Saying Good bye is never easy!

Saying good bye sucks!!

Today we said Goodbye to this guy!!

He's been my constant companion, friend, protector, and partner in crime for over 8 yrs.

Marley we love you buddy!

You'll always be my #1

Back To The Gym

Hey folks ~

My good news today is that I'm BACK IN THE GYM, Slowly but surely!

I've been taking a 'healing hiatus' for about the last 10 mos. I've got 2 bulging discs in my back that I've been healing. With that comes other issues so now I'm dealing with more Sciatic pain, like a constant charlie horse in my right glute.. seems to be Piriformis syndrome, which is due to a tightening of the piriformis muscle that attaches from your hip to your pelvis across the sciatic nerve. So when it's inflamed and tight it can irritate the sciatic and make you miserable. I literally woke up about 4 mos ago with this pain and it hasn't really left. Here's a link to more about Piriformis syndrome.

All the info I've read on sciatic and PS has said that the one thing I need to be doing is a lot of stretching and YOGA!! Which I already knew because when I'm really good about stretching and doing yoga it feels SO MUCH BETTER!!

So I feel like getting back to the gym is going to be a good idea. I vowed to myself to take it slow and easy.. I have a problem with going balls to the wall crazy and I I know I'm still healing and DON'T want to injury myself further.

I was in the need for a new gym because the Gold's I was going to closed and the only other one is to far for me to drive so I looked around and choose a locally owned gym in my area that had everything I was wanting, including a pool, which is a great low impact exercise.. it's low impact for me right now.

The Fitness Center has 2 locations... one right by my mom's place and the other is in the valley. I have access to both. I really like it. The North side gym, I will be using that one mostly, has a nice area for functional fitness training. So I'm excited about that.

On Sunday I made a workout that seemed pretty easy for my sister and I and we hit the gym

OH.MY.GOODNESS......
 It felt SO good to be back working out! I felt awesome..... until the next day and the day after that.. I hate DOMS.. even though I stretched and foam rolled my legs were Killing me.. with a Capital K!!! So Today is Weds and I'm finally feeling better...

I know getting back in the saddle will be a hard, slow process but I'm glad I've taken the first step!

So you know what this means right?! I will posting my workouts and progress.
I will be getting the Iphone 5 soon.. my 4 is crapping out and I'm due for an upgrade soon. As of now though I have NO memory on my iphone 4 so I have only been filming little vlogs on my macbook at home. But as soon as I get my new phone I will be filming more stuff.. So if you don't know or haven't checked out my youtube channel here it is foodieluvsfitness. Go and subscribe please and show some love by sharing with your friends :)


Till next time :)
Sherice oxox

All Hail Kale Chips

Hey Hey... 

I've been meaning to get this recipe posted for a while now, so here it is!

Cheezy BBQ Kale chips

1/2 bag of kale or 1 bunch of kale with the stems removed, wash and drain your Kale.. if it's not fully dry it's totally fine. Rip into bite size pieces.
Any kind of Kale would work I imagine. I used curly Kale or the bag of kale at Trader Joe's

in blender or magic bullet add...

1/3 cup water
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
juice of 1/2 a lemon
2 handfuls of cashews
a good pinch of sea salt
a couple tsp of extra virgin olive oil
pinch red pepper flakes
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp onion powder
3-4 turns of African Smoke seasoning or other BBQ flavored seasoning of choice
2 Tbls of apple cider vinegar 
Vegan Parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top before putting in the oven
 
process till creamy, if to thick add a bit more water until you reach desired consistency. Remember to taste test along the way.. need more of something? Add it.
Keep in mind you want it to be on the thicker side so that it will stick in all the curly crevices of the kale  

I have this great blender attachment for my magic bullet that works awesome for bigger batches of sauce making so I made a dbl batch of cheezy sauce, It lasts for a couple of weeks in the fridge.
      
add your kale to a bowl and drizzle some sauce on top, use tongs to evenly disperse the sauce. add more sauce if needed.

make a single layer on a parchment lined cookie sheet, sprinkle vegan parmesan on top of the kale chips and pop them into the oven. bake between 325-350 until crispy and golden brown. 

It could take between 15- 20 mins.. give them a toss or turn about half way. You may even have to take them out and remove the done ones as they cook.. it's a process but so worth it.

You will need to keep a close eye on these as they are baking.. they go from not done to perfect to burnt in no time!! 

This recipe makes about 2 cookie sheets, give or take..

if you want to dbl the recipe use 1 whole bag of kale, stems removed or 2 bunches of kale, stems removed 

These are my new favorite snack. I can't get enough!! 
Enjoy!!

Sherice OX

Vegan Lasagne

My Daughter....

Has been bugging me to make Lasagne... So I obliged her a couple of weekends ago. I made theirs.. Theirs being my husband, son and daughter.. 1/2 meat for the hubs and 1/2 cheese and spinach for my kiddos. But what was I to do being a new Vegan eater.. well I will tell ya..

I decided to make my own veggie lasagne. Unfortunately I only have 1 photo of a bite of this delicious creamy lasagne.

 I often times make things then think, "why didn't I take photos for the blog?" this was one of those times folks.. so sorry.. but I will totally share the recipe with you!

I know is doesn't look like much in this picture but YOU HAVE TO GIVE IT A TRY!!!

Vegan Veggie Lasagne

You'll need..
sauce of your choice ( I'd get 2 jars. you want to use the sauce liberally because you won't be cooking the lasagne noodles before layering them. The sauce will absorb and help them cook in the oven. Trust me.. I have never cooked my noodles before layering and baking any lasagne I've made. This is always how my mom did it)
1-2 Small Zucchini Shredded and squeezed
6-7 Sliced mushrooms
1/2 a brick of crumbled organic extra firm tofu.. if you get the stuff in water make sure that it has been  pressed between paper towels and is very dry.
Fresh baby spinach
lasagne noodles.. reg or whole wheat, your choice and like I said.. I've been vegan for about 2 mos. I do check ingredients and don't think the lasagne noodles had any animal products.. if I'm wrong kindly let me know what brand doesn't :)
Daiya Mozzarella shreds this makes the lasagne so creamy I couldn't believe it.
a little bit of Italian seasoning

This is how you assemble the lasagne....

I peeled and cut the ends of 1 small eggplant, then sliced it lengthwise in about 1/2 in slices then cut them in 1/2 to make for easier layering.. then I let them set between a couple paper towels to absorb the moisture, while I prepped the rest of my ingredients. 

I sauteed the mushrooms just a little to soften them and added in the crumbled tofu and a couple pinches of Italian seasoning and mixed it well, remove the mixture from the pan and add the eggplant into the pan just to brown a bit on each side. 

spray your baking dish with what ever spray you use.. then spread a layer of sauce, place your uncooked noodles in the pan, then layer the mushroom tofu mixture, some shredded and drain zucchini, a layer of eggplant, a layer of a couple handfuls of the fresh baby spinach and then a lite layer of Daiya Mozzarella. That's your first layer..

Next your gonna add another layer of uncooked noodles directly on top of the spinach layer then add a liberal layer of sauce. Then layer the rest of the ingredients as you did in the first layer.

Continue your layers like this until you've reached the top of your pan.. the last layer is going to be a layer of Mozzarella.

Cover with foil and cook in a preheated 350 degree oven. After about 30 mins check it.. when your fork goes in easily, with out any resistance from the noodles it's done.  You want to take off the foil when you've got about 15 mins of cooking time left to brown up the top or you can broil it for a few mins when it's done.

I had my sister and niece over for dinner that night who are non vegan and gave them a piece of my lasagne for leftovers the next day. They both said it was great. This is the text my niece sent me.

I hope that you will give this recipe a try.. it's so good. I shoveled it in like I was never going to eat again.. not gonna lie!! I will be making it again soon :)

So for now 

Sherice OXOXOX

Stuffed Eggplant

I don't know about you but I LOVE Eggplant!

On my recent trip to Trader Joe's a picked one up thinking I could make something yummy with it.. Something yummy? Yes indeed!!

I've been enjoying reading through this cookbook and I found a delicious looking recipe for an Braciole-inspired Stuffed Eggplant. In true Sherice fashion I changed a few things and had a delicious dinner!

Stuffed Eggplant

Start by cutting off the top and bottom of your eggplant. Then peel it or if you don't mind the peeling you can leave it on. I peel mine. Then cut the eggplant in 1/2 lengthwise.
scoop out the inside of the eggplant making a "boat" or shell like this..

First I sauteed...
1 onion chopped
1/2 Sm Zucchini cubed
1/2 Portabella Mushroom or 4-5 Sm Mushrooms
2 garlic cloves minced..
the inside of the eggplant cubed
salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and some Italian seasoning.  I just eyeballed it.

Then add in..

a handful of chopped fresh Spinach
a handful of chopped fresh Basil
a handful of chopped fresh Italian Parsley
let that saute a few mins and then remove pan from heat add in
1/3 cup Nutritional Yeast
1 cup Panko flakes

Now time to stuff your eggplant boats...
I sprayed my baking dish with a little pam then set my boats in and filled them. As you can see I had a bit of the mixture left over so I just added it around the eggplant boats.

 Next I added about 1 1/2 cups Marinara sauce on top of the stuffing and sprinkled a little leftover Mozzarella Daiya cheese and some Vegan Parmesan on top..

Cover with foil and put into a preheated 350 degree oven.. let cook about 1/2 an hr and remove foil. continue cooking until the top browns up

In my haste to scarf down this incredibly delicious meal I forgot to take a photo of the finished product before I dished it up.. Sorry!

But as you can see the top is melted and the middle is cooked and delish..

I paired my eggplant with steamed french green beans and made some garlic bread using Earth balance original spread

This dish is entirely Vegan.. Hooray!!

If you make this dish let me know what you think!

Sherice oxoxo

Bring it on down to Veganville

Hi There ~ 

So glad you stopped by. I hope there is something in all my rambles that appeals to you. 

I wanted to talk a bit today about becoming a Vegan.. Or almost Vegan. I'm finding that Vegan goes way beyond eating and can be a bit overwhelming at times. I just take it a day at a time and try to educate myself as much as possible. 

 DISCLAIMER: THE OPINIONS YOU ARE ABOUT TO READ ARE STRICTLY MINE AND MINE ALONE.

I'm sure there are those die hard Nazi Vegans, as I call them.. that would beg to differ that I am not actually a vegan because I use active yeast and honey. But that's ok. I don't mind. I can only do MY best. 

I'm really loving this new healthier way of eating and living. It's such a comfort for me to know that I will never have to worry about what I'm eating. I think everything is a process and the further down the road you go the more you learn and things make sense. 

I'm not going to go into all that I've learned but I will post This. A ton of podcasts by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. She has tons of info and will most likely have a podcast to answer some of your questions. Also the documentaries Forks over Knives and Vegucated are great starting points for anyone looking to learn more about why someone would start a vegan or plant based diet.

When I first started cutting out meat and dairy, I thought "well if I want a burger or cheese than I will have it" but I've gotten to a point now that I DON'T want those things. But I'm not going to stress about eating out places. most places have salad and olive oil right?!! 

A few Vegan things I'm really excited about are...

This Cheese is delicious.. you have to be open minded enough to realize that NO it's not dairy cheese but it's an awesome substitute! The texture of this reminds me of Laughing Cow cheese wedges. 

also these...

one might ask.. "well if you don't eat dairy why would you want to eat vegan cheese substitutes?" Ummm.. because it's not that I don't like dairy cheeses but vegan options are so much healthier and just as good with out any animal products being used.

This...

I can't wait to try the Chedder and the Pepperjack shreds next! I have tried this kind of mozzarella

and I must say that the Daiya is superior.. it melts, stretches and contains NO SOY!!! it's creamy and even my non vegan sister and niece liked it.

It made my vegan lasagne so creamy and delicious that my niece texted me this....

So if you are lactose intolerant or have any other dairy issues give the Daiya cheese a try.. :)

I will have some new recipes for you soon :) 

a little teaser...
 vegan lasagne
cheesy kale chips
delicious pancakes 
and perhaps something sweet 

I have yet to try vegan baking but am very intrigued by the idea of it. 

for now that's all I've got for ya.. have a fantastic day :)

oxox Sherice
 

Red Lentil Dahl

Hey ~

Today's recipe is a warm, comforting, delicious vegan meal!

Red Lentil Dahl.. which is an Indian dish that my son and I love!

Red Lentil Dahl
This recipe makes enough for 4 people plus leftovers. You can always half the recipe or double it. What ever works for you and your family!

1 cup carrots diced however big or small you want them
1 large onion diced sm to med dice
3 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp coriander
2 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp cayenne
2 tsp salt or to taste
4 Tbls tomato paste
2 cups red lentils rinsed and picked over
8 cups vegetable broth
2 cups coconut milk
If you like cinnamon and cardamom you can add 1/2 tsp of those ea.  We don't like them in this dish so I omit them

saute onions, carrots in a little olive oil or coconut oil until onions are translucent. Add in garlic and saute for 1-2 mins. add in broth, lentils and seasonings. cover and simmer 20 mins or until lentils are tender. then add in the coconut milk.

If your vegan you can garnish with some soy sour cream or soy yogurt or coconut yogurt. If not Greek yogurt is good too.

I also made homemade Pitas to go with this and let me tell you, they were so easy and delicious to make I will NEVER again buy store bought pitas. It seems like every time I buy pitas I cut them in half and then try to fill them and they end up cracking and breaking all over the place.. WTH???

These didn't do that AT ALL!! I'm sold on homemade Pitas!!

Here is the recipe I used...Awesome homemade Pitas

I can't wait to make some Shwarma Tempeh to fill these Pitas.

Next time I make these I will try to add in some Whole Wheat flour. I will probably do half white half wheat to please my kids along with myself!

Let me know what you think of this Delicious vegan meal.

OX Sherice