, whether you're vegan or not.  I didn't have a hard time with the ham and foods that surrounded me.  I thought I would, but nope.  It smelled good, don't get me wrong, but I didn't want it.  We went to my Uncle's house, and one of my family members asked if I had to eat this way or could I eat meat for the occasion.  My first reaction is one of being indignant.  But I thought about it and it's an innocent question from someone who does not feel what I feel, think what I think or know what I know.  Yes, I CAN eat meat whenever I want, if I want.  But, No I cannot.  This is not a quick lose weight diet.  This is me now.  This is my lifestyle.  I thought about it and I chose it.  I do not want to eat meat now, not ever again.  I like meat, but I no longer find it a viable source of nutrition for me.  I'm done.  People have said they admire my will power.  But it really has nothing to do with that.  It takes me no more will power to not eat meat & dairy then it does for me not to throw recycling in the garbage.  I became used to it and am convicted it's the right thing for me to do, like recycling.  Do I have to recycle?  No, I could choose to throw it in the garbage can.  In fact it would be easier to do that instead of having two receptacles. But I know it's better for the environment so I choose to recycle.  Same with my eating habits.  Now lets move on to my not so noble side effect I've been having recently.  I have been greedy with my vegan treats with my meat eating family (except my kids who I'm trying to guide into a plant based diet).  As much as I'd like everyone to eat a plant based diet, I know that it's not feasible.  So it's been really hard when they eat my food beyond a taste.  Obviously, I bring dishes to share as my contribution, but for example I brought some vegan candy.  My father ate some and offered it to others!  They had a whole bowl full of their chocolates, but they had to eat mine too!  And it was 5 dollars for a bag!!  I know I should be encouraging and giving, but mostly I wanted to yell "get your carnivore paws off my treats old man!!!"  See?  Not so noble.  Oh, well I have to work on this.  No one's perfect after all.  And I can be rather territorial about my food.  Must be an instinctual response that I haven't evolved from fully! LOL.  Composting update- I have "asked" my husband if I can get a composting drum.  I decided that it would be the best method for me, despite cheaper ways of doing it.  It works faster (which appeals to my impatient nature) and it is more convenient for my yard.  I'll keep you updated, because big surprise my husband thinks it's dumb.  Let's check stats:

Hunger:  a little nutrition deprived hunger as I skimped on the veggies.
Mood:  pretty happy =)
Cravings:  No, except I found myself getting into a salty/sweet cycle of fat doom/
Health: I emerged victorious from fighting off the illnesses hanging about my house!!

Spring is here, and I couldn't be happier.  I will keep spring in my heart and embrace the ever changing needs of my body and mind as the season itself does.  Spring brings the promise of a better day,of a better me!  Be healthy my friends =)

Danielle

Say it with me: "Eating For Health"

Wow.  Whew!  I knew it was going to be a long week last week and I was right!  Kung Fu Vegan powers activate...now I'm fighting off illness ALL around me.  All 3 kids have been home sick with me.  Coughing, sneezing, snotting in my direction.  I have been trying to fight off illness.  I feel it there trying to take hold, but thus far unsuccessful.  I have been juicing over time.  Even my husband has been juicing for me!  It's little wonder I'm teetering on the brink of illness disaster.  Last week was stressful, but the kind I like.  I actually thrive on these kind of things.  Book Fair chaos, and it was huge too.  We had great sales and great events.  But Friday as we were closing up I noticed a cold sore on my lip starting.  Always a sign that my immune system is wearing down and I'm fighting something off.  Looking back over the week of eating, I'm not surprised.  I wasn't eating my 4 to 6 cups of veggies a day.  I was BARELY even eating breakfast, if at all.  Plus I had been eating out for lunch.  I had a cheese mishap one day.  I scrapped, but I'm sure I got some cheese in me.  So, hello cold sore!  I took that as my cue to catch up on my healthier way of eating and immediately got out the juicer.  Thank you Tess for your immune boosting recipes, cause I've been hitting them hard.  Nothing says Kung Fu to germs like garlic, ginger and a plethora of fruits and veggies.  So I felt better this weekend, even as my children started to drop like flies around me.  But, I still feel it hovering there..waiting.  I've been back to the plan, my modified diet from Tess' 2 week plan.  That is to say here's how I eat (and it's something that has become natural to me):  First thing in the a.m. a big glass of water with 1/2 to whole fresh squeezed lemon (I use my ancestral hand juicer).  Then I usually munch on 1 cup of whole fruit while I get my breakfast ready.  Breakfast varies with my mood.  This a.m. I had an organic flax & granola cereal with organic raisins thrown in with almond milk.  Then lunchtime I have 1 or 2 cups of veggies....somehow some way.  Usually raw, as that is how I prefer vegetables. But, again lunch consists of where my mood takes me.  I try and get another veggie in as a snack, but that just depends.  If I'm not hungry, I absolutely do not eat.  This has been a huge thing for me, and one that I still struggle with.  I know you should eat as consistently as possible, but I've been "listening" to my body and well, that's that.  If I'm not hungry, forget it.  Not listening to my body and blithely indulging in whatever food addiction I had has brought me to the sad state of health I HAD been in until this point.  I like now way better than then, so I will choose to listen this time around.  And besides, I am in no danger of starving or losing too much weight.  Really.  I could keep a small family alive on my fat for at least a season.  Anyway, I usually try to finish eating by 7 p.m. (usually...that didn't happen fair week) that way giving my liver time to do it's magic.  And I'm all about trying to be nice to my body now.  After years of abuse, I feel like I'm kissing a friend's butt that I have wronged somehow and has been mad at me.  You feel like orange juice?  Right away, no problem.  What?  You want asparagus?  I really don't care for that...oh, fine.  I'll eat it, but only because you keep reminding me of the time I ate food from 2 different fast food places in the same meal.  (yes, that is a true, sad story.....much darkness lies in my past! lol).  So, yeah.  That's what's going on.  Eating for health.  What a great mantra or me.  I've also been taking care of business in my yard.  I pruned this poor apple tree that I swear NEVER had a thing done to it.  Now, I want to coax it into baring lots of nice fruit for me organically.  Wish me luck, I have NO idea what I'm doing.  Thank God for the internet.  Also, I started to compost in the kitchen.  A friend (Thank you Tonya if you're reading this!!) gave me an extra kitchen composting canister that she had at her house not using.  Now I can plan my garden.  This is all new stuff that normally would make me shut down and not be able to do out of fear of failing (wow, I never realized this about me...now I know where my son Owen gets it from) but I keep pep talking myself into doing it.  Who cares if I do it wrong, right?  The police won't come out and ticket me for the improper placement of carrots in my garden.  I just always want to know everything about what I'm doing and do it perfectly right the first time.  It's a madness, I realize that.  For me, I don't enjoy the learning process.  It would be so much easier if I could go see Lawrence Fishburn on "The Matrix" and learn by them downloading the info. in my head.  So, me being me, has to go crazy.  Do I start small and say master composting?  Oh, no.  I have to try: composting, gardening (organic), holistic medicines, food as medicine, making kombucha, making tofu, change my diet, change my activity levels, and change my life.  That's it.  Just that.  There is something wrong with me.  Now, I feel like I have to go because I should be reading a "how to" book or something.  Good grief.  At least I have great people around me and supporting me.  You are all awesome and I wish you nothing but the best life can bring you.  Let's do stats:

Hunger:  I had a bit of a hunger thing going on.  Not sure why.  I doubled up on veggies, because I noticed I have unspecific cravings when I don't eat as healthy.
Mood:  Better now.  Spring Break is about to start and it's beautiful out!
Cravings: Nothing specific, just hungry, but not knowing for what.
Health: Precarious.  Trying to fight off illness with all the arsenal at my disposal.

Sorry, it's been a while.  I wasn't at my best for writing last week and didn't want to subject you all  to ranting about book fairs and poodle skirts.  Don't ask!!  I'm back at it and am sure I will have many misadventures and hopefully victories to blog about.  Thank you.  Have a great night.  Be happy =)

Danielle

Staying Grounded

Okay, first of all I'm sorry it's taken so long.  Second, I apologize in advance, because it might be a while after this before I can blog again.  Monday begins the week long Scholastic Book Fair at my kid's school that I co-chair.  You wouldn't think that a simple book fair could drain someone, but we have lots going on during it: trivia contests every day, a gumball guess, a special visitor day, ice cream social & sock hop...  It'll be crazy!  Fortunately, I'm trying to plan ahead for my eating so I don't get stuck with food all around me but nothing vegan.  As the weather turns nice (although it's cold as I type this), my thoughts have been turning to organic gardens and lawn care.  I am wanting to really learn more and do these things (like compost) but have never done it and don't know where to start.  Anybody out there compost and can give me some direction?  There's literally 50 different compost drums you can buy!  It can be a little over whelming exploring these new directions I'm taking my life.  I become a little timid about trying something new.  Tess, who wrote "Radiant Health, Inner Wealth" (and if you've followed my blog at all, know she's my vegan mentor), has been blogging her first foray into making her own Kombucha.  This is so cool, something I would love to do, but lack the confidence to take that step into actually trying it.  I don't know where this fear is coming from.  I mean if you mess it up, you mess it up!  Who cares, right?  This is going to have to be something I need to work on.  I noticed it coming out more during all this "change".   I keep getting burned by hidden egg whites and hidden cheese.  I have become so disillusioned with restaurant salad dressing, that I'm starting to carry mine around!  I had a Greek Salad somewhere, and became suspicious later (the colon never lies!) that there was cheese in it.  When I went shopping later I looked at the ingredients in Greek Dressing and yes, feta cheese was in it.  I learned 2 things this day: 1. don't trust employees as to the ingredients, they have no clue (in most places...not all...but most!).  2.  Take more responsibility for the foods I eat.  Meaning, I can be mad at these places, but really it's my health and lifestyle choice that's slightly NOT mainstream, so I have to be more vigilant.  So, I pulled out RHIW and got busy making sauces.  I get so busy in my life I forget what a pleasure it is to make food.  Especially, food that is so good for me!  I think that this is a normal pattern. Life, like an undertow, can keep slowly dragging us off the course we want to take.  When we finally notice that we've drifted, we get back where we want to be.  So, now I'm going to be focusing on staying where I need to be as my life (this week in particular) tries to pull me away.  It's the little things that can keep us rooted.  Composting, bottling my own salad dressing, meditating to keep my ear turned inwards to listen to my body.  When I get too crazy from the busyness of life, that's when I don't hear my body as well or I misunderstand it's needs.  That's probably why I have been falling way short of my 4 to 6 cups of veggies a day.  I gotta keep in the moment.  And right now my body wants green (green= healthy) pancakes =).  Let's do stats!

Hunger:  had uncontrolled eating last night.  I put this down to not eating a balanced diet recently.
Mood:  Pretty good.
Cravings:  No, not really.  I kind of been wanting vegan sweets (I don't get them often, but sometimes I REALLY want one!).
Health:  Really good.  No illnesses since beginning this lifestyle. 

My goal this week is to stay focused and handle all the chaos around me.  I also, need to stay focused as I go about making more changes in my life.  I think if I can keep grounded it will help me be less frightened of doing what I need to do to make the changes that I want.  Be happy everyone! =)

Danielle

What Up My Vegans!!!

I went to a Vegan Meetup tonight!!  It was very nerve racking for me, because anyone who knows me knows I have a hard time doing new things...hahaha, which in retrospect is kind of funny considering how much my life has changed!!  I guess I have selective phobias.  However, Kyna (Michiana Vegans creator), very kindly offered me to ride with her (which is good or I doubt I would have gone).  So before I went I looked at my designer, LEATHER, purse and decided maybe I shouldn't take it.  My husband just laughs at me.  I imagined myself walking into the place saying: "What up my vegans!!!" (which I never would really say, but I think it's funny to picture) and them collectively gasping in outrage at my purse.  We smell the leather on you poser, GET OUT!  Now, remember, I became a vegan because of the health benefits.  Not that I don't care about animals, I do, but as an omnivore I never thought about it because lets face it, you can't know that stuff and happily keep eating whatever meat is in the grocery store.  So, I am only recently appreciating what being vegan means in other avenues besides the health.  I don't necessarily care what people think of me or that I need to be a certain way for them, but I do like to be respectful of others beliefs and since I wanted to friend these people I figured down playing my big leather purse might be prudent. (especially if they happened to be the blood or red paint throwing vegan kind).  As it turns out everyone was way cool and wouldn't have showered me in blood for my purse.  We talked for a long time and I learned new things from each one of them.  Yay!  Now I don't have to troll the Farmer's Market vegan baked goods stand for friends!!!  We are having another meetup in April and I look forward to it.  Only 4 of us went out of 16, but it was so worth it to meet the 4.  We all had odd ties to each other.  Two members live in the same apartment building, as in one directly over the other and they didn't know it ahead of time!!  Me and another girl both worked at the same vet clinic at different times and the other girl works with my sister.  Weird!!!  Meant to be?  Maybe!  Not to change the subject, but I am.  I have been attacked by egg whites and I am p.o.'d about it.  Stupid Morning Star chicken patties.  Then I investigated some more packaged foods I got "just in case".  3 more have stupid egg whites or milk protein.  Now I have to give them to some dairy eating vegetarians I know.  It's not cheap you know.  Now I will have to be more diligent in my label reading.  And the egg whites made me have gas =(.  On a happy note, my Sis, brother-in-law and parents are back from Florida so now I don't have to feed my sis's devil cat anymore!!  I did, by the way, hold a cheeto for her to lick.  Twice.  After she licked it, she then would hiss dismissively at me.  I feel so used!  And my parents failed to tell me they would have workers at their house while they were gone remodeling their bathroom!  My dad made me go feed his "outside critters" (this would be any stray, outside pet or wild animal in a 10 mile radius) while they were gone.  I pull up on Monday and the garage was open and a truck was in the drive.  I almost called the police, but 2 guys were sitting there not moving, looking at me.  I decided they were either incredibly stupid thieves or innocent hired workers.  Thanks Dad!  Tomorrow I will weigh myself.  It has been a while so I'm nervous.  I feel lighter.  But right at this moment I feel bloated from the accidental egg white and the big vegan cookie I just snarfed down.  Ah, well.  It is what it is.  You'll still love me no matter, right?  Ow, man, I totally burned my wrist on a 450 degree oven door the other day.  After I took a shower today, I was getting dressed and bumped the spot and it pulled off a layer of skin!  YUCK!  And it hurts.  Feel free to think this is a sad ploy for sympathy and attention, because it is....but It really did happen!  Okay, I want to spend some quality alone time with my hubby so let's do stats:

Hunger:  So not like it used to be.  I rarely get out of control eating rampages like I used to.
Mood:  Happy =)
Cravings: Nope, except I do love the bean curd Asian style.  Sigh.
Health:  Gassy, thanks egg whites!

My husband and I went to the kids school for Logan's "Living History" project and 3 people told me how handsome he is.  That made feel good, but I wondered if anyone says that to him about me.  Pathetic?  Maybe, but I want to be the hot wife.  Who doesn't?  But it did make me feel good, because 2 people told me they really noticed my weight loss and one even said I was radiant!! Thanks "Radiant Health, Inner Wealth"!!!! =)  Good night everybody, be happy!!!

Danielle