The Kashi love...

I love free stuff!

Seriously.

Dear Kashi Connect Member,

Know some people who don’t believe healthy eating can taste great? Well, we’ll help you prove it can.

Soon you’ll receive a sample of tasty Kashi^® Honey Sunshine^® cereal in the mail, made with 20g whole grains, 6g fiber and a sweet honey taste everyone can love.

You’ll also get coupons, and an invitation to a special website where you can learn how to overrule objections to healthy eating and even give your own verdict.

See you in the court of taste appeal.
The Kashi Family

Dear Kashi,

I love you. Just saying.

Signed,

Karen's Tastebuds

Wanna join?

Detoxing my life...

(This image stolen shamelessly from Amazon)

Forget jewelry, sweets or flowers... This is what *this* girl really wants!

My new juicer:
Breville 800JEXL Juice Fountain Elite 1000-Watt Juice Extractor
It features:
1000-watt juicer with 2 speed controls, high (13,000 RPM) and low (6,500 RPM)
Die-cast steel housing; stainless-steel micromesh filter; titanium-plated cutting disk
Circular 3-inch feed tube accommodates whole fruits and vegetables
Pulp container, juicing pitcher, and manual/recipe book included; dishwasher-safe parts

I've been reading The Raw Food Detox Diet by Natalia Rose and I've become inspired. (Yes I realize that I weigh something like 2 pounds and don't need to diet. I didn't buy it for the diet part thank you very much.) She did a blog awhile back for Kris Carr's blog/wellness living community and I found myself musing that these people might just be onto something... So I started doing some research which has lead me to this point... Anxiously awaiting the arrival of my anniversary juicer.

I have rededicated myself to total vegetarianism and I'm attempting to cut back on the amount of dairy I ingest. Being a semi-vegetarian for 12+ years (no fish, no red meat and very little pork) it's hard to let go of the convenience that eating chicken has given me in both my marriage and eating out scenarios. I'm starting to remember the frustration that involves any eating out and why I always caved. So I sit trying to plot out some type of grocery store plan/invasion tactic that will work for both myself and Husband. (I'm pretty sure the invasion of Normandy was easier...) I know though that I'm onto something wonderful for my health and well being.

My goal:
Green Lemonade 1st thing in AM. (See below for recipe) (obviously I need my juicer first)
Breakfast: Fruit
Lunch: Salad/sandwich or something equally light/easy to digest
Dinner: Open (at this point)

*fingers crossed* (mostly because I'm prone to extreme laziness)

Green Lemonade Recipe
(as it appears in The Raw Food Detox Diet book)
1 head romaine lettuce or celery
5 to 6 stalks of kale (any type)
1 to 2 apples (as needed for sweetness)

1 whole lemon (organic is best so you don't have to peel it)

1 to 2 inches fresh ginger (optional)

Wish me luck.

Thankful...

Thanksgiving, to me, has always been about unlimited mashed potatoes and cheesecake. This year there was no cheesecake so other things had to be considered. It was a busy day and now I'm tired. However, as with most holidays I'm feeling a bit nostalgic.

-Family is a complicated thing. I don't mean that in a negative way. I mostly mean that anytime you put a semi-large group of people in a room things are bound to happen. Distance, time and differences of opinion are always dangerous. Cryptic I know. It doesn't really matter though, above all else... I'm thankful for them.

-I didn't mind working today at the vet clinic. This time last year, working at DTV, I was distressed. I may be tired and worn out but it's a small improvement. I'm thankful to have at least a small portion of my professional life happy.

-I forget sometimes how wonderful my Husband can be. I think I take him for granted. However, when push comes to shove... he's the reason I get through "those" days. You know what I mean...

-The weather has finally turned to fall. It turned dramatically and caught everyone off guard but I'm thankful I can finally use my scars and sweaters.

-It's nice to come home to unbounded happiness. They may be loud and underfoot most of the time but the uncomplicated love they provide melts away the stress. I love the wet noses and barking more then I could ever love a material thing.

With all the chaos in day to day life it's hard to remember all the reasons you should be thankful. I know that lately I've taken a lot of things for granted but when you face how fragile everything really is... it makes you take pause.

The ability to focus on the positives and blur the negatives is something I want to strive for... everyday. Not just today.

New favorite

Where has this product been my whole life?

Screw V8 and Ensure.

I am so in love it's ridiculous.

Veggie love

Hubby and I wanted to cook dinner.

Dinner is almost always like WWIII in our household.

So I suggest a veggie stir-fry type dinner.

Husband pulls out some chicken legs and strip streak because he's convinced that veggies won't be enough.

Little does he know... he gets full from the veggies before the meat is even done cooking.

Mwahahahaha!

I'll make him a vegetarian one of these days.

The recipe can be found here. We just substituted the eggplant for butternut squash.
The above photo is from the first time we cooked said dinner.

Kermit was wrong...

It is easy being green.

A few days ago a fellow co-worker at the bank asked me point blank if I was a hippie. I stopped for a second and asked him what he meant. Seeing as how this co-worker knew nothing about me I was wondering where the question was even coming from. Turns out a friend of his who had just come through the bank was a "hippie" because she shopped at Wild Oats. I informed him that if he considered that to be a hippie then yes I was a hippie.

It wasn't even so much a question but rather than an accusation. Like somehow shopping there made me strange. Not like it really bothered me though. I'm used to it by now. Several months ago I felt a strong pull towards this lifestyle I guess you could call it. Maybe it was the movie An Inconvenient Truth or maybe it was Husbands mini-health crisis. I'm not entirely sure. Whatever it is... I enjoy it.

I've been afraid that "being green" as some people like calling it was going to become fashionable and like all fashionable things (think furbies and tie-dye) it would later be forgotten. I'd like to think now though that it is becoming something more... something permanent. You can go into any major store and see "green products". Home Depot is one of the most noticeable, it seems every section now contains a more eco-friendly option along with the standard ones. Target has even started selling Seventh Generation cleaning products and organic sheet sets. Everywhere you look corporations are seeming to be more willing to embrace this eco-friendly life-style. While I'm not wild about corporations taking advantage of this movement I'm glad that they are making it more accessible to the general populace.

Husband and I are trying to do our small part.

• We're gradually replacing our light-bulbs with the new energy star bulbs.
• We recycle. It costs just a few dollars every month to have the city pick up twice monthly.
• We take our own reusable grocery bags to the store with us.
• We shop our local co-op.
• We had our own organic veggie garden this year.
• We're phasing out our normal cleaning products for more eco-friendly/natural solutions. (It's nice not to gag when cleaning the shower)

It's not like going "green" has to be hard or difficult. It doesn't have to/need to be a "hippie" thing anymore. I want to be able to bring children (if I so choose) into a world that is environmentally save. I know I personally feel healthier since beginning the transition to a more "green" lifestyle. I think it's the small changes that are going to make the biggest impact. If everyone just did their small part that would make a world of difference. I know I'm trying to lead by example... hopefully it works.

I'm sorry to say Kermit... it is easy being green.

(For an even greater insight on this matter visit this blog.)

Gag reflex at it's finest, Part 2...

This is what I get for attempting to eat out after watching Kitchen Nightmares...

Husband calls On The Border to place a to-go order. I've been craving some of their spicy chicken flautas all day. He specifically tells them no sour cream sauce. Several times. Asks for a side of guacamole instead of said sour cream. Little bro-in-law comes back with food... The flautas are drowned in sour cream... but they remember my guacamole.

Sour cream makes me sick.

I tried to save the food by scrapping off the sour cream and wiping the flautas down with napkins. However, from the vast amounts of sour cream the flautas are so damp and soggy that it makes me gag.

Husband calls them to talk about the issue. Thankfully their manager actually cares and offered to send us a $20 gift card because we don't live close enough to just run back over there.

Although I think tomorrow I will just clean out the fridge and go spend several hundred dollars at the grocery store instead of worrying about food poison...

Gag reflex at it's finest

This is why I may never eat out again. Yuck!