Experimentation for art's sake

It's more like work, but I'll call it art.

I write about veggie and vegan life in town and have been reviewing restaurants, cookbooks, and the like with gusto for the past few months.  Some reviews are published and others I've been holding back on until after a repeat visit. My weight loss efforts have stalled somewhat and I blame the good eating in part.  The other part is on my lack of control.  Mindless eating has been trying to run rampant lately and I'm not sure my heart (or body) can take it much longer. 

And this experiment I speak of?  Well, I plan to spend two weeks following various vegetarian and vegan weight loss plans.  Eat to Live, Eat for Health, The Engine 2 Diet, Atkins, and other books are available at the local library and in bookstores, so I'm going to test them and see which work for me and which don't.  The variables I'll use include actual loss, convenience, cost, meal satisfaction, and appeal to the family.  Besides, I already cook 90% of the meals, so the family is used to getting in more veggie food than not (even when they don't realize it). 

What I should say is two weeks on each of the plans and not two weeks period. My grammar at times I tell ya.

I figured I'd share here and let you know what I'm up to.  I'll still be testing various recipes and will have the family taste test if something I make is off plan.  I've adhered to strict plans before and not been tempted by the family dinner; I can do it again.  I haven't decided which to start with, but after hubby's fantastic pasta dinner maybe a lower carb plan might be the best way to go.

Peace for now. 

I love Savvy Brown!

 Seriously, peeps, this blog is a great read for anyone looking for affordable ways to go greener and even better for those with natural hair.  Before my locks I would have loved to have found this site.  And she turned me onto a bread recipe that costs less than $1 a loaf.  :sigh:

Anyway, she hosts several giveaways, and this week the goodie is a sample pack of laundry products from YoreGanics.   Have you heard of Soap Nuts? YoreGanics has them and for a decent price, too.  But that's not all.  The facial bars have been calling to me since I first laid eyes on them.  Swing by, take a look, and tell me that you're not tempted.

While you're at it, take a look at Savvy Brown, too.  Tell me if you like what you see and spread the word.

It's Blog Action Day 2010 and it's all about Water

It's fitting that my first blog in a while is an activist one.  I've been busy offline trying to get people motivated to vote and pay more attention to what happening around them.  Being aware of what's happening outside one's door is not a bad thing, nor is it socialist to want to help one's fellow man.  We should be afraid of the real problems out there and not the ones the fanatical talking heads are screaming about. 

But today is not about the upcoming midterm elections or talking heads.  It's about water.  We all need clean water to live, but not all of us have it.  Some of us waste water by letting the faucet run while we brush our teeth or neglecting to fix a leak while others are lucky to find just enough to hydrate themselves. 

BottomBar">Change.org|Start href="http://www.change.org/petition" target="_blank">Petition

I'm not going to preach at you.  I just want you to think about something we take for granted.  I did.  We had a leaking toilet when we moved in.  It sounded like water was always running, but the dye tank test showed no leak.  I ignored it, but knew something wasn't right.  When the water bill increased, I figured the extra loads of laundry, gardening, and dishwasher were to blame.  Until we broke the $70 mark after a few months.  I knew we had to do something quickly.  Not just because the wasted water bothered me, but hit to my wallet was a nasty one. 

I'd  purchased a new fill valve and faucet for the bath and let them sit for over a year while we concentrated on other projects.  Silly me.  It took a $72.37 water bill to send me into the bath to install that valve - two weeks after I read the bill!  It took all of 8 minutes and resulted in a $8 drop in two weeks.  That excited me and had me more excited about the next one.  I am happy to say the best $12 I've spent in the bath resulted in a $30 drop in the bill overall.  Yes, the money is great, but we cut the amount of water used in half!  After happy dancing, I decided we needed to do more.  Home Depot carries dual flush converters, so we spent $19 on the MJSI HYR270 HydroRight Drop-in Dual Flush Converter and spent 5 minutes installing it in a different bathroom.  I can't wait to see what the bill and water consumption will be next month! 

Yes, I rambled a bit, but I am excited.  Maybe making this more about money than consumption will inspire some of you.  Maybe you'll be like me, excited about the money at first, then bummed about the amount that was wasted.  Consumption down by half!  The water was just pouring in and out and could have been used elsewhere.  Sigh.  But instead of letting guilt overwhelm me, I'm going to do more!  The plans include snagging another dual flush converter for the main bath, getting a rain barrel (or making one),and  switching to low flow fixtures.

I've been playing with the H2O Conserve Water Calculator and am not sure how I feel about my results.  Our household average is 3, 915.93 gallons a day; 978.98 gallons each.  Yes, it's better than it would have been a couple of months ago (and lover than the average American usage of 1190.5 gallons), but I think I can do better.  After the other changes are in place, I'll play again.  Play with it and let me know how you did. 

I could launch into the stats on water and food production, but I'll save that for another day.  Water conservation is not just about money, but the planet. I am very lucky to be in a place where I have access to clean water and sanitation and need to show my appreciation by not wasting it.

Peace.

My PCRM Vegan Kickstart

Yep, I'm doing it again,  Last January I went in full force and rocked that 21 days.  Then I has eggs.  Then cheesecake.  I went back to my heavier foods ways and gained the weight back that I'd lost this year.  I figured the kickstart along with the beginning of the school year would help get me back in gear.

I'll post my meals and snacks here just because.  I keep a food journal anyway, but posting it here will help keep me honest. 

Day 1
B) Cereal & soymilk; big bowl of mandarin oranges and pineapple; coffee, water; supplements

L) PBJ on whole wheat, cucumbers and carrots; water and lemonade

D) Cookout, y'all - Tofurkey Italian Sausage, Vegan Boca Burger, slaw, veggie kabobs (zucchini, squash, and onion), baked beans (maybe a 1/8 cup), and corn on the cob; lemonade and water

Day 2
B) Sea Biscuit Cafe on Isle of Palms, SC - small fruit plate, home fries, rye toast with orange marmalade; coffee and water (took supplements before I left the house)

L) Nirlep on Savannah Highway - Indian buffet (I asked the server which items were dairy free and she was a doll); Kingfisher beer and water

D) Big old salad with either Italian or red pepper vinaigrette (I'm going to toss some of the leftover grilled veggies in there, too); decaf and water

I might throw a pie in the oven.  I loves hearing that Marie Callender fruit pies are vegan!  Hubby can have key lime; make mine cheery or razzleberry!

I will be cooking goodies from some of my favs and will play with recipes of my own.  I've missed being in the kitchen, inspired, excited, just going for it.  Join me? 


See you tomorrow.

Fluctuating weight, freaky nightmares, pain, & cookbooks

Interesting title, eh? Well, I awakened in a panic, panting, and thrilled to realize it was just a dream.  I won't bore you with details, but I had a crazy, super-powered vertical leap and had to save the family from zombie robots. Now to better topics.

I lost another pound this week, and it seems my rate of loss has slowed.  I have an idea on one of the reasons; stress.  Stress occasionally makes me eat mindlessly, but this time it hasn't.  It made me reach for comfort food in general.  Hey, I see not overindulging as a huge plus.  I know why I reached for those foods, I just need to make sure that they are the healthier versions of my favorite go-to dishes. Between playing with recipes online (thanks Happy Herbivore and Tess Challis), I have been tweaking goodies from cookbooks past and present.

Oh, the cookbooks!  I made a trip to the main Charleston County library and went a little crazy in the cooking session. I checked out some oldies but goodies.  Linda Mccartney's Home Cooking,The Real Food Daily Cookbook: Really Fresh, Really Good, Really Vegetarian, and two from Dr. Neal Barnard, Foods That Fight Pain: Revolutionary New Strategies for Maximum Pain Relief and Turn Off the Fat Genes: The Revolutionary Guide to Losing Weight.  I'd originally stopped by for Eat For Health: Lose Weight, Keep It Off, Look Younger, Live Longer (2 book set), but it was already checked out. I should have requested it.  Anyway, I've already blown through Linda's and have to pick up a few more ingredients for Real Food Daily before I can go nuts there.  

Oh, if you want to check out recipes before I post here, check out my Examiner column or Facebook Examiner page.  I have quite a few articles, recipes, and photos to post there. 

The reason I'm working through Banard's books?  The insane amount of pain I have to work through a couple times a month.  If I can successfully manage the pain without the drugs that make me loopy, I can eventually heal.  Hopefully naturally.  Right now the pain has spread to my neck, and that terrifies me.  When I don't hurt, I want to cook, move, and do all the things I need to do in order to improve my health.  But when I'm in the middle of a major flare up, just leave me in the dark corner, please. 

Wow, I just realized that it's 1 am.  This Wahm is sleepy once more, so I think I'm going to call it a night.  Nite, all.

Thank you fallen soldiers and their families for your sacrifice.  I don;t think my appreciation for you all is deep enough at times, but it is deep.