Raw for Lent: Day 42- END!

Weds, Day 42

Raw rev for and at work which led to trader joe's pom juice for dinner. I cut up avocado and cuke for dinner.

Went and saw ave Q and it was AMAZEBALLS!

Evening snack was pecans and strawberries.

Meme:

day 21 - a song that you listen to when you’re happy

I heavily favor contemporary trashy dance music for my happy times, but I spent so many nights getting ready to go out to the sounds of this song that I can't deny its awesomeness.


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thurs, 43

Breakfast was chia goodness with fresh strawberries, almond milk before heading to the barn. Unfortunately, I totally hit the ground off old Nissa, but I am fine and got back on.

When I got home from the barn, Let Me Crazy was at my house. Post-ride protein shake was more strawberries, almond milk and blueberries with sunwarrior. I ran out to teach, then came back and sliced up a cantaloupe then went to play at the nightlight.

There will be video of this show on Youtube later.

The Crazies and I went to cosmic so they could grab some late night dinner, and I noshed strawberries as we talked into the night.

day 22 - a song that you listen to when you’re sad

in general, this band is inextricably linked in my mind with the general suicidal malaise of my 14 year old self. However, an actual dronecore song about failing to kill yourself is pretty much the icing on the cake for me.



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Fri 44

I popped a raw rev for breakfast, then went to the gym. When I got back, I cut up a cantaloupe. For dinner, I spun up a walnut sun dried tomato pate and ate it with carrots. Then we went to Greensboro and rocked the shit out of Panda Pile.

day 23 - a song that you want to play at your wedding

My imaginary nonexistent wedding would need to feature this song:




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sat, Dat 45

Lunch was a whole foods spinach and avocado salad. I noshed it through the whole day. I also got my veganessentials order in, so I ate some strawberries with raw nutella, which lacks the spreadability of regular nutella, but is still delicious.

Dinner was kombucha.

When I got off work at 12:30, I walked to McCabes and had a shot of Makers and a PBR. Yeah, started out classy like that.

Raw over.

day 24 - a song that you want to play at your funeral

This is hopeful.



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Easter Sunday:

I ate raw strawberries at work and geared up for my first meal!

Yamazushi in Durham

Ordered a Seaweed Salad, Miso Soup, Hijiki Rice and Shitake Mushrooms.

This was way too much food but was incredibly tasty. I look forward to frequenting yamazushi.

day 25 - a song that makes you laugh

Maybe it's because I just saw it, but this popped into my head immediately.

Raw for Lent: Day 40-41

Monday, Day 40...outta the desert!

This morning, I popped a raw rev bar before hitting the gym (didn't want anything too heavy to interfere with working out) and then came home and mixed up a batch of my Kale salad with sesame, along with 5 shredded carrots and a pint of grape tomatoes.

Had a quick band practice, then ate half a cantaloupe and some prunes before heading out to see Scream 4 with Sick and Sean in Apex (it was a safari!). When we were walking up to the 10:10 showing, a mom and her 9 or 10 year old son came up in front of us and bought tickets to Hanna (the movie about the girl who is trying to kill her mother before her mother kills her?). Parenting winning!

Scream 4 was alright. It reminded me a little of watching "Scary Movie" except not as LOL funny. It was pretty nice to see how "meta" (its own words) it was, though. Also, Rory Culkin is a grown up! And someone decided to cast this whole movie from ABC family and Nickelodeon TV shows.

When I got home, I had some grapefruit, then took a 4 hour nap before the Forthrights showed up to crash.

day 19 - a song from your favorite album

Yeah, I think this might be my favorite album. I don't know, though. It definitely is today.

---

Tues, Day 41

For breakfast, I had the other half of the cantaloupe and then rolled up some cucumber avocado "sushi".

I did a little light cleaning, then tossed together an almond milk, strawberry, chia goodness, chia seed mess for my dinner to sustain me through work.

At work, my car got towed. Well kind of. I just had to pay some dude $125 to NOT tow my car. Thanks, world. Met up with Sick, Heather and Miss Steve at McCabes for a minute after.

When I got back, I was ridiculously tired but also tummy growling hungry, so I had some kimchi and then passed out.

day 20 - a song that you listen to when you’re angry

Oh Courtney Love, you always know what to say.

Raw for Lent: Day 38-39

Sat Day 38

Saturdays are lousydays. Today's meals were made up entirely of spinach salad with guacamole (eaten before and after work), a grapefruit and some cashews. Mike in the kitchen cut me up some celery and radish. Yes, that's all I ate. FML.

day 17 - a song that you hear often on the radio

I feel like I can't turn the radio on without hearing this song on the band like 3 times. Also note, worst music video ever.

Sunday, Day 39, after working Saturday night, I got up to go to brunch only to find it had been canceled. So Sarah ran to Whole Foods and picked up the Sunday Times and some Kombucha.

Worked until 4, then hit McCabes to enjoy some of the afternoon sitting outside and noshing Strawberries. I ran home, fixed a bowl of Chia Goodness with extra chia seeds, strawberries, blueberries and prunes in almond milk, then put on some extra warm clothes and headed to Durham Central Park to watch Who Took The Bomp? outside as part of full frame. The movie totally brought me back to what it was like when I used to have the opportunity to see Le Tigre all the time. And boy, do I miss that time.

We stopped by Fullsteam (who has some kind of Pear Ale? Interest piqued!) for DJ Mel York, who spins pretty rad tunes, then I headed home since I have an interview in the morning.

day 18 - a song that you wish you heard on the radio

Rather than choosing something that would never, ever appear, how about an appeal. Classic rock radio, these guys should count!

Raw for Lent: Day 37

Got up this morning and had a coconut water before heading to the gym. I came back, nursed my sunburn wounds, applied sunscreen, then had some pineapple and went to the barn. I took out a new dude named Koko who had been previously lamed but is now back in commission as of my riding him. He's super friendly. Also took out my white pony boy Poncho.

When I got home, I had like 3 minutes to shower and get prepped for the raw food potluck in carrboro. So I showered, then sliced up more carrots and celery to go with the pate.

At the potluck, there was all kinds of good stuff. One of the guys makes sauer kraut, which was crazy delicious (so much better than out of a jar). One couple brought a spinach, mushroom, onion and seed salad and another pair brought an avocado, cherry tomato and onion salad, which worked really well as a dressing for the spinach salad. Everyone was really nice and we all hung out. They had an aerial silk thing, but my legs were so shot from all the activity that I declined to try. Also, not graceful, at all.

So now I'm home, sorting through old clothes and planning lessons for tomorrow morning. This weekend is gonna be ROUGH but it's the last one before Easter, woot woot!

<3

Crap, skipped a day on the meme.

day 14 - a song that no one would expect you to love

I think this song is terribly sweet and awfully romantic. Even though, I know, it really isn't.

Raw for Lent: Day 35-36

Weds, Day 35

*burnout central is hitting, y'all)

Bfast: banana and an uli mana truffle for energy

Hit the mechanic, then came home and organized a little.

lunch: 4 kiwi and some pumpkin seeds. I'm trying to choke back the pumpkin seeds, but I just don't really like them on their own.

For dinner I brought blueberries to work, then met up with my friend Sean at my house before quiz. I cut up some crudite then we headed to Bulls for pubquiz, where the middle round was MUSICALS! We of course, swept it. Although boo for no Sondheim, Porter, Lloyd Webber...Bummerriffic!

When I got home, I whipped up a batch of the sundried tomato-walnut pate and snacked on that with the rest of the carrots and celery I cut earlier.

day 15 - a song that describes you

I listed this song as a song that described my life when I was in 11th grade. It still applies.

Thurs Day 36

Breakfast before the barn was chia goodness with frozen blueberries and almond milk. Very hearty.

I hit the barn and did a very nice lesson, but made the mistake of riding in a wifebeater so am now rocking some lobster sunburn.

When I arrived home, I spun myself some pate and cabbage, then got ready to go teach. I popped together a quick shake of just pineapple core, frozen strawberry and sunwarrior, with a water base. I drank a cup on the way to teach, then headed to Scotty Sandwich's birthday party, where we played a show. Afterwards, we pubcrawled awhile, then I had a handful of pecans and passed out.

day 16 - a song that you used to love but now hate

I just overdid it on this song so hard.

Raw for Lent: Day 34

Ah! 12 days to go! Whee!

Got up this morning and fixed myself the rest of the nacho and walnut dips with some cabbage. Tried to get some work done cleaning up the house a little.

Made a protein shake for work--

1 scoop sp

1 t spirulina

1 c blueberries

1 c strawberries

1/4 c macadamias

1 c chia

1 c h20

Which I took in. Got off around 10:30, then hung out with some folks for a couple of hours and came home and had some grapefruit, dates and pecans.

More meme:

day 13 - a song that is a guilty pleasure

I don't necessarily believe that you should feel "guilty" about things you like musically, particularly since they're not actually bad for anything but your cred. That said, I probably take a fair amount of shit for liking this. I don't care, though. I still do.

Raw for Lent: Day 32-33

Sunday, Day 32

So today was the first day that the restaurant I work at ran brunch. You all know that I am a huge fan of LUNCH and its foods; sandwiches, soups, bento boxes. I don't much care for brunch. I'm just tossing that out there. I packed a banana, a mango/coconut juice and half a honeydew (and I already had a 1/2 jar of kimchi I'd left from the night before) to cover the long shift; almost a 9-5!

When I got off work, I came home, then set some nuts to soak to try some new recipes. I ran out to teach a lesson while things were soaking, then went to borrow my friend Sarah's laptop, hit whole foods for missing ingredients and some foodstuffs for the week.

At home, I spun up two recipes from Eating Raw for Dummies. I did their butternut squash nacho sauce, which tastes a lot like spicy, noochy red pepper hummus. It's definitely tasty.

However, the walnut sun dried tomato pate is WHERE IT'S AT.

1.5 C Walnuts, soaked at least 3 hours
6 T sun dried tomatoes, soaked at least 1 hour
(reserve the sun dried tomato soak juice, you will need about 1/2 cup of it )
1/4 c basil
1 clove garlic
1 T oil
1 T Nama Shoyu
2 T lemon juice

Toss everything in the blender

I ate these dips with cauliflower and a red pepper. Found myself downing the pate much quicker.

I then stayed up very late, laying out the new Pink Flag EP coming out on June 18!!!

Meme:

day 11 - a song from your favorite band

Superlatives are definitely not my forte. But if I had to choose, I would probably say that this is my favorite song by my favorite band. At least, tonight it is.

Monday, Day 33

This morning, got up and finished the designing then went and got a wax for the first time in like 3 months.

Princess got back from her comps and I let her try the dips with some flax crackers, and she agreed they were both good but the walnut was the winner. I fixed some cabbage to eat with the dips, then set about cleaning up some.

I spent most of the day trying to get the house in order for a prospective roommate who didn't call/didn't show so she's out of the game. In the afternoon, I finally worked up the guts to try perfect food. It is really not as bad as everyone said it was. I mean, it is ROUGH by itself mixed with water, but so is protein powder. The worst part is the smell; it smells just like fish food, but doesn't really taste like anything to me...then has kind of an icky aftertaste. After choking half a glass down, I just tossed the rest into a smoothie with a cup of blueberries, a cup of strawberries, 1/4 c of macadamias and what was probably a 1/4 scoop superfood.

Later I had some raspberries, two kiwis and a couple of pickles. I wish today hadn't been eaten by so many "managerial" activities. It turned out to be really nice and I would've liked to have gone to the barn. So now, I squeezed some lemon and agave into some water and am having a lemonade as an evening snack. :)

day 12 - a song from a band you hate

Hate is a strong word for bands. But if I have to choose a band I hate, it's probably this one.

Raw for Lent: Day 30-31

Fri Day 30!!

Got up and raced out to the bard (drank a mango/coconut water) and some canteloupe for bfast, but got my lesson mixed up.

Came home, made some Parfait chia/pear cream:

1/2 c soaked cashews

1 pear

juice of 1/4 lemon

Then mixed it with strawberries and blueberries.

Also made a shake

1 scoop

1 spirulina

1 banana

1 c strawberries

1/2 c blueberries

1/4 c macadamias

ate some pickles when I got home

Meme time!

day 09 - a song that you can dance to

I love dance music. Like, truly, I have an unhealthy love for it. But, if I had to pick the song that I like dancing to most, it would probably be this, because it combines my propensity for spookiness with a love for 80s music.

Sat Day 31

raw organic (last one), pineapple and coconut water.

bought raspberries, a pure cherry and coconut water at trader joe's.

Ate kimchi at restaurant job, left half for Sunday morning shift.

Honeydew after work.

SO exhausted.

day 10 - a song that makes you fall asleep

I went to sleep listening to this album (and therefore, most of this song) every night for about a year. I still call it my "migraine" record, because it always makes me feel relaxed

Raw for Lent: Day 28-29

Weds Day 29

Today was another emerald kale salad dayyyyy. I put together a batch last night then just sort of chomped it down throughout the day, which was, of course, bear work day.

I had servings of salad before restaurant, after restaurant and before teaching, after teaching/before quiz and after quiz. After quiz I also chomped down on a grapefruit and some dates with their pits out and cashews shoved in instead. :) Those cashew date things were totally calling my name last night.

I also got this rad new app that identifies what you've eaten based on pictures. It's called "Meal Snap"-- it even identifies refuse food!

Meme time!

day 07 - a song that reminds you of a certain event

I feel like music is always linked to events in life, but there is one particular event, where I had an awful night and my best friend (and I should've known it at the time) met me at Kings Point Park and tried to teach me to slowdance while we listened to:

Day 29

Got up this morning and humped over to the gym, where I worked HARD man.

Afterward, I popped half a cantaloupe, then headed to the mall on an impossible mission: looking for a bathing suit that covers my stomach without ruffles or sequins or an ugly print or a skirt attached to it. I can rock neither a bikini nor a 10 year old girly girl special. After approximately 30 stores (seriously, I mall walked the HELL out of crabtree valley) and could not find one. I'm reminded of the great shorts debacle of 2010 (trying to find a pair of shorts with a hem, no sequins or words written on the ass, no fake spray paint but also not up to my boobs/down to my waist). Anyway, finally found something black, plain enough and decent at a sporting goods store.

When I came home, I prepped a new batch of kale, then ate a couple of pickles and headed to see Paul, the stoner-comedy flick about an alien road trip. It was really cute; Pegg and Frost have a real knack for genre comedy.

When I came home, I pounded the kale salad and am now soaking some cashews to make pear cashew cream for tomorrow. Anyway, I had some coconut water and am going to bed.

day 08 - a song that you know all the words to

I not only know all the words to this song, but to every song on this album, and probably every song on every blur album (including b sides) that predates this one too. To say I was a Blur fan back in the day would be an understatement.

Raw for Lent: Day 27

This morning I got up much later than I anticipated (I had hoped to get my car mirror fixed before I went to the gym) but instead just got up, made breakfast:

1 scoop sunwarrior

1/2 T spirulina

1 c chia gel

1/4 c almonds

1 c water

1 c strawberries

I'm finally getting the proportions down somewhat, so I could actually nearly drink it out of a pint glass.

I went to the gym and also brought my trainer a scoop of Sunwarrior so he could use it on the gym's "go vegan" week (since he is anti-soy). We will see, if he's used to protein powder he might like it. For me, it's not terrible, but the stevia flavor really drives me kind of nuts. I am not a huge fan of artificial sweeteners.

After I got home, I worked on some financial stuff and then had a raw bar because I had another appointment this afternoon; Pole Dancing class.

Yeah, that's right. I caved on a $15 deal on living social and bought a set of 6 classes at a studio here called Vertical Tease. So I wandered around looking for this joint for like 10 minutes, finally found it and joined into the class. We warmed up pretty easy, just a lot of bending and stretching and a little light strength stuff, then we got into it. We learned:

"sexy walk" - parading around the pole and dragging yr toes on the ground behind you (which gives you gummy toes)

"pirouette" - a slightly more complicated move where you pivot on one foot and end up with your back to the pole

"drop" - where you fall backward down the pole and land on your back (holy fuck, I got some bruises on my ass, thighs, shoulders, back and head from this bad boy)

"legs up" - which is basically propping yourself up in plow or neckstand in yoga, then bicycling your legs slowly. the teacher also did this thing that made her legs look like sea anemonies, which we all laughed at but she was like "dudes don't care what looks stupid, they are looking at what is between your legs."

"feet in" which requires you to do some kung fu, pick yourself up and get from your knees to your feet quick-like

"sexy up" which is basically standing up really slow from a touch your toes position

"fireman spin" where you grab the pole with your ankles and spin around to the ground (I have bruises on both of my feet as well as pole-burn,)

"leg wrap" where you spin around the pole, plant a foot then lift the other foot.

So what I learned is that pole dancing is way more painful and awful than I expected. The rolling around on a wood floor I always expected to be painful and bruising, but the amount of skin I left on that thing, especially off weird places like the tops of my feet and toes was truly unexpected. I have to be honest, the sort of sexy parading around and painfulness of it remind me altogether too much of what I would imagine a slave in a Dom/Sub relationship would be. So the place also offers Zumba and Kickboxing, so I'll pole dance maybe one more time in this "intro" class, but I think that it's back to kicking stuff for me. Horseriding provides me with enough stupid bruising and death defying stunts, thanks.

After class, I was basically in CH, so I went to Whole foods and got some more kale in order to make more of that awesome kale salad. It's marinating as we speak, although I may have used too much because it didn't have enough room to bruise when I shook it, but hey, I'm sure it'll still be tasty.

When I was driving, I noticed a gaggle of protestors lined up outside Planned Parenthood. I drive to Chapel Hill at least 2 days a week, usually 3-4 though. When I see a bunch of people there on Saturday Morning, it bothers me some, but I guess I'm just used to seeing the two women with no life protesting most of the time, at 4pm on a wednesday or 8 pm on weds. Seeing like 30 people outside of PP really irked me today. Women have a right to a yearly pap smear that they can afford. Women have a right to reasonably priced prenatal care. Everyone has a right to STD testing. Just imagine what it would be like if you were someone without health insurance, going to get cancerous cells burned off your cervix and a bunch of looney tunes yelled at you, spat at you, while you were going in to do what was probably the scariest thing in your life. Hell, imagine if you were getting an abortion (which, btw, I'm not even sure PP Chapel Hill provides in house. Every PP I've ever been to refers patients to private clinics for abortion services), it would still probably be scary and horrible. But for many women, so is the prospect of having a kid, especially when they are in circumstances where they need to go to planned parenthood (either because of insurance issues or age issues) to talk to someone about that kid. I swear, one day I'm gonna lose it, pull over and start a counter protest. /rant

Before prepping Kale, I went to pubquiz at the James Joyce, which is definitely not my fav pubquiz in the world, but it's better to get out of the house than watch primetime TV.

For dinner I rolled up some avo and cukes in nori, then ate some kimchi as well. Snack was some passionfruit juice.

I also ran across an amazing raw blog today...Raw on $10 a Day. Granted several recipes rely on a dehydrator (and I feel like the vitamix is a more realistic year round kitchen investment, which is why I bought it!) Some of these recipes look AMAZING though, like the pies. Holy balls, I want pecan pie.

For today's meme answer

day 06 - a song that reminds you of somewhere

This song will forever, in my mind, be linked to the S-Bahn, particularly overlooking the hotel Construction between Hackescher Markt and Alexanderplatz, overlooking huge construction projects in 2005. Whatever it was is probably finished by now. But goddamn, did I love this song.

Raw for Lent: Day 25-26

Day 25

Breakfast was half a canteloupe at work. Work was rough, the backwait didn't show so we started out slow but then got busier and it was less than fun.

I taught in the afternoon, then had to run by my studio to pick up a check, then went by Whole Foods to do my shop for the week. I bought a little less than I have in the past to avoid it going bad, but also, bought something that I could tear into in the car like mongo because I was HUNGRY. I settled on "Just Apples" the dehydrated apple sticks that I liked as a middle schooler.

Dinner, I came home and had raw sushi (cuke, avo, cauli, nori and nama shoyu). Then I remembered that I still had that ice cream, which I wasn't stoked to eat, but I cut up some fresh strawberries into it, let it melt a little, and that was tasty.
For the meme;

day 04 - a song that makes you sad
Easy peasy. The first time I heard this song I wanted to cry. Then I went to college and I really started to understand it.

Day 26

This morning I spun some strawberries into some almond milk and mixed it with some Chia Goodness before heading to the barn to play with my Nissa kissa. She was in a kind of odd mood but I attribute it to the sudden warmth and massive windiness today (a standard got blown over while I was in the ring!). I've put up a picture of her here. She's not the most beautiful horse alive, but think of her kind of like a diesel Mercedes from the 80s. Old, yeah, maybe a little fussy at times, but a classic great ride.

I came home, showered, and spun a quickie shake:
1 scoop protein powder
1 tsp spirulina
1 c chia
1 cup frozen mixed berries
1 banana
1/2 c almond milk
2 leaves of kale

It was good, definitely drinkable and felt very healthy. I headed out to the store to try and find a bathing suit (I swear, I can't hang onto any of my one piece or tanktop suits to save my life) that covers my stomach (for some reason, all of the now UTTERLY inappropriate bikinis I own are easily located. I stopped in to Old Navy, which is full of the ugliest suits ever, then went over to Nordstrom Rack (I have almost dropped a dress size, but definitely have in at least Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klen. And before you judge...I just like to try on nice clothes!) then a quick browsing trip at Crate and Barrel (OMG the new store at southpoint is so NICE) then to target, where I had a contender (a converse one star suit) but it was sort of funny...really baggy around the middle, almost maternity-like.

When I came home, I busted out this amazing Kale Salad recipe, with a couple of changes:

1 bunch kale

2 T olive oil

1 1/2 T. sesame oil
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 T nama shoyu
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 T sesame seeds (Holy shit, these are expensive!)

juice of 1/4 lemon
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1 carrot, grated

I would also bet that ginger is a good addition to this salad.

I also spun together 4 pink lady apples and a little agave and water to make apple sauce which I have been craving for days. I am still working on the apple sauce, but am definitely done eating for the day.


day 05 - a song that reminds you of someone

This song pervaded the break up with DE. I listened to it a lot of times.

Raw for Lent: Day 25

Breakfast was a raw organic bar.

At lunch, I ran over to Whole Foods and grabbed a thing of guac and a bundle of celery, then washed the celery in the bathroom of my music studio and cut it with a plastic knife. HARDCORE, yo!

Dinner was a red pepper and an apple Pure bar-- definitely my favorite. Weird, since I generally don't like apple cinnamon stuff. At work, even though I was supposed to be last out, a girl traded with me, so I got to come home early and eat some kimchi while I started reading my GRE prep book. More info on that forthcoming, but right now...ah, I don't even wanna think about it.

The Meme:
day 03 - a song that makes you happy

Oh this is easy. It's the happiest song in the world!
(Please ignore random swedish people in the video)

Raw for Lent: Day 24

Breakfast this morning was chia goodness, a banana, and the rest of my blackberries, swirled up in almond milk. Hit the gym, worked hard as a mofo. Sadly, had to shower again, but worth it!

I made a shake for work:
1 scoop Sunwarrior
1 tsp spirulina
1 c almond milk
1 c frozen mixed berries
1 pear
1 c chia
1 yellow mango

Then went to work. I got stuck at work pretty late and ended up missing most of the Hammer No More the Fingers CD release party for Black Shark. You should check it out, though, because it's a good record. I listened to like 3 tracks on the way home and have heard tons more at shows all the time :)

I had half canteloupe and a few nuts for post work/hammer show snack and am now just enjoying that I'm not on my feet anymore.

Oh, and continuing my meme:
Day 02 - your least favorite song

This is an easy pick. Not because I love so many songs (which I do) or because I hate so many (also true) but because this song comes with a story. A story that ended in disciplinary action. This song is sincerely torture. It is my Clockwork Orange style rehab thing. And when I was at summercamp, someone chose it as the song my bunk would do a dance to. I may or may not have damaged the La Bouche single. I plead the fifth.

Raw for Lent: Day 23

Today I got up and attempted a recipe from CIG Eating Raw. It is a carrot ginger soup. I ended up tweaking the recipe a little because after I made it, it was bland.

7-8 Carrots, peeled and cut into 2 inch pieces
1 c h20
1/2 c macadamia nuts
1/2 avocado
2 T ginger
2 tsp nama shoyu
1 T lemon juice
1/2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp dill
1 tsp garlic
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp salt
few grinds of black pepper

I spun the big stuff (nuts, carrots, water) first to grind them down, then added the rest as it went on.

The soup is a sort of curry color, bright yellow and not the greatest consistency, but it's fairly tasty. It's best right out of the vitamix when it's just a little hotter than room temperature. I garnished with a little olive oil, which also helped the flavor I think. I might have added a little too much dill and a little too much garlic but I still feel like the soup is missing something.

I finished the grapefruit before showertime.

Later, I headed out to see Darren Hanlon at Casbah in their inaugural quiet show series. It was nice, he sang unamplified and played Punk's Not Dead as I requested, following it with an even more exciting quick verse of Anarchy in the UK! Videos forthcoming.

I finally broke down, tired of making food, and bought guacamole at Cosmic last night so I would have a snack. I mixed it with bean sprouts and then ate it in cabbage tacos.

On another note, my amazingly talented friend Rusty Sutton is the 30 day song challenge and I'm a big fat copycat, so I'm going to follow along his footsteps.

Day 1: My Favorite Song

I struggled a lot with what I would really consider my favorite song. Owing to overall plays, though, the convergence of several things I enjoy (dance grooves, noise rock, post-punk and ambient noise) and the fact that it is associated, forever, in my mind with going for long walks, I hereby nominate Ghinzu - Blow.

Survey, Because I have THE PLAGUE

After all that awesome food and blogging, I've come down with the plague. You're thinking "what a great opportunity to make something great and blog about it," while I'm thinking "I wish I still lived in NY so I could get some vegan matzoh ball soup from Candle Cafe." The only time I hate the American South (or the happy liberal pocket of it in which I live) hxc is when I am desperate to find Jewish food. Can someone somewhere please convince Amy's to start making Matzoh Ball soup?


What was the most recent tea you drank?
Today I drank Earl Gray, because there was no more mint.

What vegan forms do you post/lurk on? If so, what is your username? Spill!
Happy cow as bullcityveg. PPK without a username.

You have to have tofu for dinner, and it has be an Italian dish. What comes to mind first?
Lasagna. Or stuffed shells. Just anything involving the awesome awesome tofu Ricotta recipe I have.

How many vegan blogs do you read on an average day?
When I get into Google Reader, about 25 or 30.

Besides your own, what is the most recent one you’ve read?
Besides Fearlessly Vegan, I think the last full entry I saw was chickpea soup on Centrepullball that looked amazing.

If you could hang out with a vegan blogger that you haven’t met, who would it be, and what would you do?
I have to go with Lindyloo from Yeah, That "Vegan" Shit because she seems to have a real pottymouth and affinity for hipster kitsch, like me, so I think we'd design a theme meal. I'd also be happy to hang out with Hannah from Bittersweet and be her official taste tester for the next few months =).

If you had to base your dinners for a week around one of the holy trilogy – tofu, seitan or tempeh, which would it be?
Tofu. I'm a tofu whore.

If you had to use one in a fight, which would it be?
Seitan. Its rubbery awesomeness would work well to smack the crap outta someone =)

Name 3 meals you’d realistically make with that tough protein of choice!
-Every year for thanksgiving I HAND MAKE the candle cafe Seitan, then marinate it in a mustardy sauce, pan sear it and serve it with mashed potatoes and wild mushroom gravy.
-Seitan strips make excellent fajitas when soaked in "chicken" broth, sauteed with mushrooms, onions green and red peppers, then served up with some vegetarian refried black beans, some guacamole, seasoned rice, salsa and sour cream. Can you say yummers?
-My first foray into seitan was making Carribbean Rice Pilau. It's awesome and the only tricky part is getting your browning just right. Even store-bought yucky seitan eventually absorbs the sweetly savory flavor of browning and onions and bloats and it's just wonderful.

What’s a recipe in vegan blogland that you’ve been eyeing?
I really really want to try and make Jennifer Schmoo's twinkies. But I am SOOOOO lazy.

Do you own any clothing with vegan messages/brands on them?
I've got a "Vegetarianism is for Lovers" baseball tee, a "Give blood and save a life, then go vegetarian and save 85" that is so old/loved that it is threadbare and has cigarette burns in it and a Smiths "Meat is Murder" tee. That counts, right? =)

Have you made your pilgrimage to the 'vegan mecca' yet? (Portland, duh)
I am afraid of flying, but eventually I will get there, because it is also a girl rock mecca.

What age did you first go vegan? Did it stick?
I went vegan at about 13 or 14. I don't remember exactly when it was that I finally quit eating fish and started checking labels vigilantly for dairy. It was right before HS. It stuck. I've only fallen off a few times since then, mainly without knowing (casein, unknown fish sauces in asian foodstuffs) and sometimes on purpose (I can't help it I fucking love pop tarts).

What is the worst vegan meal you’ve had? Who cooked it?
I think the unequivocally worst vegan meal I've ever had was at this place in North Miami that my brother took me to that called itself a "Healthy Eatery" and I vaguely recall that it was named something like Sunshine, or Sun something. The restaurant was full of senior citizens, the food was all labeled as "healthy meat," vegetarian or vegan, then with different dietary ideas too (heart healthy, low sodium, atkins etc) PLUS the restaurant smelled like a pet store that desperately needed to be cleaned. I think I ordered rice and beans, thinking they couldn't possibly screw it up, but it was bland, flavorless and undercooked. I barely touched my food. The irony? My brother who gave me so much shit for being vegan is now vegan too. And beyond that-- he is practically raw.

What made you decide to blog?
Vegan mofo was my inspiration.

What are three of your favorite meals to make?
Soup. It changes with the season, but I love making soup.
Sandwiches. I know that's kind of a ghetto meal but I like to cook fast.
Thanksgiving. (does that count?). It's like, a four day affair, but I have several items that are always on the menu, like my seitan steaks, my gravy, my lasagna, lemon cheesecake, I always add a new type of cupcake...

What dish would you bring to a vegan Thanksgiving-themed potluck?
See above. I host one every year!

Where is your favorite vegan meal at a restaurant? How many times have you ordered it?
That's tough. I *really* like doing the half soup/half sandwich at Angelica Kitchen in NY. I almost always get the Marinated tofu. I've probably eaten that or the Hot Open Face tempeh about 40 times (I was a *big* fan.) HOWEVER the Alfredo Special at Caravan of Dreams has a special place in my heart. And the "latin" specials at Candle Cafe got eaten a lot. OOF and Zen Palate's Celestial Tofu.

What do you think the best chain to dine as a vegan is?
There are always lots of local chains that are handy dandy. In NY, Zen Palate and Ayhan's were pretty good/safe. Down here, there's a local one called Baba Ghannouj that's good stuff, as well as Cosmic Cantina. National Chains? Most places will make you a salad pretty easily, but most national chains don't really care enough to be super sensitive to vegans, since we're not big money makers. I usually try to find a Whole Foods/Earth Fare or even regular supermarket. Seriously.

My kitchen needs a………
Food Processor. *sigh*

This vegetable is not allowed in my kitchen…..!
I don't bar veggies from the kitchen, but I like to make sure people know what they're doing before they bust out something like...okra. I also hate ALL orange vegetables. All of them.

What's for dinner tonight?
Probably Amy's Un-Chicken Noodle, then some Miso Soup with brussels sprouts. I was gonna stop and get tofu but I am too tired. =(

Vegan Meme

Stole it from Leave it to Cleaver

1. Name a song that involves food in some way.

Evil Weiner - Flying Candybar

2. What criteria do you use when choosing a new cookbook to buy?

Did Isa Chandra write it? Is it a restaurant cookbook of a restaurant I like? Is it a blogger's cookbook from a blog I want recipes from?

3. What did you eat today?

So far, a light life bologna & heirloom tomato sandwich.

4. Name a vegan food that you know exists but you have never tried.

Faux shrimp.

5. The Food Network just called and needs you to start your new show tomorrow. What will the title of the show be?

Beer is Vegan. Seriously, I was floored to get this blog name.

6. Favorite hot sauce or other spicy condiment?

Coconut chutney. Close second goes to wasabi.

7. How old were you when you became vegetarian/vegan?

Vegetarian was about 13. Vegan was about 8 months later.

8. Favorite vegan cheeze?

I like them all for different things.
Road's end organic for ez mac. Follow your heart Monterrey jack and Veganrella cheddar mixed together for a velveeta cheese sauce. Teese for anything involving mozzarella. Tofutti cream cheese. Tofutti slices for grilled cheese. Parma for a slight flavor.

9. Cutest baby animal?

puuuupppiiiieeeez

10. Favorite type of jam/jelly/marmalade/preserves?

raspberry for everything except PB&J. grape for a traditional PB&J.

11. Do you take any vitamins/supplements?

sometimes I toss some hemp protein, soy protein or flax seeds into "mushy" food. occasionally I'll down a b12 pill. even less frequently I'll swallow an acidophillus pill.

12. What food/dish most embodies the Fall season?

apples and apples and a few more apples

13. What food would you have a hard time living without?

soup

14. Coffee, tea, or hot chocolate?

tea

15. It’s 10PM and you’re starving. What do you eat?

If I'm out, I'm hitting cosmic. If I'm in, soup. And maybe a cupcake.

16. If you have an animal companion, what is his/her favorite food?

they like pretty much everything.

17. Worst injury you’ve gotten in the kitchen?

cut through my nail and nail bed.

18. When you have a food-related question, who do you call?

teh internets. =(

19. Summer is ending- What food will you miss most?

all of it. but especially cantaloupe, cherry tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes and zucchini.

20. What snacks do you keep in your purse/backpack/desk at work?

soup, pistachios

21. Favorite soup to make on a rainy day?

spicy tomato vegetable

22. What’s your favorite combination of fresh vegetable and/or fruit juices?

apple celery

23. Favorite brand of root beer?

I don't really differentiate between them.

24. Make up your own question!

Favorite vegan dessert?

Right now I am jonesing so hard for a piece of strawberry shortcake from vegan treats. like whoa.