codie, joe and pinecone

Veggie Heaven, day eleven

Aside from being super stoked on the many, many environmental benefits of eating a vegan diet, Codie and I are feeling fantastic both mentally and physically. We love the way are bodies are reacting to being fueled by a plant based diet. I Feel more connected with my body that I ever have in my entire life. I'm craving exercise and my mind is clear and focused. I have also cut back on drinking. I am not concentrating on cutting back, my body just doesn't want alcohol. I have also reconnected with something I love, cooking. The past few nights have been amazing. Collaborating with Codie in the kitchen, serving our vegan creations to our vegan for tonight friends, converting our favorite meals into vegan splendors, and connecting with friends (and Pinecone of course) around the dinner table over a fabulous healthy meal!

Love and Kindness
Lia

codie's famous caesar salad: vegan style!

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FWD:out to lunch with mom :) vegantastic at gayles bakery

out to lunch with mom :) vegantastic at gayles bakery

carob covered strawberries for dessert!

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joe enjoying portobella mushroom piccata and steamed greens:)

the mayzan men

naan oven

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Santa Cruz is my boyfriend, Day 9

I am butt crazy in love with Santa Cruz right now! It is a vegan's paradise! Today's trip to the downtown farmers market was totally inspiring. After another rad session on the yoga mat this morning I invited my friend Mandy to join me at the market. Mandy is not vegan though my constant stream of breaking veggie news has her curious. We meandered through the fruit and veggie stands sampling apricots, cherries, bean spouts, dates, and nuts. The hickory smoked almonds were like heaven. BBQ has been my only real craving so far making the smokey flavored nuts a real treat. We made our way to the hot food area where people were crowded around the Gourmet Indian food stand. A nice girl was giving samples of their different curries and sauces while two men were making fresh naan bread to order. It smelled of comfort. I was thrilled when I read the menu and next to the word naan it said (vegan)!! When it was our turn to order the nice man made us a special naan bread wrap with a melody of vegan fillings. I noticed that my excitement was infectious. Mandy was becoming more vegan curious by the second! The next booth had a huge banner sign that read "MAYZAN". The menu listed items such as el pastor taco and BBQ sandwich. We were about to pass by until I overheard the word "vegan" . The twenty something guy inside the booth was handing out samples of totally vegan "chicken" salad, "el pastor", and BBQ "beef tips". Mayzan, a local Santa Cruz Co., makes vegan meat alternatives made of processed wheat protein (gluten), similar to seitan. He said that seitan is less hydrated than their product so it is more dense. He handed me a sample of the el pastor and the beef tips. Mandy tried the chicken salad. I used the accompanied toothpick to eat the beef tips and try Mandy's chicken salad. The el pastor was not a easy to eat. I asked how I should do it and he said "just shoot it, like a jello shot"! That I could do! And I did! It was so good that we ordered an el pastor taco to accompany our Indian naan wrap. We found a nice spot under a tree next to the massage booth and took in the sights as we enjoyed our vegan delights. Mandy suggested that next week we splurge for a 10 min. back rub after lunch. Sounds great to me!!

Love and Kindness
Lia

codie and her salad:)

Vegan, 1 week

Codie and I are both feeling amazing! I have learned so much this week, not only about food and a new way of living and eating, but about myself. Focusing on being completely aware of exactly what I am putting in my body has inspired awareness and clarity in every other aspect of my life. All I can think about when I wake up in the morning is what exciting new veggie dish I'm going to cook and what I am going to learn on the internet or talking to people about a vegan diet. I have also learned that Veggie boys are hot! Single and vegan in Santa Cruz is where it's at! I had a great conversation with a guy last night who was vegan for 5 years. He was full of veggie knowledge and eager to share. By the end our chat he was questioning why he ever started eating meat again...

Can't wait to see what week two has to offer, but first, breakfast! Brown rice portage with fresh homemade almond milk!

Love and Kindess
Lia

Pix Potluck

Pix Potluck — Sweet Vegan Cupcakes

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day 6

looking forward to day 7...

curry veggie wraps! Dara was impressed!

Back on the mat, Day 5

Though I have been thriving on my new vegan diet, I have been neglecting something in my life that is extremely important to me, my yoga practice. Over the past two months, my busy work schedule combined with several emotional irruptions in my personal life have led me to a sadly familiar state of depression. I listened to the little devil on my shoulder and let myself believe that I'm am not good enough or deserving of love and happiness. I talked myself in to believing that if I were thinner, prettier, more formally educated, wealthier, from a different family, blah, blah, blah, that I would be loved. I spent the entire month of April and early May mentally beating myself down to nothing. Something had to change! I decided to stop listening to the devil on my shoulder. All of these negative things I was beveling about myself were lies. I was listening because for some stupid reason I feel comfortable and safe surrounded by my own poisonous inner chatter. So I quit listening, cold tofurkey!!!

I went to yoga today for the first time in over a month. I was intimated at first but since I no longer listen to the voice of poison, I decided to just go and feel what ever my body and mind were going to feel. I'm writing about this because today was the most connected I have ever felt with my body in a yoga class. I was fully present with my breath and movement. I truly believe that eating a vegan diet and being fully aware of what I am putting into my body has everything to do with the experience I had on the mat today!!!

Codie is at a potluck wedding today. I hope her vegan pesto pasta salad is a hit!!!

Love and Kindess

Veggie girls in a big meaty world, day 4

Last night was so much fun! We went veggie crazy at the health food store and created an amazing vegan feast. Even our very non vegan friend Katie was impressed with the veg-tastic smorgasbord. Today was kind of a challenge. As I mentioned before, Codie and I both work at a steak house. For privacy reasons I will call it Beefland. Working a double shift at Beefland today was interesting. I was really concentrating on how everyone seemed to be so unaware of what they were putting into their bodies, or at least pretending to be. I don't want to say anything negative about Beefland because it pays for my veggies at the farmers market, my upcoming trip to Italy and my portion of the bill at Malabar, our local and totally awesome vegan restaurant in Santa Cruz. I'm kinda in a catch 22. On that note, lets check in with Codie!

Interview with Codie

LR: So, we are 4 days in, how are you feeling?
CM:Pretty good, I feel cleaner and lighter and less lethargic. Normally, I feel tired and worthless after eating but now that I am excluding dairy and fatty meat, I feel more satisfied and pleased with my healthy choices.

LR: What has been the most challenging part of adopting a vegan lifestyle?
CM: Making sure the right balance of foods are available when I'm hungry and busy. I woke up earlier than normal this morning to make my lunch and throw a few healthy snacks together in-case I couldn't make it home before my next shift.

LR: Do you see yourself sustaining this lifestyle?
CM: Yes, definitely. I love the creativity with cooking and nourishing myself with whole, healthy foods. I love supporting local farmers and our environment.

LR: On a more personal note, how is your digestive system treating you?
CM: It's active! 3-5 times a day! Not very stinky and lighter in color.

LR: Thanks Codie! You rock!!!

Love and Kindness

codie making dinner!

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stocking up!

OMG you freaky hippies, Day 3

So we are definitely getting funny looks with this whole vegan thing. People simply cannot deal with the idea of not eating animal flesh or drinking milk from a cow in their coffee and cereal. Besides the politics behind these major industries which are sucking our natural resources dry, there are huge health benefits of going vegan. I encourage you to do some research of your own before you knock it! Heart disease is the number on killer of woman in the United States. I'm not writing this blog to preach, rather to share an experience. So call me a crunchy, tree hugging, hippie as much as you like. I actually kinda like it!!
So back to day 3... We are going shopping tonight to stock our vegan pantry. I realized that having the right food in the house is huge!! Woman cannot live of pita and hummus alone. Cooking is very important also. If you don't like to cook you will end up eating a lot of packaged/processed food, which is not exactly healthy. Many of the packaged meat/dairy substitute items on the market have a lot of sugar and can be very salty. The less processed the better for you! Overall I'm feeling great! I feel lighter and happier and it's only been 3 days!!

Love and Kindness

Vegan Chicks, Day 2

Everyone says it's going to be so difficult. So far it's not so bad. For breakfast we had whole grain cereal with almond milk, totally satisfying. We also had almond milk our coffee. I have been avoiding dairy for over a year now so that part is pretty easy for me. Codie still does cows milk in her coffee and is a self proclaimed cheese-o-holic. That part going to be tough for her. I'm feeling good. My skin is a little broken out. I'm not sure if it's from detoxing or PMS! Probably a little if both. Today I'm going to visit the new yerba-mate store in Capitola. I'm considering giving up the one true love in my life, coffee! I'm not promising anything but I'm willing to give it a shot. I can't wait for Codie to get home from the salon so we can plan our vegan lunch!
Love and Kindness

Vegan: Day one, the dinner pary

So, the inspiration for this blog is the book The Kind Diet, by Alicia Silverstone. My new roomie and I (both of whom work at a local steakhouse BTW) have decided to "flirt" with the idea of living a more health conscious, earth friendly lifestyle which includes switching to a vegan diet. Codie and I have decided to blog about our journey, sharing with you the trial and errors of our vegan recipes, stories of falling off the veggie wagon, and what ever may happen to our minds, bodies, and souls (poop and all) along the way.

We invited Joe over for a vegan dinner tonight. Because I like to plan meals around what I already have in the house, I decided to forgo one of Alicia's recipes and work with what I got! Left over grilled veggies from the bridal shower I hosted at my house on Sunday, were a perfect excuse for me to get out my panini press (my favorite wedding gift and another story!). At work today, I was craving a french dip sandwich, piled high with prime rib, dipped in salty beef au jus! Totally "nasty" on the kind diet. The craving only lasted a few seconds. I started thinking about the book and everything thing I have learned not only about the health reasons to avoid meat but the impact that the meat industry has on our environment. I came up with "grilled veggie dips". Whole grain sourdough, grilled veggies, and vegan mozzarella dipped in faux beef au jus, and for dessert, strawberry shortcake with vanilla rice dream. It was delicious! Next time I would ditch the vegan cheese. It was not great, not terrible, just not great. The vegan biscuits for the shortcake turned out awesome. Didn't miss the butter of milk one bit. This is going to be interesting! Stay tuned....
Love and Kindness