Food Journal: Take one!

So there is a lot of interest in my food/exercise journals! I plan on posting them in between posts or on the weekend. I will definitely still be posting food pics! ;) 


Before I get to it, I want to add the disclaimer that I am still nursing so I can take in an ample amount of calories. Plus I have some serious workouts. 


Wednesday: 7/27/2011


Upon waking: stretch my entire body, 1 probiotic pill on an empty stomach


Breakfast: Green smoothie: a handful of spinach, 2 frozen bananas, 1 cup of almond milk, 1 Brazil Nut (for Selenium), 1 tablespoon of Macadamia nut butter, 1 and half scoops of Sunwarrior Chocolate Protein Powder, 2 tablespoons of E3Live, 1 tablespoon of Greener Grasses. (I try to get as much nutrients and a decent amount of fat to keep me full till lunch, this definitely does it!). I also take my vitamins now (B12, Raw Prenatal (for nursing), Vitamin D, Iron, Calcium/Magnesium).


Mid-morning Workout: P90x Back and Biceps (this was about 40 minutes long).


After workout: 1 Coconut water (we buy Taste Nirvana by the case, it's the best coconut water I have tasted).


Before Lunch: 1 probiotic pill


Lunch: Salad: Romaine, 1 large cucumber, raw kraut, one raw pickle, a Sunshine Burger, 2 tablespoons of garlic hummus, half an avocado, curry powder, pepper, olive oil, raw coconut vinegar.


Exercise: About a 20 minute walk with Baby A 


Mid-afternoon: 1 Raw Revolution Bar (Cashew/Chocolate)


Before dinner: 1 probiotic pill


Dinner: Quinoa with tempeh, eggplant from the garden, garlic and tomato sauce. (pic to come).

After dinner: 1 small square of Righteously Raw Caramel Bar


I also drink a ton of water all day!


As you can see, I am a big meal person, not much of a grazer. Sometimes I don't even have an afternoon snack, my lunch keeps me pretty full but I want to get a good amount of calories because I am nursing. 


XO


P.S. My sister is blogging again! She has an awesome list of posts lined up, please check it out HERE! :) 

A Positive Post

Hey Sunshine Loves! I hope you are having a great week! Something to start this post off on a positive note: 


Be Yourself: This situation calls for you to be your authentic self, which is the basis for your personal power.

Anyway, though that was a nice message from the fairies! ;)

Over the weekend I was really in the mood for pizza! So T and I decided to make our own. Mine was gluten free and vegan, of course. Here is my personal pie: eggplant, basil and tomatoes from my garden, olives, and a small sprinkle of Daiya cheese. I have mentioned in the past that I am not a big fan of fake cheese and too much Daiya can be rich, so I used a sprinkle, just for taste purposes. ;)

With the weather being so hot, I love cooling down with cantaloupe blended with ice!  Mmm!

A large kale salad that T and I had with dinner one night: kale, avocados, cucs from my garden, olives.

And my lovely hubby made me two gluten free vegan calzones to have later in the week. They were stuffed with the same toppings that I had on my pizza. I had them with a kale salad on the side. Balance, people! HA HA!

I have been getting emails and questions on my Formspring page about my daily eats. I was thinking about posting food journals every so often, would you guys be interested?
Have a great day!
P.S. I am 10 pounds away from my goal weight! :) Yay for high raw vegan food and hardcore (P90x and Insanity) workouts! Took 8 months, but I am almost there!!

Beat The Heat Eats

Hey All! I hope you had a great weekend! The weather will finally be cooler today (Thank God!). I can't wait to go for a walk with the baby. I got use to our daily walks and with the heat, we had to stop. Anyway, this weekend was pretty mellow. We ran errands and chilled inside a lot because of the triple digits temps. Baby A turned 8 months yesterday!!! I can't believe how fast time is going. I feel like she is such a big girl now! :(


We spent a lot of time at Whole Foods this weekend. We did our grocery shopping and had lunch there on Saturday and Sunday. I picked up this raw drink. This was pretty strong (even for me, who drinks curry powder in my water). Ha ha!

This was one of my lunches: raw kale and avocado salad with onions and tomatoes, white beans, one dolma and 2 Indian Veggie Patties (vegan and gluten free!).

And this was my Sunday salad: raw kale and avocado salad with cucumbers, brown rice and black eyed peas and a few pieces of baked gluten free/vegan falafel.

This week I bought Cashew Butter for my green smoothies! Yummy!

And I've been snacking on Raw Revolution bars as of lately. I needed a break from my usual Lara Bars. They are rich and like a brownie! 

How was your weekend? How did you stay cool? Anything exciting going on this week?

Have a great day all!

Forks Over Knives

Hey Loves, I hope you are staying cool! This heat wave we are having in the North East is horrible!!! Baby A and I are staying in the AC most of today and we are going to try to venture to Whole Foods for some groceries. Ick!


Anyway, last night was the Forks Over Knives event. For those of you that aren't familiar, here is the trailer..





This event took place in Redbank, NJ, near where my family lives. My sister got us tickets through her yoga studio.

Before the movie, there were vegan tapas. A bunch of local vegan restaurants/companies set up tables with their products. I wasn't expecting much, and I was pleasantly surprised! They had so many options and piled our plates with generous portions. They even had bottled water, Zevia, and a variety of iced tea, smoothies and fresh juice. My plate was mostly raw (their were lots of raw/gluten free options as well). I had some salad with raw feta cheese, raw crackers, a raw sunburger and a raw macaroon (all from my friend Zoe), along with a raw stuffed mushroom, 2 kinds of raw dips, raw veggies, lentil loaf (the only non-raw item), and an energy bar. I also had a gluten free chocolate chip cookie from Papa Ganache. This was the best chocolate chip cookie I have ever had! G-free or not! :) I plan on getting these for Baby A's first birthday in November (and vegan cake too!).

Good Karma Cafe gave out a raw sample plate which had a raw cracker with raw salsa and guacamole, a baby raw collard wrap and raw spaghetti with sauce and raw veggies. Yum!!

Before the movie began, they handed out vegan popcorn! I can't eat popcorn because of my Crohn's, but my sister and friend enjoyed it! It felt so nice to feel "normal" going to the movies! 

After the movie, T. Colin Campbell answered questions. I found the questions to be very interesting and he answered in depth.

The lovely Zoe asked a great question about people eating "organic, grass fed" meat. He basically said, meat is meat, it all turns on cancer cells in the body.

Overall it was a great time! This movie is a must see, I plan on buying it when it is available (so T can watch!). Have you seen Forks Over Knives? What did you think?

Also, my friend Lisa has a great new blog! Please support her and check it out!

A Productive Week

Hey Friends! I hope you are all having a great week! The temps here have been over 100 everyday, so we haven't left the house much. Which is why I've had time to do fun things like... making pickles!!! I have so many cucumbers from my garden, what better way to use them! ;) I used Earthmother's recipe. I have yet to try them. But I know they are going to be yummy! 

I also gave baby A her first solids! She had banana mashed with breast milk. At first she seemed to like it, then the weird, funny faces came. :) She doesn't eat much, maybe 3 or 4 small spoonfuls. Next week we are going to try avocado!

Here she is making a silly face after her first bite! I still plan on having her main source of nourishment as breast milk. But now that she can sit up on her own, has 2 teeth and has been eyeing our food, I felt she was ready!

Onto my dinner, black rice with chickpeas and stir fry vegetables: potatoes, broccoli, green beans, mushrooms, peas.

Another delicious green smoothie (I plan on giving Baby A green smoothies in the near future, toned down of course). This one was spinach, banana, Sunwarrior Vanilla protein powder, E3Live, Wheatgrass powder, macadamia nut butter, almond milk.

And more cucumber goodness: cucs, raw kraut, Sunshine Burger, hummus, olives. 

Tonight is the Forks Over Knives event! I am super excited! I will take lots of pics and hopefully post tomorrow or Monday!
Have a great day all!

Busy Lady

Hey Everyone! Sorry for the lack of posting lately. I've been a busy gal! The wedding was great, we had an amazing time and the vegan food was yummy! I barely took any pictures because I was being photographed by the photographer all day since I was in the wedding. :) But I have a couple later in this post.


On Thursday I am going to an awesome event with my sister and friend. A vegan food tasting followed by a showing of Forks over Knives, followed by a Q&A with T. Colin Campbell! Awesome, right? I can NOT wait!!


Onto some recent eats: my favorite collard wrap from the health food store: raw cashew cream, carrots, purple cabbage, tomatoes, sprouts. 

I splurged on some raw macadamia nut butter. Very much worth it! ;)

I added some to this delicious smoothie the other morning: spinach, Vega's shake-n-go chocolate smoothie  powder, banana, wheatgrass powder, E3Live, almond milk.

For dinner last night I made a Buddha Bowl: raw kale, avocado, hummus, olives, white beans and black rice. So filling and delicious!

Here is a picture of T and I at the wedding. Not the best shot! ;)

And Baby A, who stayed in the hotel room with my cousin, but made an appearance for pictures and cocktail hour. 

I plan on introducing some solids to Baby A in the very near future. Probably banana mashed with breast milk. I plan on keeping most of her diet breast milk, but I think she is ready for some food. She will be 8 months on the 24th!!

Have a great day all! XO

Garden Explosion

Hey All! Thanks for entering my latest giveaway. I will post the winner at the end of this post.


This week has been crazy! T's brother and my bestie are getting married on Friday! T is the best man and I am a bridesmaid. We are super excited! I will take lots of pics, since she is a vegan, there will be plenty of vegan options!


Anyway, I picked up some new raw kraut this week. This is made locally (in New York). I really should make my own, but who has the time!! ;)

I tried it on a salad of romaine, hummus, Bubbies, a Sunshine Burger and cucumbers from my garden. Yummy! 

Speaking of our garden..

Tomatoes are almost ready!

Peppers!

T's hot peppers!

Our cucumber wall! We let Baby A lick a little cucumber this week. She seemed to like it. We plan on introducing some solids in the near future. She will be 8 months on the 24th, so probably sometime in August since she is starting to show signs. We plan on making the bulk of her diet still breastmilk until she is at least a year. :)

Another Buddha bowl: raw kale, olives, avocado, hummus, millet and black beans. I cooked the millet in coconut oil instead of olive oil and it came out super yummy! Almost "buttery!"

And finally, the winner of a copy of Veganomicon is....
JENNA!
Congrats!!
Please email me: LaurenGingerRose@gmail.com with your info! Thanks again everyone and thank you VeganMeals.com for this wonderful giveaway!

A Quick Weekend Food Post

Hey All! I hope you had a great weekend! 


This weekend, we were able to harvest a TON of cucumbers from our garden!!! I see many cucumber salads in my future! This one was simple: dried basil, sea salt, ground pepper, olive oil and coconut vinegar. Yum!!

I had this yummy Buddha bowl one night: raw kale, black rice, avocado, hummus, olives, chickpeas and hemp seeds.

My new favorite snack is a gluten free English muffin topped with hummus and raw kraut, I also sprinkle some pepper on top. I got this idea from the lovely Kristen.

We had lunch at our favorite salad place in town. This was romaine, sun dried tomatoes, chickpeas, shredded veggies and mushrooms.

I wasn't feeling great towards the end of the weekend so T made me dinner. Store bought gnocchi topped with olive oil and fresh basil. He even garnished the dish, talk about love! <3 ;)

Don't forget to enter my latest giveaway! Have a great day all! XO

Vegan Cookbook Giveaway!

Hey All! It's giveaway time again! :)


The people at VeganMeals.com  are giving one lucky reader a copy of Veganomicon! 


First a little about this awesome new site. VeganMeals.com is a cooking/recipe community where bloggers submit one of their recipes once a week (they get to link back to their site) and vegans everywhere contribute to the site. They also post recipes pretty frequently.


The site is very user friendly, has great pictures and is a great resource! Let's spread the word about this great new place!
Contestants will get 1 entry for doing each of the following:

1) Comment on this post and link to a recipe you would like to make and have
commented on @ VeganMeals.com. (one entry)
2) Following me (@LaurenGinger) and them (@myveganmeals) on twitter. You will need to post your
twitter ID in a comment on the post. (one entry)

Give away is open to anyone in the US or Canada and will run for 7 days. I will post the winner next Thursday (July 14th, 2011).


I know many of you have this book, this would be a great chance to get a copy for someone else! :) Maybe it can even help them transition to veganism!! 
Good luck!

Fourth of July Weekend

Hey All! I hope you had a great weekend and a wonderful 4th of July to those in the U.S! Sorry for the lack of posts, I've been slacking! I promise to make this one worth it..


On Friday, T and I went to Osteria, the restaurant in our Whole Foods, for dinner. I had a large salad that had red onion, roasted red peppers, olives, tomatoes and artichoke hearts.

I also had a side of broccoli rabe, sauteed in garlic and olive oil.

On Saturday, we hit up Whole Foods again for some lunch. I had kale salad with avocado and red onion with scoop of brown rice with raw veggies and one Greek Dolma.

On Sunday, my sister had her annual 3rd of July party. She lives with her boyfriend and his Dad in a house on the river. The town sets off fireworks from the water and her yard has the perfect view. I made a raw vegan fruit tart from the book Going Raw. I used blackberries, blueberries and strawberries to be festive. This was a hit!

Yummy organic blackberries!

Here is Baby A and Ginger all ready to party!

This is the view I just mentioned..

And fireworks! Baby A wasn't scared at all. T held her and she just watched in awe!

On the actual 4th, we just hung out at home. But we did go out for a light lunch, later on in the day. I had a mixed green salad with strawberries, pears, pinenuts and craisins on it. A perfect, refreshing salad.

And of course no 4th of July would be complete without WATERMELON! :) Those of you that have been reading for awhile know all about my love for the pink stuff!

How was your 4th? Did you watch fireworks?
Have a great day all!