Monthly Archives: July 2015

Jul 14

Six Month Veggie Check-In: Time for a check-up

At the beginning of the year, I decided to return to a lacto-ovo vegetarian lifestyle. I thought I would give it a try for a month, and then three. I’m now on month six, and I’m feeling pretty darn good about my decision.

The meals have been delicious. I’ve been happy about cooking, and learning new recipes too. The savings have also been great, and very helpful with two growing boys who are eating everything in the house right now.

There are lots of other little things that are pretty cool too. My skin, hair, and teeth look healthier. I have lost a little more weight. My energy levels are improving. My stomach/gut feels a million times better, and I haven’t had any heartburn for six months!

So month four and five were a breeze. I tried new veggies, froze lots of soups, and I have fully accepted almond milk and I put Flax and Chia seeds on everything that I can.

It was that time of the year again, and I was long overdue for a check-up with my Doctor. I scheduled an appointment, and went in to share the good news with her. I was happy to report that my migraines had lessened immensely. I still get the occasional compound headache, and a’hem, hormonal one, but the every week stress ones were gone. My blood pressure was perfect, oh yeah, that’s a first.

She asked what I had been doing, and I told her that I had gone back to being a vegetarian. She had a few questions, and was really surprised that the plant based diet was helping my migraines. She was also proud of me for ditching fried foods, but was a little concerned that I was still so tired. She called for a cbc, and thyroid test just to be sure.

Everything came back normal!!! In fact my calcium levels, and protein levels were great. My cholesterol levels were great too, and thyroid levels were completely normal. The tiredness is probably just due to stress, so she wasn’t worried at all. She said, keep doing what you are doing, and I’ll see you in a year.

I was really happy with the results. It was nice to see some proof that my change in diet is really benefiting my health.

So now, where do we go from here?

I’m interested in becoming a vegan. I’ve been doing lots of research, and experimenting with vegan meals. I try to make one or two of my meals vegan daily, and I think that is a pretty good start.

I’m sticking with my veggies 🙂 and I hope to continue improving my health.

 

 

Jul 13

Monthly Crochet Review: June

June was a funny month. I think it rained almost every day, and that gave me a little more time to work on my ongoing projects.

I’m still working on a few Christmas gifts. I’m so close to having three of them finished.

The multi-hued Hexagon gift is coming along nicely.

This cozy grey blanket is so close to being done. We’ve been binge-watching The Killing on netflix, and I’ve been binge-crocheting right along with it.

I finished a few little projects. I’ve been working on a few more cushions for our bedroom.

I made a pretty African Flowers pillow, and then got to work on another mandala.

The multi-hued mandala is a perfect weekend project. They crochet quickly.

I made two matching ones, so I can make another cushion, whenever I get around to buying some poly-fil.

Mandalas are a great way to practice and learn new crochet stitches. I crocheted a triple crochet row, and then finished it off with a double-triple crochet edging.

Now to leave the house, get supplies, and finish this up. Maybe later in the week, it is going to be crazy hot today.

I also started and finished a scrappy little blanket for Miss Agnes.

I gathered up some scrappy yarn, crocheted till it was all gone. This blanket came together in two evenings, and it is pretty tiny.

The Miss was snuggling up in the blanket as I was adding the finishing binding.

This lil’ scrappy blanket turned out super-cute, and it is just right for Agnes.

Now if I can just convince her to take a little nap.

Jul 12

A Week Ago

Seriously?!? A week ago it was the Fourth of July.

This year we opted not to host, and it was a lot of fun. I got to spend more time with the kids (and my hubby too) and not as much time in the kitchen.

We had plenty of fireworks, and lots of yummy food.

We might just have to make this a tradition… and now I’m in trouble.

 

Jul 7

June’s Veggie Meals

I stuck with my veggies through the month of June. I made a few new dishes, and I’m still working on becoming a vegan. I have lots of photos to share with you.

We’ve harvested a few berries and snowpea pods from our front porch garden. I’ll have to remember to plant extra snowpeas next year, Agnes loved them.

I’ve been trying out many different mixes of roasted veggies. This time I used cauliflower, broccoli, corn, onions, green beans, and chickpeas. This batch was absolutely delicious.

Snack time!

I’ve also been making homemade Rice-a-Roni for the family, I decided to make a veggie version for myself. It is Rice & lentils, corn, peas, and sauteed onion. It was really delicious, and there were plenty of leftovers.

I gave Whole Wheat Pasta a try. I added in a bunch of grape tomatoes, and I really liked this dish too.

These are going into the oven,

and then on top of Whole Wheat pasta.

More leftover veggie rice-a-roni. This time I added in some Edamame, yum.

I also had Lentil Pasta on hand that my mom had purchased. I roasted some Tomatoes and Broccoli, used the last little bit of whole wheat pasta, and made a yummy dish. The red lentil pasta was really good.

Lastly I made a giant batch of homemade veggie soup. This particular batch contains Kale, Sauerkraut, Barley, and just about every single veggies that was hanging out in the kitchen. It was amazingly delicious, and I still have some frozen in the freezer. This was also my first time trying Kale, and I really liked it. I’ve been sneaking it into other dishes too.

So it is July, and yep, I’m still sticking with my veggies. I think I’m going to try to stick with it for the year. I’ve made it six months so far, and I’ll have a six month check-in up soon. Happy Tuesday!