Quanta Basa, Salad Dressing, and David Rocco

Something I like to do in my spare time is go to Chapters and read all the cookbooks without buying them. I love cookbooks, and looking at the ones with beautiful photography, but the truth is most of the time I buy them without actually cooking anything from them, and instead get my recipes from the internet. Anyways, that's beside the point. I was flipping through one of David Rocco's cookbooks, and he mentions a phrase 'Quanta basa', which apparently means you just add as much of whatever you think appropriate to your recipe. Which is either lovely or the laziest way to write a cookbook(I'm kidding!). Anyways, this philosophy applies really well to a salad dressing I made today. I didn't have white wine vinegar, so instead I just dumped in some white wine. It was way better! It went something like this: (although you can use your judgement and add more of whatever you feel appropriate).



1/2 cup cashews
1/4 cup white wine
1/3 cup water
1/8 cup EVOO
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp dried dill
1/2 tsp salt/pepper(or to taste)
1 tblspn Nutritional Yeast

Blend until smooth.

Intake for today:

Breakfast: 1 Cup Kashi GoLEAN, 1 cup fruit, 1/2 cup cashew milk

Lunch: Green Salad with Millet, Tofu, and Kale

Snack: 1 Scoop Protein Powder with Water, a banana

Dinner: Green Salad with Millet, Tofu and Kale, 1 square dark chocolate

Snack: 1 cup strawberries

I've been obsessed with millet lately. So tasty and so cheap!

Today was a Pilates day, I've been doing Full Body workouts from Blogilates and they're killer. Everything is sore the next day which I love! Also did a Cardio workout off of there, and it felt like I was about to die. In the best way possible! Also did a photoshoot today, and experimented with making some vegan Whipped Cream. It was amazing dumped over a bowl of strawberries. Whipped Cream is one of those things I missed so much when going vegan, although I've found lots of raw versions that make up for it! This is my first time experimenting with agar, I didn't realize how solid it would set up(pretty much like jello!). I feel like the world's been holding out on me keeping this a secret! This could be my own fault though, seeing as I had a packet of it in my cupboard which I've never used(that I can remember). Yet for some reason I saw fit to pack it with me when I moved across the country? Anyways, I can foresee it being used lots in the future!

I'm going to try blogging my intake just out of curiosity. I usually try to remember what I've eaten during the day, but I feel like writing it down will make it easier. I find when I get stressed, or tired, or bored I resort to eating, which can be triggering at times. I feel like writing it down might keep me more accountable for being more mindful when I eat.

Intake for today:

Breakfast: Kashi Golean, Cashew Milk and 1 cup of fruit

Lunch: Kashi Golean with Cashew Milk, A Banana and 1/3 cup Almonds

Dinner: Greens with Curried Tofu, Kale, and Hemp Seeds

Snack: A bowl of Strawberries with Vegan Whipped Cream, A couple Squares of Chocolate

After Workout: 1/2 Scoop Protein Powder with Water

Working Out and Other Things

I feel like when I had an eating disorder, working out was something I had to do incessantly. If I wasn't moving, I was piling on the pounds somehow. It was a chore though, I'd want to stop and something inside me told me I couldn't. If I did I was lazy and fat, and not working hard. It was non stop cardio, with endless variations of crunches for an hour or two everyday. In recent years my most common form of working out was cardio, with the tv on. While it was okay, I feel like I never was really giving it my all, or seeing any results whatsoever.

Then I met Jillian Michaels. Prior to her I'd never worked out with weights(all the usual excuses, I didn't want to get bulky, blah blah blah). I also found it hard to stick to a routine, my mind would wander, I'd take too many rest breaks, and generally wasn't feeling any changes. In a month of using her 30 Day Shred DVD I saw more changes than I'd ever seen in the hours of mindless cardio I'd done before. I can finally do a full push up(no girly ones!) when I'd never been able to do one before. Incorporating her workouts with a few Pilates workouts from Blogilates, and I'm seeing things happen I've NEVER seen before. Plus it's re-inspired me. Honestly I find going to the gym a little boring, I need variety and I prefer to work out without a ton of people around.

It's been fascinating to notice my body getting stronger and stronger each time I work out. An experiment, if you will. A huge part of recovery for me(and something I still feel the need to work on), is letting go of the desire to be built like a twig. While there is nothing wrong with being super skinny if that's the way your body naturally goes, the endless pursuit of that body type for myself just isn't sustainable, nor is it healthy. I've tried to focus on my workouts more about the way they make me feel, to see how strong I can make myself, and to challenge myself to try things I thought I'd never be able to do. It feels so much more constructive to see how strong I can make myself, instead of just trying to get back to a size 00.