This lunch was surprisingly delicious. Fresh cucumber, black beans, spinach, edamame beans, and quinoa(cooked in organic low sodium vegetable broth).
This is a great website that shows the nutritional breakdown of all kinds of foods that I use to make healthy choices. Check it out here. http://nutritiondata.self.com/
Much Love, B
About two weeks ago I took a five-day road trip across America. It was beautiful, long, and at times very boring. I have always been a strange eater when I’m traveling. Looking back I realized that there were certain foods I only consumed when I was in airports or on long car rides. Every time I flew I would buy a package of pizza Combos, vanilla Snackwell’s cookies and a package of Welch’s fruit gummies. Never in my normal day- to day eating would I partake in such snacks. Traveling was my pass for a free for all in convenience store eating. Since I have transitioned to a more balanced diet on the fly eating has been much more challenging.
I bought a bunch of food for my road trip but I was a bit rushed in packing and didn’t fully consider what options I would have when we pulled off the road for fuel and quick meals. As you can imagine I discovered those options to be limited. I was lucky to find some Naked Juice (I hate that it’s sold in a plastic bottle) and Salt & Pepper Kettle Chips in a truck stop in Idaho, a so-so fruit salad at a hot wings restaurant and pleased to eat a bag of organic Apple Chips in Kentucky. The best meal by far was in Laramie, Wyoming. I did not for an instant think that I would find such an array of vegan friendly establishments in their historic downtown. After a long day of travel a hot, scrumptious meal was just what I needed to press on. Jeffrey’s Bistro did not disappoint. I had their Sesame Thai Carrot salad with Baked Tofu. A beautiful collision of sweet and refreshingly spicy flavors did a dance on my taste buds. It is a meal worth driving thousands of miles for.
Constant vigilance is my new way of life when it comes to food on the go. A simple meal can become a nightmare if I’m not careful. Cross contamination, hidden ingredients and a general lack of attention can cause me great pain. Having given up fast food there is one popular establishment that I can still get a quick meal at, Chipotle. I love the fact that they have vegetarian and gluten free options. I hate the way that they set up their toppings station, as it is not friendly to those who can’t have dairy. I ate some amazing corn tortilla vegetarian tacos on the road. What I didn’t realize was that since they had the guacamole and shredded cheese containers right next to each other bits of said cheese had infiltrated their delicious guacamole. I gobbled down my food and headed back out on the road. It just so happened that the navigation sent us on an old highway full of character and gorgeous scenery but lacking any rest stops. Let’s just say that it was one of the longest most painful drives of my life and I have never been so happy to check into a cheap hotel.
The next day, using Siri as our guide, we found a small restaurant in Illinois to have dinner at. It just so happened that the soup of the day was a vegan spicy Indian inspired potato soup. It was super good but not enough so I ordered a side of jasmine rice. I made sure to ask if had been cooked in vegetable broth and it looked so good when the waiter brought it out. One bite in I knew something was off. Butter. They had mixed in a heaping amount of butter. That experience has now convicted me to do a “plate check” on all rice and vegetable dishes that I order. (I now check under the food for a greasy film. A sign of added butter.)
Trying to eat healthy on the road made me miss the convenience that a typical American diet allows for but I know that I’m doing right by my body and that in time I will be able to better prepare for traveling in “crunchy” style. Happy trails!
Much Love, B
“I am not a vegetarian because I love animals; I am a vegetarian because I hate plants.”
A. Whitney Brown
I have to say that I used to be quite the baker. I could whip up delicious cookies or moist cake that would make you want you to slap yourself. And then I had to stop eating wheat. The hardest part of this transformation has been trying to figure out gluten free baking. I have found that you must follow the directions exactly and on the fly substitutions do not work out well. So I have resorted to pre-made mixes.
One of my favorite foods ever are pancakes. Big fluffy, moist, delicious, filled with fruit or smothered in syrup. I love pancakes. However, most gluten free pancakes are crap. I have had a lot of different kinds and most are gritty, grainy and just not good. The best I’ve ever eaten was at a incredible restaurant in Seattle’s University District. The Portage Bay Cafe has an amazing vegan, organic, banana pancake option on their menu. It is the pancake that I hold all other pancakes to.
I have discovered a pretty delicious mix you can use at home. It’s from the Craving Place. I add a little organic pure vanilla extract and fruit to change it up a bit. They can be a little mushy but as close to traditional wheat pancakes that I have been able to make at home. Please let me know if you have a great (hopefully simple) gluten free vegan recipe or know of a great premixed product.
Much Love, B
About 10 years ago, I sensed that I needed a change. I was living in Chicago working fulltime and trying to finish up my BA. I was in my early 20’s full of promise and a lot of excess weight. Food was something that I absolutely loved but that caused me a lot of pain. My regular diet was that of a typical American. Fast food a few times a week, a general lack of fresh vegetables, and a lot of excessive days. Many a time the food I ate turned on me causing extreme stomach cramps, headaches, and battling my bowel in the bathroom. I have had to leave amazing concerts, shows, and experiences all due to the food I was eating. My solution wasn’t to change what I was consuming. Oh no, instead I would pump my stomach full of Tums and Pepto-Bismol. My stomach issues were so ever present that my family would carry around extra medicine, deemed “the hookup”, just incase I had an issue while out. It was a crazy, stupid way to live. Then something happened. The word ”vegan” entered my world. I bought a book (Becoming Vegan) and started to do a little research. Could I make such a dramatic shift in my life? Would I be willing to give up the foods that got me through rough times in search for a better quality of life? In short…no. The book was soon shelved in the back of my bookcase and quickly forgotten.
Time passed, I graduated from college, and moved back home to the Pacific Northwest to live with my parents as I opened a small retail boutique. Unfortunately, I remained in the same cycle of eat crap food, face the consequences. I tried from time to time to integrate healthier eating into my world. “Hello Acai berries, making a smoothie out of you will fix everything.” After a rough day at work I would drive through a local fast food place. My standard “I’m stressed out and needing something to take the edge off” meal was a 20 piece chicken nugget with a side of ranch and BBQ, two small cheeseburgers, a fish filet, and a large fry to top it off. No soda of course, that’s just empty calories! What in the world was I thinking? I remember hiding the food from my parents, as I snuck away to my bedroom to stuff my feelings down with a gluttonous amount of calories. After all the crumbs were gone and I had licked the last bit of dressing from its square container, the magnitude of what I had just consumed would set in. That was my life until it wasn’t.
I was working with a youth group when one of my teenage boys challenged me with a dare; whoever could go a month without fast food would win. The deal was to give up all the burger joints. Tacos, pizza and Chinese food were all allowed. It was the end of my relationship with McDonalds. I won the bet and never looked back. That was 2009. Even in giving up some of my favorite go to foods, my diet didn’t improve much. The grocery store deli was now the place where I would lose myself in food. Meat & cheese farmer’s “salad”, BBQ beef deep fried burritos, breaded general’s chicken, and a creamy bacon & cheese spread on French bread. My oh my, I really know how to indulge! The problem wasn’t just the amount of food I was eating, but also the cost. The damage it was doing to my mind, body, and wallet was visible. Something had to change.
After years of stomach issues, I decided to go to a naturopathic doctor to see if I could get my body in order. I did some muscle testing for food sensitivities and found out that wheat, gluten, dairy and almonds should no longer be part of my life. I had a “farewell to wheat” weekend in Portland, OR. I guzzled up bread & butter, mac & cheese, and topped it off with a dozen pastries at the famous Voodoo Doughnuts. It was pretty epic. I made a deal to go cold turkey on a Monday morning. The only problem was that my best friend had made me one of her famous (kinda healthy) quiches as a gift. It was frozen, sitting in my freezer, and I had to have it. I cooked it up as soon as I got home. It was so worth the slight stomach discomfort that came after eating half of it. The next morning I was done.
Going gluten and dairy free was surprisingly easy. I stopped at a Whole Foods on my way out of Portland and got an array of allergy free goods. It was amazing to me finding out how much hidden wheat is in almost everything (well everything processed) at the grocery store. It took some effort to find foods that tasted good and didn’t make me feel ill. The hardest part was trying to go out to eat. Although many large chain restaurants have gluten free menus, almost all of the meals still had dairy products. I went to Outback Steak house for my Grandpa’s 94th birthday. I ordered the seared ahi tuna, a baked potato with nothing on it and a side of steamed veggies. It was an amazing meal but ten minutes into it I started feeling sick. After getting home, I realized that the potato had been smeared with butter prior to baking. I have had a few instances of ordering what I thought would be issue free food only to pay for it in the end.
It was a couple of months later when I watched a documentary on juicing for health (Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead). I had been slowly eliminating beef, pork, chicken, and such from my diet. The feeling that I needed to stop eating animal products was almost instinctual. (Also, the last time I ate beef I was bloated and gassy for a week). I had been eating seafood, fish and eggs but knew it was time to give it all up. I decided to do a short juice fast then stop with all animal products. Fasting was an interesting process that I will share with you at another time.
I still have a couple of things to give up (gelatin & honey) but at this point I’m eating a whole foods, plant based diet. It took me over 10 years to get to this place. I feel a new sense of self and it has been quite the adventure so far. I want to share what I’ve learned, resources I’ve found, and what I struggle with. I’m hoping to connect with others like me that are trying to live “granola” while still having a full, extraordinary, and stylish life. So here’s to my new journey as an urban granola.
Much Love, B
I recently took a five day road trip across the country from Washington to Georgia. By day three I was tired of hearing my own voice and desperate for some mental stimulation. I had seen NPR’S TED talks podcast promoted on iTunes. I downloaded a variety of episodes and thoroughly enjoyed all of them. The talks of food and sustainability were amazing. I’m looking forward to delving more into all the different topics featured on their site.
Hope you enjoy them as much I do.
Much love, B
