Stay fit, stay vegan, and stay fine!

   

 My new week started out great, I got ready to go to yoga. Fortunately, it was a very beautiful day Monday, so I was able to make it to the gym.

     I wore a thrifted outfit with a long sleeve grey lace Victoria Secret top, and then a red longer tank, over top, and then my cute porcupine tank top that says free hugs. Then I wore the Luluroe forest creature leggings I thrifted from Goodwill last week, my leopard print boots I thrifted many years ago. The boots are not vegan. 

    Unfortunately, I don't think I will stop wearing my thrifted wool until I move to Florida. Oregon is just too damn cold. I also wore a recently thrifted unique copper colored necklace with a chain and metal feathers.

    I am experiencing just a little pain from doing more yoga, but I've progressed with improved stamina and flexibility, so it's worth it.

    For dinner, I had a meal prep of my cashew teriyaki cauliflower. You can find the recipe on last week's blog. 

 

    I was really happy, all week, about how low my expected weight would be! That is showing real progress on portion control and avoiding overeating.

    I was watching a vlogger, a while back, that was talking about marmite spaghetti. I actually love marmite, and I thought it sounded absolutely fantastic! It was simple, delicious, and easy to make. It would be a great dish for a busy parent to make their children. I just used spaghetti, marmite, vegan butter, and vegan parmesan.

Marmite Spaghetti

Ingredients:

    1 16 oz. package of Spaghetti Noodles

    2 teaspoons Marmite

    1 tbsp vegan butter

    6 tbsp vegan parmesan

Instructions: 

    Boil then strain spaghetti. transfer back to the pot and stir in marmite, vegan butter, and vegan parmesan. 

Yield: 

    At least 3 servings 845 calories per serving.

 

    I had a great Hula Hoop Work out Tuesday Evening, and I am making lots of progress learning on my new hula hoop!

    The stormy weather we have been having has been keeping me away from the gym, but I have been trying to work out at home.

    Finally, I am starting to see some action in the charts of my weight loss. I think for the past 2 years my fat was shifting into muscles as my body was shifting everything into a healthier body. 

    I was absolutely delighted to see that my waist trainer is finally starting to fit again, so now I can start practicing my waist training again. I am slowly going to work myself into learning to wear heels and waist train, so soon I will wear heels every time I wear my waist trainer or corset. I am trying to only purchase shoes with heels for now. I have enough shoes that are flats. It is time to wear heels again!

 
     That evening, I had a major craving for top ramen. I broke it down that I was likely craving salt, carbs, and fat and since I had no ramen, I decided to snack on saltine crackers with hemp butter and olives. It completely satisfied my craving.

    Thursday, I got some more groceries from the local food bank and got a lot of really good stuff including hot dog buns and carrots to make carrot dogs!

    I have started wearing make up more frequently, especially now that I've been going out more. This shows a major step in taking better care of myself. I also have a new quarterly allowance from my insurance in order to spend on over the counter health care products which is truly such a blessing to be able to take better care of my health now.

 

    I got a lot of great stuff for my health thanks to my new Insurance card, and the birds are truly happy to have lots more bird food.

    After I got back from Walmart, I finished making garlic powder. Then, I made carrot dogs.

 

 

Marinated Carrot Dogs

 

Ingredients:

 

    8 carrots 

    8 Hot Dog Buns

    1/4 cup soy sauce 

    1/4 cup veggie powder or a couple tsp veggie bullion

    1 tbsp liquid smoke

    2 tbsp paprika

    1 tbsp onion powder

    1 tbsp garlic powder

    2 tsp marmite or 2 tbsp nutritional yeast

    Dash of clove powder

Instructions: 

    Peel and shape carrots like hot dogs and add them to a pot and cover with water. Bring to a medium boil and add seasoning. Simmer on low for at least 15 minutes or until carrots are the desired tenderness when pierced with a fork. 

    Store In a container with some of the marinade over night. Carrot dogs can be sauteed, grilled or fried before eating and served with your favorite condiments.

Yields:

 At least 8 carrot dogs all though more can be added to broth and boiled if necessary. Carrot dog calories will vary depending on cooking method, but a raw carrot dog is about 150 calories each.

  Thursday afternoon I also made a buttermilk corn chowder that is from a recipe book that I have been studying and trying to veganize. It is Better Homes and Gardens Soups and Stews cook book from 1978.

    The recipe was very delicious but I found out a few weeks into the future, (as I am running 3 weeks behind on my fit vlogs), that the soup will be much thicker if the flour is replaced with cornstarch.

 Hemp Buttermilk Corn Chowder

Ingredients:

    1 tbsp coconut oil

    1/2 cup bacon bits 

    2 tsp soy sauce

    1 small onion diced

    8 medium potatoes diced

    2 cans of corn drained

    6 cups vegetable broth

    1 head of celery sliced

    1 tsp salt

    1 tsp pepper

    1 tsp garlic powder

    2 tbsp corn starch

    2 cups hemp milk

    3 tbsp apple cider vinegar

    1 tbsp liquid smoke

Instructions:

    In a large soup pot saute bacon bits with coconut oil and soy sauce until it creates drippings in the pan. Remove bacon bits and set aside. Saute onions in drippings adding water if necessary.

    Add potatoes, corn, 2 cups broth, celery, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer until veggies are tender, about 50 mins.  

    Add 3 cups of vegetable broth and bring back to a simmer. 

    Add hemp milk, apple cider vinegar into a bowl with liquid smoke and set aside. In another bowl, mix corn starch with remaining 1 cup of broth and slowly stir into the soup until bubbly. 

    Reduce heat to low and stir in hemp buttermilk mix. reserve some bacon bits to garnish soup bowl and stir in remaining bacon bits in the soup. 

    optional garnish with fresh parsley or smoked paprika.

Yield: 

    8 servings about 410 calories per serving

Spicy Pepper Bacon Sweet Potato Biscuits

Ingredients:

        2 1/4 cup biscuit mix

1 can sweet puree

1 tsp black pepper 

1 tsp Montreal steak seasoning

1 tbsp bacon bits

1 tbsp chili oil

Instructions: 

    Add biscuit mix to a bowl and mix in sweet potato puree. Add pepper and mix. Add just enough water to create desired biscuit consistency. 

    I opted for a more wet batter for drop biscuits but less water will work for roll out biscuits.  

    Spread biscuits on a greased baking sheet. Top each biscuit with a bit of steak seasoning, bacon bits, and a small splash of chili oil. Bake at 450 degrees F for 12 minutes.

Yield: 

    4 servings, serving size 2 biscuits, about 460 calories per serving.

 

    That evening I prepared a vegan pie crust to make vegan jalepeno radish chick pea quiche. I used the Classic Crisco Pie Crust Recipe. My alteration was using butter flavored Crisco, 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar, and I used adobo seasoning instead of salt. I still have not perfected my pie crust technique yet but I will let you all know once I get it right.

    I did make peanut butter honey sandwiches with some left-over honey I had bought a few months ago to try the honey papaya seed parasite cleanse, (which I didn't have any parasites,) but peanut butter honey sandwiches can easily be made vegan by using vegan butter and maple syrup. I think I actually like them better that way.

    Friday morning, I made Vegan Jalapeño Radish Chickpea Quiche using the pie crust I made the night before.

Vegan Jalapeno Radish Chickpea Quiche

Ingredients:

    2 pie crusts

    1 bunch of radishes sliced.

    3 jalapeños sliced.

    1 small red onion sliced.

    1 cup sliced green onion.

    1 package vegan mozzarella shredded.

     1 1/2 cans chickpeas with aquafaba

    1/2 tsp Indian black salt

    1 tsp adobo seasoning

    1 dash of turmeric powder

    1 tsp garlic powder

    1 tsp black pepper

    4 tbsp cornstarch

Instructions:

    In a large mixing bowl add cheese, radishes, onions, and jalapeños.

    In a blender or food processor puree chickpeas with black salt, adobo seasoning, turmeric, garlic, black pepper and cornstarch. Fold chickpea mixture into the mixing bowl full of veggies and vegan cheese.

    Lay out pie crust on 2 pie pans and shape with a fork. Fill each pie crust with quiche filling and spread out evenly in the pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hr. Allow to cool to room temperature or chill before serving.

Yield: 

    16 servings 230 calories per serving

 

    I ordered a replacement for my Wet N Wild lipstick I broke in the shade, Death to Unicorns. I really love this lipstick and I was sad I had broken the applicator, but I was very happy to find a replacement on Amazon. It is vegan and cruelty free.

    Friday, I began my project of working on cleaning and decluttering and eating from my freezer so I will be prepared to store the bounty of spring and summer fruits and veggies. I pulled out several bags full of vegetable scraps, random frozen veggies, and saved sauces and threw them all into my crock pot and insta pot with water to slow cook overnight to make vegetable broth and vegetable bullion. 

 

    Saturday Morning, I found a lot of amazing stuff at the thrift store not just for me, but also for my neighbor, my brother, my father, and Khalid. The earrings were definitely the biggest score of the day, worth way more than the dollar I paid for them.

     I made some vegetable bullion with the left-over boiled vegetables from the vegetable broth which was quite the process. Basically, I separated the vegetables from the broth. reserving the broth for future soups and stews and then I pureed the boiled vegetable scraps in my blender. Then, I laid the paste on a wax paper lined baking sheet and froze it for 1 day. After it froze, I let the bullion defrost just enough to cut into cubes with a knife and I stored the frozen cubes in sandwich bags in the freezer. If I was not making such a large quantity, I would probably have used ice cube trays instead.

    Saturday Night, I made a delicious pizza using a recipe for pizza dough from my cookbook, Practical Pizzas.

Practical Pizza Dough Recipe

Ingredients:

    1 tsp active dry yeast

    6 tbsp tepid water

    1/2 tsp sugar

    1 tbsp olive oil

    1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

    1 tsp salt

Instructions:

    Combine sugar, yeast and water in a bowl and whisk to dissolve. set aside and allow to proof for 15 mins.

    Once the yeast has become frothy stir in olive oil.

    Add sifted flour and salt and stir in until dough is formed.

    Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead until stretchy. 

    Shape into a ball and add to a greased bowl. cover with a warm damp towel and allow to raise for 1 hr. 

    Once dough has raised punch dough and now you can shape it for your pizza, or you can wrap with plastic wrap and store in the fridge for the next day.

 Vegan Mushroom, Olive, Artichoke, Italian Sausage Pizza

Ingredients: 

    1 cup pizza Sauce

    1 cup Italian sausage

    6 servings vegan mozzarella shreds

    1 serving vegan parmesan shreds

    1/2 lb slice mushrooms

    1/2 jar grilled artichokes

    20 black olives sliced

Instructions:

    Spread out pizza dough on a baking greased pizza pan. Spoon on pizza sauce and smooth out onto the crust. Top with a layer of vegan mozzarella and parmesan cheese. 

    Add sliced mushrooms, olives, artichoke hearts and sausage. Top the pizza with desired additional seasoning and powder vegan parmesan if desired. 

    Bake at 400 F degrees for 18 to 20 minutes 

Yield:

    8 servings 190 calories per slice

Vegan Italian Sausage

Ingredients:

    1 cup soy curls

    1 tsp coconut oil

    1 tsp liquid smoke

    1 tsp onion flakes

    1/2 tsp hot salt

    2 tsp Italian seasoning

    1 tsp fennel seeds

    1 tsp garlic powder

    1 dash garlic pepper

    1 dash clove

    1 tsp soy sauce

    1 tsp paprika

Instructions:

    Add soy curls, coconut oil, and seasonings to a bowl and cover with hot water. Allow to soak for at least 5 minutes before adding to a pizza.

Pizza Sauce

Ingredients:

    1 can tomato sauce.

    1 small can tomato paste.

    2 tsp Italian seasoning

    1 tsp oregano

    1 tsp pepper

    1 tsp salt

    1 tsp garlic powder

    1 tbsp olive oil

    1/2 tsp McCormick Italian Herb seasoning grinder

Instructions: 

    Add all the ingredients to a bowl and stir. Use desired amount on pizza and save the extra in the freezer for future use.

    Saturday evening, I worked on some upcycled crafting, painting some Prosperity Manifestation candles.

 

        I also started working on a few upcycled fashion accessories like this moon phase upcycled choker using packaging from my yoga mat I recently purchased and a black rose trim and owl sun catcher I scored from The Humane Society thrift store.

 

    I also fixed a broken waist belt buckle by embellishing it with upcycled jewelry parts from the thrift store.

 

 

    Sunday, I got dressed all nice to go shopping and go for a walk with my friend wearing a thrifted black straw hat, lacy, berry red blouse, black beaded vest, and Alice in Wonderland leggings. The necklaces were both made by me with an opalite geode necklace I made in 2007 and a mushroom clay pendant I made in 2021. I call this look the Portal to Wonderland.

    After going out with my friend, I came home and cleaned my stick bug tank. It was very overpopulated as bugs can often have large population booms, so I humanly euthanized them by flash freezing then feeding to my birbs.

    It is very sad that I can't keep all my bugs, but it is the circle of life, and we definitely don't need an infestation. Plus, it is healthy for the ecosystem of the tank, and it makes my birbs happy.

    I was very happy to stay under my calories all week and get lots of exercise. I feel much more in control of my diet, fitness and spiritual health. I think I have really overcome the biggest obstacles I will face on my fitness journey thanks to all my family and friends who have been here along the way to help encourage and inspire me.

    I know my blogs and vlogs have been running behind lately and I truly am sorry for the delay. I will try my best to not let them get too far behind but the pace of my life has really picked up lately so I will try my best. Please patiently await updates in spite of the delays. Thank you to everyone following and supporting my wellness journey and as always, I love to hear from you all! Have a blessed week!