Aw, it’s finally getting cooler here, well highs in the 90s which I’ll happily take after 110 last week! And I can take the dogs for multiple walks today! Well, part walk and part carry for Leela.
She tires out and needs breaks during longer walks at her age, so I carry her for a bit when she stops which she seems to like and Miko can move at a faster pace without dragging her.
Last week was an interesting roller coaster of emotions and energy sags which I’m blaming on the heat. I also read that 6+ days of an intense heat wave screw up many people’s gut biome, even sending some people with IBS to the hospital. I see that after the last 8 days of triple digit heat. Eats were pretty simple and typical this week, such as this citrus teriyaki oil free tofu stir fry.
Lots of cool salads with beans, like this kale apple salad with carrot, ginger, and tahini dressing.
I found splurge/junk food at Grocery Outlet recently which I was really excited about since our local location never has vegan cheese – Go Veggie Vegan American slices. For the price, I bought multiple packages and hubby has been having fun making vegan grilled cheese sandwiches with them because the texture and flavor is very much like the processed slices. I made a fun messy cheesy dish in a wok with them steaming chopped potato, broccoli, and carrots in just enough water until tender and the water was evaporated. Then added a few slices of the “cheese”, spoonful of organic yellow mustard, onion powder, nutritional yeast, and salt and pepper to taste for a fun, gooey cheesy broccoli potato dish.
Not the healthiest dish in the world, but not horrible either and a fun treat younger eaters would probably love too. The slices melted into a satisfying gooey mess and would probably be great to melt into vegan mac n’ cheese as well.
Hubby and I also hit Whole Foods for lunch one day for huge salads.
And I met my mom at Pho Vegan Asian Cuisine for lunch where this Kung Pao Tofu was perfect.
Hubby and I had a little fun shopping around this weekend for food and goodies for an upcoming camping trip.
I wanted the tiki popsicle molds and vegan candy, but I behaved. I did grab an issue of Cook Vegan, a vegan magazine from the UK, for recipe inspiration at Whole Foods. And cheap skewers for roasting vegan marshmallows and vegan snacks from Grocery Outlet.
Today I headed back to Zest Kitchen for lunch and great cooking demo and talk by Linda Middlesworth – our local vegan celebrity for the Sacramento Vegan Society, health coaching, and animal activism. Linda is awesome because at 73, she’s active, energetic, passionate, and vibrant. Is also an active fitness instructor among many other roles in the vegan community. She arranged this great event to introduce a healthy vegan lifestyle to the vegan, health curious and brought her Instant Pot to demonstrate simple recipe options.
While listening to her, I had the Tiger Mountain Mushroom Burger with avocado and jalapenos – yum.
And a great cookie from Sun Flour Baking.
Linda also passed around one of her favorite, simple and healthy 2-ingredient cookies for everyone to try – just oatmeal and ripe bananas mixed together, mashed into patties and baked. Then top with favorite toppings.
It was great listening to her and all her wonderful advice on transitioning to a healthier lifestyle, tips and tricks and recommendations. Some highlights:
- She really recommended Whole: Rethinking the Science of Nutrition by T. Colin Campbell.
- And this pricey Scanpan non-stick skillet for oil free cooking. I’ve never worked with this brand before and need to start looking into.
- She again stressed no oil, only whole fats, such as nuts, and avocado, and in moderation.
- Swears by her Instant Pot and recommended everyone get one. Hubby loves using ours and I need to get better with it!
- Stressed people should be worrying about getting too much protein, especially from animal products, instead of not enough on a plant based diet.
- And used this cute phrase, “If it’s in your house, it’s in your mouth.” to recommend keeping problem, temptation foods out of your kitchen.
Great inspiration and time to chat with other vegans, it was a packed event and wonderful to see so many new to the lifestyle curious about it. Okay, to the list!
How to create happiness in your everyday life.
How to start working out in the mornings – a tough one for me!
Health care firms are starting to use lifestyle change as an alternative to expensive drugs and surgeries.
And more doctors are warning patients to eat less meat.
I love that you carry Leela, I do that too when Gizmo gets tired. LOVE the tiki popsicle molds!! Thanks for the great links.
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
Thanks, my mom gave me a dog stroller, but it’s much easier to carry her since she’s so small.
Ha, those tiki molds are pretty good! I probably wouldn’t have the same self control if I saw them on the shelf.
Crazy that it’s still so blazing hother out there. We’re back down to the standard 70 degree high back in the bay.
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
I was tempted, they are too cute and the recipe possibilities!
Yeah, it’s cooling off a bit here this week with highs in the 80s and 90s, a welcome change after last week!
I haven’t heard about the intense heat for that long messing up gut biomes. I need to look into that more – very interesting.
I really want those tiki popsicle molds.
Great links – thanks!
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
Yeah, it was very interesting and stated if takes 6 days or so of intense heat to cause problems.
I was tempted on them just thinking about the recipe possibilities!