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Archive for category Vegetarian

Natural Chef Culinary School: Showcase Recap

Feb 21

Posted by Shari B. in Cooking, Natural Chef Culinary School, Vegetarian | 12 Comments

Hi friends!

It’s amazing how quickly school is coming to an end. I will give my Final Presentation (for 45 minutes in front of my peers and instructor – EEK!) on Wednesday.  Then Friday I’ll just be an audience member while students are giving their presentations that day.  We come in on Monday to turn in our very last homework assignment (which is basically our business plan, flyers, sample menus for our business, etc.) and then fill out some final paperwork.  Then I will have OFFICIALLY finished Natural Chef training!  And I even have all of my externship hours completed!  Wahoo!

One of the big things we’ve been working on at school as of late culminated Friday night with our Culinary Showcase.  It had been a very long week (and extremely long Friday) leading up to it.  But it was worth all the hard work.  It came together so nicely.

The theme for our event was Boulder’s Seven Sister Cities.  Which couldn’t have been more fitting, because we had 7 courses to prepare.  I’ll list the menu first then show pics of the food after.  The sister city being represented is listed under each menu item:

Welcome Beverage:

Digestive Tonic
(Yamagata, Japan)
Kuzu broth with lemon, ginger and umeboshi plums

Appetizer:

Steamed Momos
(Lhasa, Tibet)
Sprouted brown rice dumpling cups filled with crimini mushrooms, cabbage, onion and a sweet & spicy tamari sauce

Soup:

Maharagwe
(Kisumu, Kenya)
Spiced red beans and tomatoes in a tumeric coconut broth

Salad:

Vigoron
(Jalapa, Nicaragua)
Herbed cassava (yucca) and cilantro salsa over red cabbage tossed in an avocado emulsion
and topped with crispy ‘raw’ onion rings

Entree:

Vegetarian Tamales
(Mante, Mexico)
Masa Harina dough surrounding kabocha squash & blackbean filling
topped with red chile cherry chocolate mole & goat cheese
Served with a side of jicama salad

Dessert:

Banana Cassarole
(Yateras, Cuba)
Citrus caramelized bananas, almonds, and raisins with a blood orange reduction and coconut mint ice cream.

Closing Beverage:

Decaf Green Tea
(Dushanbe,Tajikistan)
Steeped with date infused water and fresh mint

***

The digestive wellness tonic:

The momos (which normally are little dumplings that I consider somewhat similar to potstickers) – my teammate and I made them into little cups instead:

I didn’t get to snap a shot of the soup as it was on its way out of the kitchen.  Imagine a gorgeous yellow soup with some red beans in it!  :)

The “vigoron” salad – I LOVE the presentation of this salad – built up tall and served on a banana leaf:

The entree (mmm tamales – the cherries and dark chocolate in this mole made this sauce over-the-top delicious!):

The dessert – topped with a scoop of homemade coconut mint hempseed ice cream:

And cheers to decaf green tea sweetened with date water and fresh mint:

I was so impressed that the students selected to be on the decorating committee were able to absolutely transform the huge eyesore dining hall into something cozy.  Since our food theme was all over the world, we decided on an airplane theme.

We had a runway:

We had blue sky and clouds:

We had window seats:

We had departures timed with the service of food for each city:

And even tearful goodbyes:

I think I was over-tired. ;)   Yeah, that was it.

It was the last time we’d all be cooking together as a team – and while I’m so excited to be done with school, I guess I really am more attached to my classmates than I thought.

I’d like to give a special mention of thanks to my kind and beautiful friend Keri from Om of the Rockies for attending this event as one of my guests and for helping me out by taking lots of pictures of the evening.  Keri – it meant a lot to me that you were there, and I so appreciate all the support you have given me in the years we’ve been friends. You’re awesome!

Well friends, I have some vegetable stock in my pressure cooker that is needing my attention so I better get busy!  I have lots of fun food pics to show you coming soon of creations I’ve been making at home, including what I plan to prepare for my final presentation.

Have a WONDERFUL week and I’ll see you next time!

– Shari B. =)

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Burger-n-Fries, FitFeat Style

Oct 22

Posted by Shari B. in Cooking, Vegetarian | 4 Comments

Happy Friday FitFeat friends!

I’m heading off to class shortly but wanted to quickly share with you a fun lunch I made this week, using Jicama “Fries” that one of our instructors, Brigitte Mars, showed us how to make last week.

It’s so easy!  Basically you peel and cut a jicama into “fry” shapes, toss lightly with some olive oil until well coated, add some sea salt, nutritional yeast, and chili powder (or other seasonings of choice).


And all of a sudden you have a super-fast, raw snack that looks just like a french fry!  Only MUCH healthier!

Serve as a side to a wonderful Sunshine Burger and lunch is served.  Take that, MickyD’s.  ;)

Have a FABULOUS Friday blog buds!

– Shari B. =)

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A Veggie-versary of Sorts

Jul 24

Posted by Shari B. in Vegetarian | 6 Comments

Hi friends!  Hope your weekend is already off to a great start.  My what a busy busy week it was.  So glad the weekend is here now!

One year ago today, July 24, my sweet hubby agreed to go see “Food, Inc.” with me and a couple of our friends.  I told him before we went in that I thought it might be something that would strongly affect me, but neither of us could have known the understatement those words would really  be.  And that the BBQ chicken sandwich I’d had at lunch that day would be that last time I’d be eating chicken, among other things!

It’s been a year chock full of veggies, fruits, nuts, seeds, sprouts, fermented teas, and so much more with an occasional egg or piece of fish or a little raw goat cheese here and there.  What a wild and adventurous ride it has been so far!  I have tried foods that I would never have even considered before or known about if I hadn’t needed to “find an alternative” for our typical meals, especially when eating out.

Like some of these awesome eats…

Delicious Vegetarian Enchiladas with Carrot Puree at Tres Margaritas:

Beautiful Berkeley Vegan Pizza from ZPizza (where I also discovered dairy free Daiya cheese!)

Fabulous Falafel and Hummus Plate at Garbanzo Mediterranean Grill:

Tasty Three Beet Salad at Root Down:

The best Quinoa dish I’ve ever eaten (at Boulder Organic Pizza):

And that’s just a few!  I could go on all day (but then I might start drooling on my laptop…!)

My tastebuds definitely thank me for the change I’ve made!  If I’d still been eating meat when visiting the restaurants above, I would never have even known about these delicious dishes.

Yesterday I decided to pay it forward, so to speak, by giving the DVD to a coworker who seems close to making similar changes.  I hope he finds it just as life-changing as I did, especially in the culinary sense.

Am I trying to change people’s minds or get them to give up meat?  Not at all.  I just want people who are considering cutting back on meat and animal products to see that when it comes to the question of “but what’s left to eat if I don’t eat meat?” the answer is “a heck of a lot of fun foods!”

I’m looking forward to what the next year will bring!

– Shari B. =)

***

If you’d like to read more on how I eat, you might enjoy these previous posts:

Shari Becht is a Fit Living Coach and an ACE Certified Personal Trainer offering coaching services to people across the U.S.  She is extremely passionate about teaching her clients how to start making small changes every day to their own lives, built around steps customized to fit their needs.

If you or someone you know could benefit from Shari’s coaching, please feel free to email her at shari [at] fitfeat  [dot] com.  For more information, click here.

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Pummel-OH!

May 2

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit, Vegetarian | 9 Comments

Hi friends!

Hope your weekend is treating you right!  Before I get on to the topic of this post, I’d like to give a shout out to reader Carrie D. who rocked her half-marathon this morning!  Way to go, girl!  :)

I tried a new fruit this week, a pummelo, which according to Wikipedia can be spelled a variety of ways (pomelo, pumelo, pommelo).  Any way you spell it, it means Citrus grandis as it is the largest citrus fruit.  I saw one in the produce section while grocery shopping last week and had to take one home to try.

Citrus grandis is right – this thing was literally the size of my head:

(no comments about the size of my pinhead, now.  I already know it’s small!) ;)

Mr. Pummelo has the same issue with baseball caps fitting that I do:

But I digress…
I cut right into this big boy for breakfast and realized two things.

First was “OOPS!  Should’ve cut it the OTHER direction, the way I would for a grapefruit” like so:

And the second thought was, “Hey I’ve been bamboozled, because this is just a grapefruit with MUCH THICKER SKIN!  Did I pay by the POUND for all this extra padding?”  :D

Actually it was quite good – a little sweeter than a ruby red grapefruit and very refreshing after a good workout.  Plus it has 193% of your day’s worth of Vitamin C.

And I just read that the Chinese believe eating pummelos will bring you good luck and prosperity so I’m heading back to the store now to stock up on more pummelos (and a lottery ticket!)   Who can’t use a little extra luck?  ;)

Have you tried any “new to you” produce lately?  What did you think? I’d love to get some new ideas that we can share!

Happy Sunday blog buds!

– Shari B. =)

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Crockpot Veggies Make Good Blizzard Food

Mar 23

Posted by Shari B. in Cooking, vegan, Vegetarian | 6 Comments

Hey there blog buds!

Happy Tuesday!  As I write this, the sun is shining, the sky is blue and it’s a crisp 36 degrees.  That’s all going to change shortly.

Check out our forecast:

A Winter Storm Warning goes into effect at 3 PM Tuesday afternoon for the Denver Area as well as adjacent communities and the foothills. This storm may drop eight to sixteen inches of snow in the Denver area, with the main snow coming between 3 AM and 9 AM on Wednesday. The foothills and higher terrain south of Denver may see closer to 2 feet of snow.

Here’s me:

Guess where I’m at – yep, that “higher terrain south of Denver.”   Two feet of snow.  Are you guys tired of my whining about winter yet?  Normally I LOVE Colorado.  But this has been the worst winter in my book in the 19 years I’ve lived here.

Please Mother Nature, I beg you:  More warmth.  Less snow. (Or at the very least snow on the days I don’t have to commute.  I only have to commute 3 days out of the week – can’t you wait till Thursday when I don’t have to BE anywhere?)  :)

Good thing I have a TON of leftover food from the crockpot meal I made yesterday!

As I mentioned I tried a new recipe that I was very excited about.  I usually use the crockpot for MSP’s meals that contain meat rather than for my veggie-only ones.  So when I came across this Vindaloo Veggie recipe, I had to give it a try.  Because it’s not my recipe (and because her recipe is adapted from a published & copyrighted recipe) I’m providing the link rather than reprinting it.

If you have trouble getting your veggies in each day, this recipe is for you.  It’s got cauliflower, carrots, onion, bell pepper, zucchini, peas and some fun things like cayenne, turmeric, brown sugar, garlic, ginger.  The list goes on.  Normally I am intimidated by anything with more than 3-5 ingredients.  But I had to give this one a shot because it looked so flavorful.

I made a few substitutions:

  • Used raw agave in place of brown sugar
  • Used liquid dijon mustard in place of dry mustard
  • Used apple cider vinegar in place of white wine vinegar (because that’s all I had)
  • Did not add peas (nothing against peas, was just HUNGRY when I got home and didn’t want to wait 10 more minutes to eat!)

The night before, I did the prep work so I could throw it all together quickly in the morning before work.

I  made the “spicy sauce” in my ThunderStick mixer.

Chopped the carrots and onions and sauteed until tender (in water).

Cut up the zucchini, cauliflower and green bell pepper then put it all in a bag in the fridge.

Had the can of beans at the ready.

Then Monday morning I mixed the spicy sauce, the veggies, the tomato paste and organic kidney beans into the crockpot.

This goes in the crockpot for only 6 hours, so I asked MSP if he would grab the crock out of the fridge and turn it on low when he got home for lunch.  That way it would be ready when I got home around 5:45.

The house smelled amazing!  I served it over brown rice with a sprinkle of cinnamon and it made a very tasty and satisfying dinner (with a TON of leftovers.)

It would also work well with chicken for those of you that eat meat.  I think it would go well with fish too but I wouldn’t put fish in my crockpot.  I’d add it afterward.  It packs a lot of heat from the cayenne, so if you like milder flavor you might want to cut down on that.

I’d tasted the spicy sauce before mixing it with the tomato paste and it had a really wonderful sweet & spicy flavor.  I think I might play around with using that sauce alone as a stir-fry sauce, without the tomato paste.  I think I was expecting this dish to have a sweeter flavor because of it, but the tomato really cut the sweet out.

Well friends, I have more to say as usual but I better check out the grocery situation just in case we really do get snowed in.

Today’s questions:  What foods do you like to stock up before a blizzard?  Do you find that you eat more “comfort” foods during snowstorms? I have a tendency to crave starchier, heartier (and sometimes sweeter) foods when I’m stuck in the house.  I’ll be making sure I have enough Ezekial bread and almond milk,  and probably some Amy’s Organic Soups.  I’m all stocked up on produce from Sunday’s regular shopping trip.

I have another post that I’m working on that I’ll hope to have published later today, so check back by again tonight.  And hopefully for dinner I’ll be trying ANOTHER new recipe, so if it turns out well I’ll be sharing my thoughts on it too.

Have a terrific Tuesday!

– Shari B. =)

A Bit About Nutritional Yeast

Jan 4

Posted by Shari B. in Vegetarian | 12 Comments

A while back, reader Joan mentioned in the comments section that she’d like to hear a little more about nutritional yeast.  This is the yellow powder that you often see me add to my salads and to my homemade popcorn.  It has a light cheesy flavor and a powdery texture.

I purchased my first container of nutritional yeast quite a few years back and never finished it (it expired just recently and I had to throw out almost a full tub.)  At that time, I wasn’t as into eating for ‘nutrients’ as much as I was for ‘macronutrient ratios’  (protein, fat, carbs) so I always forgot to pull it out of the pantry and use it.  Then after reading “The Thrive Diet” this year by Brendan Brazier I was reacquainted with its benefits.

Now before you think I just read willy-nilly and do whatever Brendan writes (or other authors for that matter) I want to point out that Brendan is a PROFESSIONAL (and VEGAN) Ironman Triathlete and ultramarathoner who has done extensive research on how to care for his body to ensure the fastest recovery time between workouts so that he could train and stay healthy and injury-free, all while not eating any animal products.  This has been a passion of his since he was 15.   I am inclined to put a fair amount of stock in the athletic/nutritional studies of someone who can swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and THEN run a full marathon (and does this for a living).  If you haven’t read his book, I highly recommend it, whether you are an athlete or not, and whether you eat meat or not.  He has a lot of good information on the effects of nutritional stress on our bodies.

So, that all said – nutritional yeast is popular among vegetarians for its B-vitamin content, namely B12, because B12 is one vitamin that isn’t found as much in plant-based food sources.

Having given up all meat outside of the very occasional seafood, making sure I was getting enough B12 was a priority to me.  There are many reasons  to avoid a B12 deficiency, but one reason that ranked high for me was to avoid low energy and anemia (since B12 helps with formation of red blood cells).

I purchased another big tub of these savory flakes at Whole Foods and started adding it to a lot of my food.  It hides very well, mixes well, melts into soups and chilis and works like sprinkle cheese in a variety of foods.  I can tell you that this time I will use up the whole tub before it expires!

One thing to note is that oftentimes you will see Brewers Yeast and Nutritional Yeast discussed interchangeably.  They are not.

Additionally nutritional yeast is an inactive yeast, which means it is generally considered fine for those on an anti-candida diet.*

Now here’s the catch: I’ve been doing some additional reading on the topic of nutritional yeast in preparation for this post and found that not all nutritional yeast brands contain vitamin B-12, so you want to look for one that has the fortification (if that’s the reason you have for eating nutritional yeast to begin with).

Come to find out today that my brand is NOT!  The front of the can says ” Natural Source of B Vitamins”! Which would lead one to believe that includes B-12.  Not so much!  Go figure!  I’ll be sure to get the RIGHT one next time!

So, if you are interested in adding nutritional yeast to boost your B-12 intake, READ YOUR LABELS CLOSELY!  :)   And select a brand that includes the B-12.

What is your favorite use of Nutritional Yeast (if you currently use it)? I think I would vote for the popcorn topping!
If you’d some further reading on nutritional yeast, here are a few links:

*Before embarking on any nutrition, supplementation or fitness regimen, please consult with your physician.

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Vegetarian Points to Ponder

Nov 30

Posted by Shari B. in Vegetarian | 5 Comments

Hello there blog buds!

Recently, one of my Facebook friends posted a link to an article from the NY Daily News about how becoming a vegetarian can help save the planet.  (Thanks Sonya!)  It was a quick read and an interesting article so I thought I’d share it in case any of you are interested.  I’m not fully vegetarian (yet), since I do eat the occasional piece of tuna, salmon or shrimp — I guess that makes me a “pescatarian”.  But I’ll be honest here:  the more I read up on the topic, the faster I think I’m headed toward full-fledged vegetarian, and possibly vegan at some point.  Not too long ago, I received an email from a friend and reader who asked if I’d commented somewhere on the blog about why I don’t eat meat anymore.  So I figured this would be a good time to touch on it.

There were a number of reasons that propelled me to give up meat (excluding fish):  digestion troubles, studies linking consumption of animal protein to disease, animal treatment, and environmental impact of factory farming were the big ones.  I had been headed in this direction but the movie Food, Inc. was what ultimately pushed me off the fence. 

I’m not writing this post in an effort to change anyone’s mind by any means.  As I’ve stated in the past, we are each on our own journey and will find what is right for us in our OWN time.  But what I would like is for each person to consider their own health and wellness, and spend some time on educating oneself with further reading.

One book that I find to have a very down-to-earth perspective is written by Mark Bittman, called Food Matters:  A Guide to Conscious Eating.  What I respect about Mr. Bittman is that he isn’t asking people to give up meat completely.  He’s not a vegetarian.  But he does write about the impact the meat-packing industry has on the environment.  So he only eats meat with dinner.  Anything before that is vegetarian.  Here are two quotes from the first chapter of Food Matters:

“60 billion animals are raised each year for food - ten animals for every human on earth.   The projection is that just to sustain current consumption levels, by 2050 we’ll be raising 120 billion animals a year…  Even if we could find the space to meet the demand, the number also assumes the atmosphere, land, and oceans could tolerate it.”

“The only way to reduce factory farming is to demand less meat.”

“…meat consumption would have to fall to about three ounces a day just to stabilizes the amount of greenhouse gases produced by raising livestock.  And stabilizing production isn’t going to cut it, since even at current levels global warming is deadly.”

I also happened upon a book called The Rave Diet by Mike Anderson while I was at the library on Friday.  I took it home with me and made an initial scan-through and am now going back to look more in depth.  It’s definitely a stricter program than I follow now, but the author does include plenty of references and resources.  I also saw that he has a documentary called Eating.  Well wouldn’t you know that while I was channel-surfing Friday night, our local PBS station was showing that documentary!  (Talk about cueing up the Twilight Zone theme right there…)  While the documentary appears somewhat low-budget, the message really hits home about moving to plant-based nutrition.  One fine point made in the show is regarding cancer:  the only actual CURE for cancer we have right now is our own immune system.   That makes me want to take even better care of my immune system NOW.  I am terrified of cancer TREATMENTS.   I’ve recorded Eating and am about halfway through.  What I’ve seen so far is very compelling and I’m looking forward to seeing the rest. 

Like Bittman, Mr. Anderson covers the impact on the environment in Eating.  For example, the average American uses 106 gallons of water per day for our domestic activity.  If that same average American ingests just ONE quarter-pound fast-food burger they have upped their usage to 3,106 because it took an extra 3,000 gallons of water for the 1/4 lb worth of that cow to be raised and processed.

Here are some of his bullet points:

img 898

Basically, to answer the question posed to me about eating meat, I’d arrived at a point where (personally) I felt there were enough questionable issues with consuming meat that the RISKS began to outweigh any BENEFITS. 

Today’s discussion:  What book/movie made an impact on you at some point and caused you to make a change?  (Whether fitness related, diet, green living, etc.)

***

Which brings me to my PLANT-BASED eats for Sunday!  ;)

Mmmm…. mango tango breakfast!

img 893

A very ugly brown (but SUPER tasty) green smoothie (acai smoothie pack, 2 fists full of spinach, 2 stalks celery, 1/2 large cucumber, 2 tsp white chia seeds, handful of sprouts, 1 pear. Ppurple ACAI + green SPINACH = not so pretty photo!

img 895

Lunch was out at Tokyo Joe’s:  tofu + brown rice, with mushrooms, long beans, zucchini, broccoli and snow peas with curry sauce on the side.   Half of this bowl came home in a doggy bag!

tj

Soup-n-sandwich dinner:  pita with tomato, cucumber and avocado, with leftover squash soup.  I am still SO in love with this soup!img 896

And an after-dinner herbal drink compliments of Cindy (who included some fun new teas for me to try when she mailed my beautiful scarf!)  Cindy, that is a GREAT tea flavor – I’ve already added it to my grocery list!  Thanks for sharing!

img 897

We had a wonderful (and brisk) 2.5 mile sunset walk with the dogs which capped off the weekend perfectly! 

Does it really have to be Monday?  I’d love to rewind back to Wednesday night and enjoy this holiday weekend all over again!

– Shari B. =)

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Why You Should See “Food, Inc.”

Nov 11

Posted by Shari B. in Pescatarian, Vegetarian | 3 Comments

Hi blog buds!

It’s Wednesday!  Happy Humpday!  I’m becoming more fond of Wednesdays now thanks to ABC’s “Modern Family” — which means we get 30 minutes of cracking up.  MSP and I love that show!  I hope it’s one of the new shows that actually stays on TV this season.

So…. lookie what I picked up:

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For some reason I thought buying a sprouting jar was going to be pricey, so I never looked for one.  But I happened to find this one for only $4 and change at the local Vitamin Cottage!  Wahoo!  And a small baggie of some organic mixed seeds for sprouting.  It has some fenugreek, mung, sunflower in it, plus some others that I can’t think of at the moment!

My next step is to soak the seeds.  Maybe tonight.  :)   Baby steps.  I have some “Sprouting Intimidation” going on after the last attempt at sprouting millet. 

I’ll keep you posted on how it goes this time.  If I can’t grow sprouts in a jar made specifically for sprouting using seeds labeled specifically for sprouting, I’ll know that I (specifically) am not meant to grow sprouts! 

Sadly I don’t have much for you in the way of Feats & Eats for yesterday like I normally do.  A certain little pupster (Rascal) decided to inhale something at 2:00 AM Tuesday morning.  That dog has THE most sensitive nose.  He sneezes if I put on hand lotion.  He usually goes out to tinkle around 2:00 (thank goodness for doggy doors) and must have been sniffing around  and breathed something in because when he came back in he had the Neverending Attack of the Sneezes.  Then he’d breathe funny.  Another sneeze fit.  Wheeze a little.   At that point, I was wide awake – for the rest of the night.

Needless to say, it was an unproductive day on the exercise front.  Outside of running errands and writing the blog, I was pretty much useless.  I don’t know how new parents function on little to no sleep.  I spent 2 years struggling with chronic intermittent insomnia which was finally resolved in April of this year.  I’ve been sleeping so great now that I must have forgotten how hard it is to get through the next day after very little sleep.  I didn’t even make a green smoothie yesterday!!  And luckily MSP had leftover dinner from the night before. 

I did get a lot of book reading done though, thanks to our cable modem being down 2/3 of the day.  :)   MSP and I commented last night on just how addicted to the internet we actually are.  Being forced to “unplug” for even part of a day seemed to induce anxiety and shaky hands!  ;)    

Looking at the silver lining, I was able to enjoy a wonderfully relaxing day.  So it just made sense that this morning’s workout should be a good hour of Iron Yoga to keep that ZEN going.  After which I took each of the dogs on their own wog, so I got about in about 30 minutes per dog. 

I can already tell my shoulders will be sore tomorrow - I like combining the small weights with the yoga. 

***

Thanks everone for the great book suggestions you gave me in response to yesterday’s post.  I appreciate it!   I’ll return the favor by recommending a DVD for you to watch.

food inc

Food, Inc. was recently released on DVD (wahoo!)  This documentary sheds a lot of light on how our food supply has become BIG BUSINESS and the affect it has had on small farmers, obesity, disease, meatpacking employees, treatment of animals, etc.  It discusses how much of our food supply is genetically modified (engineered) not only for things like ‘bigger better tomatoes’ but to be PEST-RESISTANT.  Not to mention the fact that we could be consuming meat from CLONED animals and not even know it.   Check out the issues with industrialized food at the Food, Inc. website.  Or read about the 10 Things You Can Do to Change our Food System.  

I could ramble on about the issues covered in this movie, but I think you’d get more out of it if you check it out for yourself.  If you are familiar with Michael Pollan who wrote The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food, you will enjoy that he is featured in the film. 

One of the biggest points MSP and I took away from watching this film back in July was that every time we make a purchase, it is a VOTE.  If we purchase local organic products it is our VOTE on behalf of those products.  The more we support organic and/or local products, the more mainstream they will become.  It has definitely made an impact on our shopping choices.  We are now happier to spend a little more for organic food because we want to support those companies.  And minimize our purchase of (read: vote against) industrialized food when we can.

Here’s the movie trailer – I guarantee it will pique your interest!

You can bet that I have the DVD even though I’ve already seen it in the theater. 

Today’s discussion: 

Have you seen Food, Inc.?  What were your thoughts after seeing it?  Did it change the way you shop or eat?

Let’s talk about it!  Drop a comment!

– Shari B. =)

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Giving In to Old Man Winter

Oct 9

Posted by in Vegetarian | 9 Comments

Hey there blog buds, happy Friday!  As you know, it’s one of my two favorite days of the week! :)

Can a girl ask for anything more than a Friday morning that starts with a hike this pretty?

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It was GORGEOUS out this morning as the sun was coming up (by gorgeous I mean FREEZING:  29 degrees!)  This pic was taken at the parking lot looking up toward the trail … I’m kicking myself for leaving my camera in the car because the views of the snow-capped Front Range and of Pikes Peak were absolutely fabulous this morning.   

So how was everyone’s Thursday?  Mine was kind of a blur.  I knew it was going to be “that” kind of day, so the DIVA mug was appropriate for the morning joe.

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I had a personal training client at 6:15 AM, so I drank one of these to tide me over till breakfast:  

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Check out the floating seeds!  :)  Gotta check your teeth after drinking this beverage! This is my “lazy green smoothie” (a scoop of ”Amazing Meal” shaken with water.) 

Post-client I had an old favorite:  Ezekial toast with raw almond butter and raw honey.

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Late morning I had a ‘date’ to catch up with an old friend at Starbucks, so I had yet ANOTHER (unpictured) soy chai latte.  I don’t know what’s up with me and chai this week!  I LOVE chai when it’s chilly out!  I had another one today after my hike (OMG is that three trips to Starbucks this week?  Or four?  I better cool it – I’ll get my statement this month and all mydebits will be SBUX, SBUX, SBUX!!)

After I got home from said Starbucks chat session, I hopped on the treadmill for 45 minutes while watching a recorded Melrose Place from Tuesday night.  (I really should give up on the new version of MP but it does make for good trashy TV to keep my mind off the treadmill…)  Every 5 minutes I’d adjust either speed or incline to keep my ridiculously short attention span in line. 

By the time I got off the TM, I was STARVIN’ :)   Enter pita pizza:

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Seriously, between these pizzas and the wraps, I think I won’t ever need to come up with a new lunch plan for the next two years.  They are SO FREAKING GOOD! 

I want to give a shout out to Carrie for taking the pita pizza to the next level!!  In the comments section she mentioned that she made hers with some pesto as the sauce.  EXCELLENT IDEA!  Since I had some leftover pesto, I smeared it on in place of the olive oil, and it was another HEAVENLY lunch.  With a side of cold pesto gnocchi, my new favorite side dish!  Thanks Carrie!

By late afternoon I was feeling a tad sluggish, and knew a glass of bubbly would do the trick:  half a bottle of Kombucha Tea, in a wine glass of course.  :)  

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This was the view outside of my kitchen window when it was time to consider dinner options:

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A salad was not going to cut it on this night – much too cold outside for that! 

I decided to throw some veggies & corn tortillas in a casserole dish, smother with enchilada sauce and call it dinner.

Vegetarian CASSERLADAS  :)  

The “innerds”:  green chile and lime non-fat refried beans, mushrooms, onions, carrot ribbons, zucchini ribbons, scallions (all veggies shown here are lightly sauteed before adding as filling.)

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Mid-assembly:

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I was so dying to try this meal that I didn’t even care about presentation — I just plopped it on my plate with a side of Uncle Ben’s Spanish Rice:

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Nothing like a little mexican food to warm one’s soul on a cold and snowy night.  :)

And since winter is making itself known this week, I thought today’s question should pertain to winter sports.  The older I get, the more I realize I am a fair weather exerciser.  I don’t like to be cold or wet (or BRUISED  for that matter) so I gave up downhill skiing and boarding a long time ago.  (Klutzy + skis do not add up to good times.)   I do like to HIKE in snow and think this winter I’d like to give SNOW-SHOEing another shot.  We went once a few winters back and we had kind of a weird experience (long story!) and the snowshoes the rental place put me in were WAY too huge for my kid-sized feet.  But I think I’d really like it if I we go again.  I’ve also never gone cross-country skiing and wonder if that’s something I’d like too.

What is your favorite winter activity / sport?  Or one that you recommend I try?   Drop me a comment!

OK Winter, if you insist on coming so early … BRING IT!!  My fuzzy-ball hat and I are ready for you!

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Have a GREAT Friday everyone! 

– Shari B. =)

Do You Socialcize?

Sep 13

Posted by in FitFeature, Hiking, Vegetarian | 4 Comments

Happy Sunday FitFeaters! 

Hope you are enjoying a relaxing morning so far!  I am posting a little later than usual because I was definitely enjoying a lazy morning myself!  Enjoyed my cup of coffee with the book I’m currently reading, and then spent some time on the phone with a few family members. 

Yesterday was so full of things to do that it flew by way too fast!  I can’t even believe it’s Sunday already. 

Saturday’s exercise consisted of a SOCIALCIZING!!  (That means exercise while you socialize!  I know – I make up a lot of weird words!  Socialcizing, yardio, wogging…  :)   Hey, whatever it takes to get you all moving and staying active, right?  But you have to admit that when you say you are going to do some yardio, you grin a little!  And we should always be happy that we are fortunate enough to have able-bodies, right?) 

So my Saturday SOCIALCIZING was a 5.61 mile hike/walk with a really good friend of mine and her awesome daughter.  We walked to the Bluffs, did a full loop, and then back.  Socialcizing is hands-down the best way to exercise:  with good friends and some chat time!  That’s today’s ready-made FitFeature:  make social time more about getting out in the fresh air than being based around lunch, dinner or drinks when you can.  I would guestimate that 85% of my “catching up with the girls” outings are built around some form of physical activity (hiking, running, walking, rollerblading.)  Not only is it a time-saver because you are combining two things you might normally do separately, but you are also saving MONEY and CALORIES! 

I started Saturday off with my “reading glasses” mug filled with my happy juice!  :)   I was catching up on blog-reading, so I figured it called for this particular mug!

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Before the walk with the girls, I powered up with an extra fruity blended GREEN GOODNESS!!  (I finally found where the text color button was hidden in WordPress!)  This one had 1/2 of a Colorado peach, about 1/4 of a leftover apple, a clementine, lots of romaine, a fist o’ spinach, sprouts and 1/2 an English cucumber.  Look at this blender full of vitamins and minerals:

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Such a pretty green after:

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Rascal goes crazy for my green drinks.  He hears the potato peeler as I peel my cucumbers and comes running to the kitchen for his cucmber treats.  He got a little taste of the final product this time (and while it looks like he’s going to drink out of my cup, I assure you I let him take a smell, then dipped my finger in to let him lick my finger!)  I think it’s funny that he loves veggies.  We don’t give our dogs ‘table scraps’ – but we do give them bites of veggies here and there and occasional fruit.  (FYI:  no grapes or raisins for your dogs!)

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After the long exercise outing, I was ready to eat again (when am I NOT ready to eat, right?)  Early lunch was some leftover Veggie Lasagna from Friday’s dinner.  It was even BETTER reheated!  Ohhhh, so good!  Can’t wait to have some more today! (I’m giving you a side shot this time so you don’t get bored looking at my same foods!  ;)   )

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Later in the afternoon I also had another get-together, this time with some wonderful ladies that I used to work with starting way back in 1995!  I love these women and am so glad to still be in touch with them after all these years!  We’ve vowed to get together at least every 6 months, so this was our second “Semi-Annual” event!  Lots of chatting was done by all and we probably could have gone another three hours without running out of topics.  It was a great time!  My eats are unpictured but I had a big glass of white wine, some ”Mary’s Gone Crackers” (wheat- and gluten-free) smeared with some herbed goat cheese, as well as some great whole wheat nacho chips with a spoon of DEEE-LISH-USH warm spicy queso.  Can’t wait till the next get-together, thanks ladies for a fab time!

I was feeling really tired when it was time for a late dinner.  It had been dark and rainy most of the day here, which really zaps my energy (I think I must run on solar power, because when the sun is taking a break I just don’t have the same zip!)  So I made a ‘lazy girl burger-n-fries dinner’ by popping a Gardenburger in the microwave, topped it with yellow tomato slices, some mustard and pepper and wrapped it in a “romaine bun”.  My ‘fries’ were red pepper strips. 

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It didn’t QUITE fill me up, so I poured a snack-size bowl of Mom’s Best All-Natural cereal as a little dessert. 

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Alrighty folks, time for me to get busy on this sunny Sunday! 

Drop me a comment:  do you socialcize?  Tell me about it! 

Have a fantastic day!  See you next time!

–Shari B. =)

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