New Year's Resolutions

Hey everyone! Thank you so much for your patience while I was away :) I'm back now and I should hopefully be able to post a lot more often now. I hope you all had a lovely week and have been enjoying the end of the holiday season.

I'm not usually someone to make New Year's resolutions but I decided to try it out this year. I am looking at it more as an evaluation of my year and just where I want to be by this time next year and I'm going to take it from there. So this is pretty much how I see it...

I think that in general I have pretty good habits regarding my health. I work out a lot and for the most part I eat pretty healthy. My resolution in terms of health is to reverse my worst habit which is my inconsistency. When I am not being lazy I'm really on top of things but once I get lazy I just stop in my tracks. For example, the apple cider vinegar. I'm really good about it most of the time but when I get off track it isn't for a day, it is for a week. I feel the effects of taking that much time off. I need to be more consistent and I've been getting better lately so I think this is definitely an obtainable goal.

My other resolution is to reduce my stress. I am the kind of person that takes things very personally and I let everything affect me.  I need to mellow out about things like that and let things roll off my back because I think that it'll really make me a much happier person. I also need to make sure I consciously take "me" time. The winter is the perfect time to start making this a habit because I have time. Once I make it part of the routine it will hopefully follow me into the busy season and help to make that a less stressful time.

The main theme of my "resolutions" is to start forming new habits. This is really the only way to make sure that you stick to your resolutions. It is easy to go to the gym and eat right for a few weeks, but if you don't commit to making it a habit or a lifestyle, you fall off the wagon by the end of January. I feel like we've all been there.

So, now that I've done the somewhat obligatory resolution summary, I figured I'd show you something you don't see much on this blog. As you all know by now I'm not much of a drinker. I rarely ever drink actually. I wanted a margarita for my birthday and it never happened lol. I can't drink beer because of the wheat and I really am not a fan of wine. I will taste wines to try and change that because I see nothing wrong with a glass of wine now and then but have never found one I really like. Then I found out that I like sweet dessert wines, mostly moscatos.

This one is especially delicious. I've never heard of or seen a red moscato before, but I had given this one a try at the Chocolate Trade Show I went to a few months ago. It is called Red Electra and is made at the Quady Winery which, according to my "Is Your Wine Vegan?" app, is vegan. I only drink wine once or twice every couple of months and decided to have a (admittedly large) glass this week while I was at my bro's house last week. I will have another glass to celebrate New Year's Eve tomorrow night :) After that I probably won't have a drink for a few months. For the record, I was DEFINITELY feeling that glass when I was done, which is a pretty good indication of how rarely I drink.

What are your resolutions, if you make them?

P.S. My abs and triceps are on fire today. Good training session yesterday ;)

Wish Lists Becoming Reality

Hey everyone! I hope you all had a lovely and happy holiday whichever you may celebrate :) It was nice to spend quality time with family, and as I said before I'm spending the week pet sitting for my bro so updates will be sporadic for this week. I did, however, want to show you some of the amazing things that my generous family gave me mostly because I think they will look familiar to you!

MY NINJABREAD MEN COOKIE CUTTERS!!! I'm not gonna lie I'm pretty much the most excited about these. It is kinda sad but they make me smile :) I also got the cupcake kitchen timer and the chopsticks for dummies :)

For my skull and crossbones obsession...skull spatulas, my skull and crossbones ice cube tray and skull key covers :)

My gorgeous measuring bowls from Anthropologie. 1/4, 1/3, 1/2 and 1 cup bowls. Keep an eye out for these in future photos!

An individual blender to make my quick protein shakes since I broke my other one. I don't have a good track record with blenders... I broke my friend's blender when I was visiting him in Florida. Oops! Hopefully this one will make it longer than the other ones :X

I am very fortunate to have a very generous family. I hope that you all had a lovely holiday and that you were able to enjoy those around you. Delilah is off visiting her other grandparents in Texas but she says hi as well :)

I'll hopefully be back sometime this week to show you some food. Things will definitely get back to normal for me on here after the new year.

Oh and my decision for my hair... I think that for now I'm going to keep some length and get some shape and style in there for now...lots of layers most likely. Then in the spring I will do a pretty big chop and get rid of quite a few inches :) I'll keep you posted on it and I'll definitely post pics when I get it done. 

Ciao for now!

Quick Poll :)

Hey everyone :) I'm sorry I haven't been posting as frequently recently. I've been really busy and will continue to be through next week. I'm going to be house sitting for my brother and since my laptop is now essentially a desktop until I get a new power cord (long story) I can't bring it with me. I'll try and post once or twice for updates but I won't be around much until the new year. That much I can tell you. I'll do my best to keep up with your posts though!

I don't have food to show you today but I'd love to hear your opinions about something very random. I've been growing my hair for a long time but have recently been debating cutting a lot of it off.

This is an extremely unflattering picture of myself with horrible florescent lights and no make up but you can see how long my hair is. I love the length but I'm tired of it.

So what do you think? New year new look? Or rock it long? Love to hear what you think!

I doubt I'll be back before tomorrow to post so I just want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah! I hope that whatever you do to celebrate brings you lots of joy :)

Recipe - Cookie Truffles!

Hey everyone! As promised, here is the ridiculously easy recipe for the cookie truffles that I made for the holidays. I honestly don't remember where I saw the recipe to begin with because I made it when I was not vegan (just vegetarian) and it wasn't hard so I just remembered it.

Cookie Truffles

Ingredients:

1 package sandwich cookies (the original recipe called for Oreos but I made mine more festive for the holidays by making a batch with Candy Cane Joe Joe's and a batch with Newman O's Ginger Cookies)

1-8 oz tub of tofutti cream cheese

1 package vegan chocolate chips (if dipping the truffles)*

Directions:

1. Process cookies into fine crumbs in the food processor.

2. Mix softened cream cheese in with crumbs. Combine completely.

3. Refrigerate for at least an hour to let it set a little.

4. Roll mixture into small balls (I used a medium sized ice cream scoop). Refrigerate again until firm.

5. If dipping, melt chocolate chips and dip truffles until evenly coated. Refrigerate to set the chocolate coating.

5. Enjoy! 

*Note - Dipping any chocolate or peanut butter cream cookies in chocolate will always be delicious. I didn't know how the ginger cookies would taste so I rolled them in powdered sugar. They looked great for a little bit but then condensed and formed more of a glaze (which isn't bad either). You could also try vegan white chocolate for those.

Ginger Cookie Truffles rolled in Powdered Sugar

Candy Cane Joe Joe Truffles dipped in Chocolate

I told you it was really really easy. You can honestly just leave the mixture in a bowl and just spoon it into your mouth it is that good. :)

Holiday Baking Day 2: Cookies and Bars, Oh My!

Hey everyone! Hope you all had a lovely weekend. I spent many hours baking yesterday and several hours making my no bake treats the day before :) You saw the no bake so here is what came out of my oven yesterday!

This is what 5 dozen Almond Joy Cookies looks like...

Mmmm! Close-up!

1 batch of Magical Coconut Bars from Vegan Cookies Take Over Your Cookie Jar! Chosen by you my dear readers!

Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Biscotti, also from Vegan Cookies Take Over Your Cookie Jar! It got eliminated from the Holiday Baking Bracket but it is one of my favorite recipes and it is festive for the holidays so I made them anyway. They are SO delicious, I highly recommend making them!

As a little side note - the second batch of biscotti was my last batch of baking for this season. Naturally, I run out of arrowroot powder on the first batch. I had made the Magical Coconut Bars, 5 dozen Almond Joy Cookies and 1 batch of biscotti in a row. I was on a roll and then the momentum was totally lost when I had to go and get arrowroot. Any bakers out there I'm sure will understand what a major bummer it is to have to leave in the middle to grab one ingredient. Oh well, I finished soon after and they will be consumed shortly :)

I took this photo of all of the goodies with my phone for you to get the whole picture of this project :) Needless to say I was EXHAUSTED after! It's all worth it though, I love baking for everyone! I will definitely have to continue doing giveaways for all of you throughout the year to share the baking love after the holiday season has passed.

Hope you are all having a good Monday!

Holiday Baking Day 1: No Bake Goodness!

Hey everyone! My internet seems to be ok with uploading photos today...although VERY slowly! I started this post yesterday with the intentions of getting it up last night but I couldn't get the photos uploaded. So here it is hopefully with all tenses edited ;)

I didn't post Friday because I ended up shooting a small party. It was a nice last minute job which certainly helps this time of year where wedding season slows to a halt.

I had to work very early yesterday morning for a few hours in the studio then I headed over to the gym for a training session. I scheduled a third this week because I was feeling extra aggressive :X

After I got home I spent a few hours making some no-bake treats to give away this holiday season. Today I spent ALL DAY baking many different kinds of cookies. I'm glad I split it up this way because making the truffles (and DIPPING the truffles) took a lot longer than expected...mainly the dipping.

Anyway, here's what I made yesterday!

Super easy and delicious Ginger Cookie Truffles!

Candy Cane Cookie Truffles!

Peppermint Cookies 'n' Cream Chocolates!

So that's it for round 1. Wait until you see what I made today ;)

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Sorry!

Hey everyone! I'm really sorry but my internet has been giving me major problems the past few days/weeks. If I've double or triple commented on your blog I'm so sorry totally didn't mean to. If my comments have disappeared (cough Shen cough) I'm sorry. And no I wasn't dreaming my comments lol I know for a fact I posted them :)

Now for some reason my internet is a big pile of crap and won't let me upload photos which is incredibly annoying as I've started my holiday baking. So until this stops being ridiculous I'm really sorry but I'll post when I can. I don't understand it and it is really aggravating that they can't get their act together.

I'll be back with photos when it lets me upload. Sorry :( I'll also comment on your blogs when it seems to be working...hopefully only once per post!

It's Almost Friday!

Hey everyone :) Hope you all had a good week so far! This post will probably be quick because I'm exhausted. I haven't even eaten dinner yet.

After work I went straight to my training session. It was really awesome, we did some new drills today. I don't remember what he called it but he used the word "advanced" in the beginning which was a total confidence booster :) After the gym I spent two hours shopping for groceries and baking supplies. Most of it was driving. I hate driving so I'm tired and totally need to relax right now.

Here's the food.

Oats for breakfast. Topped with banana, walnuts and coconut. YUM.

2 clementines with coffee for midmorning snack.

Lunch was this delicious plate of veggies and stuffed grape leaves (the bottom thing is a pickle). I had a small container of hummus on the side, not pictured.

After my workout I had this delicious Vega chocolate coconut protein bar.

Working on dinner. I'll figure it out.

Have a great night!

WTF Wednesday!

Hey everyone! I'm about to head off for my long day at work so I wanted to do a quick post and show you 2 of my meals.

I ran out of brown rice tortillas so I put some black beans and the rest of yesterday's avocado onto some toast and added a banana on the side. I am so stuffed but I like to try and eat a hearty breakfast on my long day because it typically has to keep me full past the lunch hour if we are busy with appointments. This was really good but I'll probably stick to my tortillas so I'll have to stock up.

For lunch I made this beautiful green stir fry. Tofu, bok choy, broccoli, and zucchini. This is gonna be amazing!

For dinner I'll probably get a small container of rice and veggies from the deli next door.

Have a great Wednesday everyone!

Tuesday Grub

Hey everyone! I'm back with a full day's worth of eats. Nothing really new but I figured I'd post it anyway. Had a really busy morning running around...started off with a little cardio at the gym then ran a few errands. Came home and did a bunch of laundry and now I'm finally relaxing a bit before work.

Check out the meals!

After the gym I had an unpictured soy latte while running my errands.  When I got home I ate breakfast which was a slice of millet toast with 1/2 of an avocado and 2 clementines.

For lunch I'm about to enjoy some stuffed grape leaves with hummus and some cucumber salad. Yum!!

Afternoon snack will be a handful of almonds.

Dinner will be a chopped salad I'm bringing to work which I picked up when I was out running my errands.

Have a great day everyone!

A Meal, A Workout, And A Baby :)

Hey everyone! Sorry for the brief hiatus. It was kind of unintended but once in a while I just kind of feel like I need a break from the computer. I didn't even turn it on yesterday. So as an apology I'm bringing you a yummy meal, a great workout and some cute pictures of Delilah.

First, the workout. On Saturday I went to the gym before work and had a pretty good workout that I came up with myself using exercises I typically do with my trainer. Here's what I did:

20 minute warm-up on Arc Trainer
5-1 minute rounds of jump rope
5x up and down stairs with ankle weights on (3 sets - so 15x up and down stairs altogether)
walking lunges across gym with curls into an overheard press (3x across gym)
2 sets 12 weighted squats (60 lbs - on machine)
10 minutes on elliptical

My calves are still on fire for tonight's training session. Oops!

I ate pretty standard fare this weekend. Yesterday I knew I was going to be at my brother's house all day helping everyone wrap holiday gifts so I had a delicious brunch to hold me until dinner.

This was intended to be a breakfast burrito but it turned into a quesadilla. The tortilla was a but delicate and I knew it would never wrap so I just layered a think layer of spicy refried beans, some browned tofu with nooch (which turned out to be more than I thought it would) and a half of an avocado. It was SO delicious and super duper filling. Some of the tofu escaped from the tortilla and ended up on the plate...where it stayed. Definitely going to use much less next time.

As promised, some of the holiday portraits I took of Delilah!

I am the only one that feels this way but this is my favorite shot. She isn't looking but she looks so sweet and innocent. Love it.

I love that she decided to cross her feet in this one. So funny and so cute.

On another note, I missed like a day and a half of comments and I felt so far behind! Yikes, I'll have to make sure I stay on top of that!

Hope you are all having a great Monday. Training session tonight which I'm looking forward to :)

Quick Post

Hey everyone! I'm super exhausted tonight so this is gonna be a quick post. Yesterday I ended up doing a double training session. That's an hour and a half of fun :) I was a little concerned at first but it went really well and I felt great after! Today, is another story, ha! I am very sore because we spent some time doing weight lifting which we don't do often... we mostly do body weight exercises. I know it worked because I'm sore in every muscle I used yesterday :) I randomly woke up at 4:00 am today and couldn't fall back asleep so I'm being plagued by fatigue. It took every ounce of energy and motivation in my body to get to the gym and do some cardio today. Only 30 minutes but it was more than enough.

Had some good meals today. Haven't had much of an appetite over the past few days so I'm doing the best I can. No dinner yet but check out the grub so far.

Breakfast was a slice of GF toast with a half of an avocado and 2 clementines.

Apple for midmorning snack.

Leftover Thai Food from last night. Spicy basil eggplant with tofu added in. I had about 5 bites last night and couldn't eat anymore so I just put the leftovers in a pan with some rice and reheated them. I don't know about you but I prefer to leave my stir fry in the pan for a long time to make it crispy. The rice had the same crunchy texture as the bottom of a paella, it was SO GOOD. I was going to add broccoli for more veggies but knew this was more that enough food for me so I decided against it. Forgot to ask for brown rice so had to go with the white rice but I'm fine with it considering I only eat white rice about twice a year.

OK, sorry for the short probably incoherent post but I'm going to go relax for a bit. No appetite for dinner but hopefully some inspiration will hit.  I have to work for a few hours tomorrow morning in the studio after I work out but then I have the rest of the weekend free! Yay!

Happy Friday everyone!

A Day Late...

...but totally worth the wait! At least I think so :X Sorry I didn't get to post last night, I was so tired when I got home from work I figured I'd just wait until this morning so I can actually think clearly as I post.

I had another good day yesterday so I guess I'll start from the beginning. I woke up early and had 2 clementines right away to to get some sugar in my system to sustain me through my workout. I finally put together a sick workout utilizing the heavy bag in my free time. Here is what I did:

15 minute jog @5.0 mph (12:00 mile)
15 minutes on arc trainer (if you don't know what that is, the best way I can describe it is if the stairmaster and elliptical had a lovechild).

On the heavy bag:
1-3 minute round boxing
1-3 minute round elbows and knees
1-3 minute round kicks
2-3 minute rounds freestyle (punches, knees, kicks, elbows)

(3x) 30 seconds straight punches followed by 1 minute ground and pound.

Awesome workout! I felt great after! I also have a product review for you. I picked up some Vega Sport Electrolyte Hydrator at Whole Foods on a whim the other day.

You can get more info here and it's also where I grabbed the pic. It is a small tube of powder that you add to your water and it is supposed to rehydrate you and replace your electrolytes during a workout (like Gatorade would) minus the calories and yucky stuff. I grabbed one of each flavor and tried the lemon-lime one yesterday. It was actually really good! It works like Gatorade but tastes more like vitamin water. It has a very mellow taste but is still good. Whether or not it really works who knows I'll probably use a couple times a week. I think it was only 99 cents per tube too so it's way cheaper than vitamin water, gatorade or coconut water.

And now onto the food!

When I got home from the gym I made myself a protein shake to drink while making this delicious breakfast. I had some oats with a banana and a tbsp of chopped walnuts. Lots of cinnamon, naturally.

I decided to get some Chipotle for lunch. Such a great decision, my burrito bowl was delicious! Filled with the usual suspects, brown rice, black beans, pico de gallo, guacamole and lettuce. YUM!

In the afternoon I had an unpictured coffee and some almonds.

For dinner I had some delicious Mediterranean Hummus from Trader Joe's with 3 stuffed grape leaves (there is one hidden under the carrots) and a big ol' pile of carrots.

Such a delicious day started off by a sick workout. Feeling good these days. Been making sure to drink a ton of water too which is so important. I love having a little more spare time in the winter to be able to actually plan my meals and workouts :)

Hope you all have a great day! Happy hump day :)

Another Day, More Yummy Meals!

Hey everyone! Hope your Monday was relatively painless :) Been having a good day...lots of yummy meals, short day at work, and a great workout! I did seven 3 minute rounds on the heavy bag followed by some core/abs. Over the weekend I watched A LOT of fights. On Saturday, Spike played 3 hours of MMA fights for the Ultimate Fighter Finale. On Sunday I watched a lot of old boxing bouts. Needless to say I was inspired and began to think about how I can effectively use my workouts on my own to continue to practice what I learn with my trainer. I began to think of workouts I can try on my own and I'll definitely keep you posted on them! I'm going to try my first one tomorrow. I don't know why it took me so long to realize I can make use of that heavy bag on my own time :X

Anyway, check out my yummy food today!

For breakfast I had a slice of GF Millet toast with 2 teaspoons of almond butter, 1/2 sliced banana and some cinnamon. On the side I had some blackberries and the other half of the banana. So delicious.

2 clementines packed for snack.

For lunch I had some baby carrots, grape tomatoes, stuffed grape leaves and amazing hummus from Trader Joe's. This was a yummy lunch.

I got out at 2 today and thankfully I put in all my meals into Lose It! along with my planned exercise because I realized I was WAY under for calories. Yikes!! I added in a pre-workout meal of 1/4 cup oats cooked in 1 cup water with 2 tbsp ground flax seeds, some raisins and cinnamon. Perfect pre-workout fuel eaten about 2 hours prior to heading to the gym.

After the gym I made a quick protein shake (in the blender this time!) and drank it quickly before I showered.

For dinner I whipped up a quick stir fry of zucchini, bok choy and broccoli tossed in 1 tbsp of garlic sauce. I served it with some golden sesame tofu from Whole Foods. Delicious end to the day!

Have a good night everyone!

GIVEAWAY Winner!!

Hey everyone! I'm just popping on to share the giveaway winner with you!!

I had to go old school with my picking because I had a few comments that were not entries so I just did the old numbered pieces of paper deal. I pulled lucky number 4! Congrats Ingrid!! You won a sampling of my holiday baking this year! I'll probably start baking in a week or two so sit tight! In the meantime, please e-mail me your address at xvavaveganx@yahoo.com.

Congrats to Ingrid and thank you all for reading and entering. I'm sure I'll host another one soon so please keep checking back!

Have a great Sunday night!

Fun With Instagram!

Happy Friday everyone!! Blah blah blah went to work blah blah went to the gym for cardio blah blah. Nothing exciting happening here.

When I got my iPhone I downloaded Instagram because I heard it was a great photo sharing app. I have had my phone since Septemberish and hadn't touched the app. I had to take cell phone pics of my meals so far so i decided to play with Instagram and put some cool effects on my not so exciting photos :)

Check it!

I grabbed my breakfast on the go to eat at work courtesy of Starbucks. A soy latte (with a properly spelled name, the guy actually asked "h or no h!") and I just got a plain oatmeal and added my own raisins and walnuts. It was good and a great healthy breakfast option on the go. I love this effect, the desaturation and grain look really cool on this photo!

Lunch was a chopped salad. My keyboard at work is getting a lot of presence in this post today because I eat at my desk. I work in a small studio. This has a cool blur on it.

So far I like the way the Instagram effects look! I figured that since Delilah is such a hit I'd play with one of her adorable photos from Halloween!

I wish there was a way to take the effect off of her face but oh well. I still think it's cute.

Ok, that's all lol. Happy Friday and I hope you have a great weekend!

Brrrr!

Hey everyone! It got COLD today. I'm such a baby about the cold so I'm not too happy about the temperature change but I'll just have to suck it up. Had another great workout that got me sweating though so that was some brief relief from the cold.

Some not super exciting meals today...

Breakfast was 1/3 cup of granola with a banana and some almond milk. It was so good!

For lunch I had a random dish of things I was craving. Some stuffed grape leaves, the last of my roasted brussels sprouts, two clementines and a few blackberries. Random but good.

After my workout I was actually really hungry for once (usually I don't have an appetite after a workout) so I made a tostada like I had the other night...but totally forgot to photograph it because I wanted to eat it. It was super delicious. I love the fat free spicy refried beans.

I'll probably have some frozen grapes after I warm up a bit. Overall a very yummy day!

Yay for Friday!