Vegan French Toast

Amanda and I decided that we would do a new recipe a day to try different dietary styles. 

Today's recipe:

• 1 cup water
• 2 Tbs. raw cashews
• 4 pitted dates
• 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
• 1 Tbs. whole wheat flour
• 7 pieces of bread

Whiz all ingredients but bread in blender until smooth. Pour into a shallow bowl. Dip the slices of bread into the mix and place on a cookie sheet. Bake at 400º F until golden brown. Turn and brown the other side. Top with applesauce or fresh fruit.

Actual recipe can be found here:

http://www.godairyfree.org/Recipes/Breakfast/Egg-Free-French-Toast-Vegan-Soy-Free.html

What I did/used:  2tbs raw almonds instead of the cashews (it's what I had...) 

                           I added a tsp of flax seed meal

              5 pieces of sourdough bread 

                           maple syrup (the real stuff!)

My recommendations: I did NOT like the sourdough bread. Highly recommend using a different bread, but it's what I had. It was still good, just very sourdough-y. Also, I did bake the toast for about 10 minutes on each side, but then I threw it on the griddle for a few minutes per side as well. You may want to grease your cookie sheet and if you're really doing a vegan breakfast, make sure your grease doesn't have animal or animal by-product in it. :-)  

Overall, it was delish and I would definitely make it again after doing a few tweaks. I think I’ll keep it in rotation...unless I decide to go wheat free. If that’s the case, you can always use almond flour. Why didn’t I think of that earlier?! 

Am I terrible?

Am I a terrible person/woman because I have zero desire to cook or clean or any of that domesticated crap?


I am upstairs, sitting in bed, staring at the vacuum and spray bottle of Dr. Bronner's cleaner (still on my no chemicals kick!). I have successfully dusted the bedroom, put things that were on the floor away, and made the bed. The bathroom is next. I just have NO inclination to clean it. Don't get me wrong, I by no means have a nasty house, nor will I ever have a nasty house...it's just...can't I hire someone to do this crap for me??


Cooking is a whole different task that makes me want to lie in the kitchen floor and think about how I miss Whole Foods' prepared foods. I DO NOT WANT TO COOK. I have legit thought about going on the raw diet just so that I don't have to cook. Steve would murder me if I did not provide him with dinner though. I think that may be part of the problem. I HAVE to cook nightly or my poor husband won't eat. He'll just sit there, watching television, wondering where the food is. I sometimes wonder what he did before me and seeing as how he survived before me, he could continue to thrive without me cooking. Right? Probably not. He would eat fast food everyday and we can't be having that. Dumb women of the world, babying their husbands. We are all guilty of it. 


So, here I am. At a stand off with my mop, vacuum, and Dr. Bronners. Zero desire to clean. To cook. To be a Stepford Wife. It's not that I can't be the perfect little wife and cook/clean, it's just that I don't want to. My head is starting to pound just thinking about it. But if I don't do it, it won't get done. 


F my face.

Let's talk about douche bags, shall we?

So, I was driving down the highway earlier and the person in front of me was not going fast enough for my liking. I began to pass when I realized that there were about five others in front of the slow car. At that point, it's too late and I just had to go for it and hope for the best.

SIDE NOTE: When I'm driving, that is really all anyone can do - hope for the best.

I ended up cutting off a car due to oncoming traffic, thus feeling like a douche bag. This in turn, made me start thinking about douche bags world wide. In my case, I totally didn't mean to. I wonder how many people either don't mean to or just don't know that they're being a complete and total D-bag?

I mean, sure, there are the people who are just naturally jerks and that's just who they are. Just some pondering going on, that is all.

Top Five D-bags IMO (in no particular order):
1. The One-Upper - I once had a girl ask me where I got my shoes from and when I responded Target, she had to throw out that she has a similar pair, but only from Dillards. Umm...I spent $20 on my shoes and you spent $90. Who is the real winner or should I say loser? Same girl asked me which car in the parking lot is mine in an effort to compare hers to mine...didn't work out since I drive a BMW. Whore.

2. The "I want to make everything about me" - If YOU ask ME how I got my black eye, please do not turn it into a story about yourself. I did not ask YOU. This kills me. If you ask me about something specific about my life, (having the flu, for instance) I do not care that you had the flu in '87. Or chicken pox. Or anything. Unless I ask.

3. The Mr/Mrs. Always Right - Everyone has different opinions. I will respect yours, if you respect mine. I will also listen and educate myself on your opinions - if it's something that I'm interested in or you are a good friend, otherwise, who cares. There have been many instances where I did not agree with what someone was saying or thought that they were crazy; but after doing my own research, I changed my opinion. That is why they are opinions, you can change them. Please do not force your beliefs on me and expect that I will listen if you are being forceful. And please do not disregard what I have to say because you do not agree. Your opinions are right for you and mine are right for me.

4. The Total Dumb Ass - You know who you are. Stop talking.

5. The Uneducated Educated - Everyone knows someone that has went to school for X degree and therefore they know EVERYTHING. This kind of ties all four of the previously mentioned D-bags together, making a super D-bag. I'm proud of you. You got an education. That does not mean that you know about everything under the sun. You are probably a more than qualified expert in YOUR field, not everyone else's. Back to having opinions - it is ok to speak intelligently about things. Just don't pretend to know everything. Educated conversations = great. Conversations about how you know everything = you're a dumb ass.
Also, in this category: The person who gets the education, but is somehow still incredibly stupid. No conversation can be had with this person. They are a protist.

Side Notes

My dear husband has finally returned from his deployment! Yah!!! Super excited about him being home, but it is a bit strange after hanging out on my own for six months. I guess it'll take a bit to adjust.

Still going strong with the no 'poo. I'm not 100% sure of the last time I used shampoo, but I know it was probably about three weeks ago? Maybe. I don't know. I guess I could look back at previous posts to see, but that would make way too much sense. And it's a lot of work.

Also, haven't used dryer sheets/fabric softener either. Still using the downy ball with vinegar and the aluminum foil balls in the dryer. Seems to be fairly legit and Steve hasn't complained about it.

Let's see here...ohhh, my basil is blooming (or whatever you call it...growing...sprouting?) quite nicely, however comma apparently you aren't supposed to let it flower. I f'd that up, if that's the case. Whateves, it's not like I'm doing anything with it right now anyway. I'm about to plant some more shit here soon. Cucumbers, summer squash, carrots. Does anyone really give a crap? Nope.

I'm not even sure why I'm writing this right now. I'm a loser lately. I have nothing relevant to say, but I guess this entire section of my life has been pretty IRRELEVANT.

I really want to push people down and make them skin their knees sometimes. Yes, I know, that's a complete and total side note...

I should probably give up on this crap. I'm normally a funny person - if only to myself - and this is quite depressing. I need to get a life. Or something. SOMETHING!

Absolutely nothing interesting

Upon reading over some of my previous blogs, I have realized just how much of a failure I am at blogging. I wasn't consistent with my personal 30 day yoga challenge (with the blog OR the actual 30 days of yoga) and I very rarely blog. I don't really feel like a failure, so I guess that's cool. Whateves.

I'm not sure what day I'm on with this no 'poo do, but it's still working out fairly well. I've only washed my hair once since the last blog. It's not stringy, oily, or anything terrible (and it doesn't smell bad) - I think I'll stick with it. Plus, I was looking at the ingredients of my previous shampoo and it included about 30340598345923 different kinds of parabens. Apparently, those little guys should not be included in your day to day beauty routine. You can do your own ra-search on the things that you DON'T want in your products, but most people don't mind slathering themselves in chemicals on a daily basis.

Generally speaking, I didn't mind either...however, after thinking about the possibility of my wonderful husband and I  having the children, it gives me a new perspective. Some people have said that I have become a crunchy, granola, hippy - which may be slightly true. I guess I justify my way of thinking by asking if everything we do is necessary. There are all of these "new" conditions/ailments (and yes, I realize that some conditions that are relatively new may have existed previously, but just had a lack of proper diagnosis) and I can't help but think that we are doing some of these things to ourselves.

*Random shampoo crap - yes, I could buy "green" shampoo...but who wants to spend $12 on a normal sized bottle of it when I can make my own for $5?

Side note, same subject:
Tonight is the first night that we are no longer using dryer sheets. I had to wash the rugs in the house and I figured this was the best time to begin the experiment as I wouldn't be upset if I ruined a couple $8 rugs. So, I have a downy ball that I filled half way with vinegar (if you plan on going green anytime soon, you should probably get a gallon jug of distilled white vinegar and a giant tub of baking soda) and added a few drops of essential oil for smell good. When the clothes went into the dryer, I included two wadded up balls of aluminum foil. Just took the rugs out and they are soft, no static, and they smell like...nothing. I know this is a major issue for some people - having their clothes smell like flowers or whatever - but I don't really mind/see a point in it. Dab some lavender on your wrists if you want to smell good. Moving on...

The idea is that as I run out of store bought items, I will discontinue their use and try homemade methods. I want to give each new thing a month or two so that I can figure it out and if it doesn't work, I have no problem with going back to my old, evil ways.

I need to get on board with making more homemade food items, but that's a challenge for another day. I'm dedicated to this cause in small doses. :-) At least until kids come into play.

I just now realized that it's 1:30 in the f'in morning. WTH am I still doing up? Typing into the abyss of the world wide web and talking about nothing to no one.

No 'Poo do!

I've recently embarked on a shampoo-free journey and I must say, so far so good. I was very hesitant about this, regardless of all of the good things I've read about it.

I started out by washing with a mixture of baking soda and water, followed by a white vinegar rinse.
*Mix baking soda and water until it turns into a paste. Thick enough to not be runny in your hair, thin enough to rinse out easily. I'm still playing with the consistency*

Afterwards, I did a coconut oil and milk mask.
*1 teaspoon coconut oil and 1 cup milk*

I would have did the mask first, but I felt like I needed to do a mask on clean hair versus hair that hadn't been washed in a week (I only wash my hair once or twice a week, as is). The mask made my hair insanely oily and horse hair like, but I slept on it without washing it with actual shampoo. The next morning, I washed again with baking soda and vinegar. The baking soda did help pull some of the oil out, but it was still oily. Yet, I did not wash. I kept on trucking. Here's my run down thus far:

Day 1 - Baking soda/vinegar/coconut oil mask
Day 2 - Baking soda/vinegar
Day 3 - Nothing, just a water rinse in the shower
Day 4- Nothing, water rinse in the shower - This was the first day that I saw a difference. I normally have to blow dry my hair followed by a flat iron, otherwise I'm a fluffy mess. Today, I let it air dry and my hair looked awesome!
Day 5 - Nothing at all, my hair is pretty much coconut oil free at this point. It is a little oily, but I think that's because my hair is trying to compensate from the years and years of shampooing and stripping it of it's natural oils.
Day 6 - That's actually tomorrow, but I don't plan on doing anything other than a cool water rinse in the shower.

I'm going to keep this up for at least a month or so. I want to give it the opportunity to level out and see how it goes. I do need to continue to play with the consistency of my baking soda paste and also the hair mask. Some people are worried about their hair smelling like vinegar from the rinse, but I assure you that it rinses right out with no smell. More to come on this and more to come with my personal movement toward the green!

Days 3 & 4

Just because I didn't post yesterday, doesn't mean that I failed. Well...maybe I did fail a little. The plan was to go to a hot yoga class at 4:45 or a "normal" class at 5. I did not succeed in this plan, as I had a friend stay the night. I did, however, do a quick 20 minutes flow from an iTunes download. I know that 20 minutes is a far cry from an hour, but I did make an attempt.

Today was mucho better though! I had class until 5pm, followed by running 4 miles at the gym. Yah! I am in love with my new shoes and they make me feel fantastical! I did a 40 minutes yoga video here at home, as there were no classes for me to take.

So, neither days did I do a full hour. I DID accomplish yoga though. The important thing for ME is that I actually do it every day. I would like to be able to do a full hour, but something is better than nothing.

It's already 10:30pm and I am definitely ti-red! Fare thee well, beautiful people!

Dia Dos (Or Day Two)

Beautiful world wide web!

I have successfully completed day two of my 30 day yoga challenge! Yah! Only 28 more days to go.

I ran one mile today. Yes, one measly little mile. I purchased new shoes (barefoot runners) and made the mistake of running 2.5 miles yesterday and tearing up my heel in the process. So, I decided to take it easy today. I really need to get back on the running train and get back to how good I was in a past life...but let's take one step at a time, people!

After my short, yet sweet run, I did an hour of yoga with a class. Let me just say that I was NOT centered at all today. My balance was complete and total crap. Warrior III was a no-go fo sho! I've noticed that lately I've been off balance in general though. I guess this is nothing unusual as I am super clumsy and completely off center. Hopefully my crazy equilibrium will even itself out through daily practice and meditation (something else I need to work on: meditation).

::SIGH:: It's definitely time for sleep. The most fantastic man in the world (my husband) will be calling me soon to say good morning/good night - he's deployed - and then I can close my eyes.

Words of wisdom - just be still. For five, 10, 15 minutes. Just sit and learn to quiet your mind and listen to the universe.

Day 1 - Yoga Challenge

Was I successful today? Why, yes. Yes, I was!

the DEED:     30 minutes in the AM
                   2.5 mile run
                   30 minutes of yoga before bed to wind down

We shall see how day dos goes. How many days does it take to do something to form a habit?

I have to write a stupid paper for school and I'm actually quite tired. It's only 6:30pm, but I think I'm going to do this paper and call it a night around 9. Why do I feel like I'm talking to the walls? Probably because I am.

30 Day Yoga Challenge

Yes, I have decided to challenge myself to 30 days of yoga.

The thing is, I've been doing yoga for about a year and a half now and it's something that I've been interested in for quite a while, but I've never taken it as seriously as I would like to. I'm hoping that by challenging myself to 30 straight days of yoga, that it will help me become more serious in my practice and calm my forever racing mind. The goal is not to lose weight, (although it would be great if I lost those last pesky 6lbs) but to achieve mental clarity and a stronger, better practice.

I know that the odds of anyone even reading this are slim as I don't advertise and that the only person who can hold me accountable for a daily practice is myself, but I'm hoping that blogging will ensure I actually do it every day. I can't blog and say that I did something, when I didn't. Deceiving yourself only hurts YOURself.

The GOAL: Daily yoga - striving for at least an hour
The PLAN: Monday - YogaForYou
                    Tuesday - On base (it's freeeeee!!!)
                    Wednesday - On base OR hot yoga @ YogaForYou
                    Thursday - Yoga video at home
                    Friday - Hot Yoga
                    Saturday - YogaForYou or video at home
                    Sunday - Video at home

If I am unable to attend the actual classes - life happens! - then I WILL do a video at home. I personally like classes versus videos as I like being corrected on my poses, but it is what it is.

Starting....today...annnnnnnd GO!

Pee in a cup.

It is 1:20 in the am and I should most definitely be sleeping. Instead, I am watching a muted television and pretending to be a blogger - something that I am most assuredly not. Clearly.

I am also lying here, as I do almost every night, thinking about babies. Yes, babies. I desperately want a little fuzzy haired, tiny person. My poor husband, Steve, has to listen to this on a regular basis.

I am more than a little sure that it will be a difficult process for me to conceive and have already started taking measures to assist in the process. Which leads us to the title of tonight's rant; pee in a cup. I track my Basal  Body Temperature (BBT) daily and have recently started using an Ovulation Prediction Kit (OPK) which requires me to pee in a cup and dip the stick in to check for ovulation. Basically, same concept as a pregnancy test - just an ovulation test. Apparently, I did not ovulate this past cycle (something that I already had an idea about and is now the reality) and I do not think that I have ovulated in the past few cycles either.

Steve has no idea about the OPK's, but he does know about my fears of difficulty. I think he thinks that my fear isn't warranted or that it will be an easy thing for us to do. I have been paying attention to my body for a long time and I do not think there will be anything easy about conceiving for us. Call me crazy, but that's just my particular thought process.

We haven't even officially started trying yet, (he's deployed, so it makes it a little difficult) so there is no need for alarm as of yet. I need to just calm down and not worry until there is a need to worry. Something like that anyway.

Tip of the night: Floss daily to prevent heart disease. :-)

Psycho Girls...(beating a dead horse)

Welcome to the never ending cycle of useless, self abuse.

Ok, girls. I'm no love expert, (married, divorced, engaged, broken up, trying it again) but I'm no dumb ass when it comes to men either. I know we've all heard what I'm about to say time and time again, yet somehow we fall right back into the psycho girl trap. If he doesn't call, it's because he doesn't want to. If he doesn't take you out, it's not because he doesn't have time/money - it's because he doesn't want to. Or he could be ashamed...which is: HE DOESN'T WANT TO.

It's not that difficult to understand. Just think like a man for a moment. It's much easier for us to think like men than for men to think like women.

Example: Boy meets girl, they go on a date. Date goes well enough, the girl thinks everything is REASONABLY ok. (BTW, if things are "ok" or "reasonable" they probably are "shitty" in the guys head) Yet, the boy never calls for a 2nd date. Ask yourself a few questions when this happens. Did you take him home or go home with him that evening? If the answer is yes, then more than likely you're not getting a call back. Men are hunters and chasers, you probably had too much wine or thought that the date would end better if you just went home with him. At least give it until the 2nd day. I like sex just as much as the next person (probably more, I may have a problem) but there's nothing wrong with going home, jilling off, and screwing him the 2nd date. Second thing to ask yourself, "Was it really a mind blowing date?" If you are even remotely shaky in this response, then you're not getting a call back. Men really do know within the first five minutes of hanging out with you if they're interested or not. Quit overanalyzing everything and start taking things at face value. If the date sucked, it sucked. Don't defend the suckage. Accept and move on.

AND FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING HOLY, DO NOT CALL HIM. Do not call and hang up. Do not dail the numbers. Do not even pick up the phone with the intent to call him. Do not throw his number away, secretly having it memorized so that you can accidentally call later. Do not FB stalk him. JUST LEAVE IT ALONE. And maybe in the slim chance that he was semi interested, he will respect your ability to leave well enough alone and call you. Once again, men are hunters. If you leave them alone, they will come after you. If not, screw him.

If you are sleeping with a man that refuses to be in a relationship with you, you're an idiot. A complete and total idiot. It's not that he doesn't want to be in a relationship in general, it's he's waiting for something/someone better to come along. Quit being stupid and just enjoy sleeping with him, but do not bring up the relationshit subject constantly. Or force him into something he doesn't want to be in - he will cheat. Either continue to sleep with him happily or quit and move on to someone who will be in a relationship with you. And do not do the rookie mistake of making him breakfast, getting him breakfast, cleaning his house, doing his laundry. HIT IT AND QUIT IT. And who knows, your lax attitude about things may cause him to change his mind. Men get all freaked out when girls don't fall all over them and when they don't become psychos. The important thing is to just have fun. Think like a man!!!

LESSON OF THE DAY:
1. Please do not have sex on the first date. It's going to get you no where
2. If he doesn't call, who cares. Leave it alone. Find another one. Don't be pathetic, it's really ugly.
3. Just quit being psycho. Easier said than done, I know. But seriously. Everytime you are about to do something that you know is kind of psychotic, take a step back, breathe, and reevalute. If you still want to do it, then screw it. We all deserve to be a crazy, screaming, violent bitch sometimes.

I'm only hungry all the time!

So, I've recently embarked on this grand idea of cutting calories to lose weight. Completely crazypants since I adore food almost as much as myself. I've been doing this going on week number two and it's actually working. I'm not going to post my actual weight, (that's just not nice! For you, not for me...haha! J/K) but this morning when I weighed myself I was 3lbs lighter. I know this is the give and take 5lb thing, but it's still nice to see some sort of results. I haven't weighed this particular weight in months. All because I stopped eating like an asshole and just watched what I ate. I run everyday (except for the weekends, I'm not a psycho...well, yes I am...but not in this instance) and I just pay attention to what I put in my mouth. Not to mention I haven't eaten fast food since last Friday and even then it was only a McWrap from McHell and I didn't even eat it. For some reason it tasted like cleaning product. Weird. The point is, food really is the most important part of losing weight and keeping it off. Over the summer I was working out like a maniac and eating pretty decently and I was in my prime condition, my abs were even starting to show. Then fall came and I lost my mind, followed by winter when the glutonous pig in me reared it's ugly head. Now, coming back into another spring/summer something has to be done! So, I'm going to stick to this "not eating like an asshole" thing as I like to call it and hopefully at some point I'll quit saying "I'm hungry" all the time - my boyfriend is really tired of hearing it. Sorry, babe!

Also, not being able to afford to buy groceries really helps with losing weight. I actually had dry cereal for b-fast this morning...why? WHY ELSE WOULD I EAT DRY CEREAL?! No milk!

LESSON OF THE DAY: Stop eating. J/K. Eat what you want, just don't lose all self control and eat it all. You want ice cream? Have ONE scoop, not the whole tub. And the strawberries in your strawberry shortcake ice cream are not considered a serving of fruit - regardless of what the box says. Get some real fruit and veggies in your life. Bananas and steamed broccoli/asparagus are my favs!