This weeks "Wednesday Weigh In" Is dedicated to Engine 2. Since being on the challenge I must say, this time around is much easier than last time a couple years ago. I have to let ya'll know. I give MAJOR props to Engine 2 & Forks Over Knives- And Whole Foods as well. These 3 sources of information all turned me into a very knowledgable, passionate about health, kind of gal.
I started out by watching Food Inc. That definitely got me thinking in a way I hadn't before. But it wasn't until Forks Over Knives that I really jumped in. I liked most about Forks Over Knives - it wasn't so pushy. Their focus was more on health. Which I really liked and admired. A lot of vegans, are known to be very pushy and judgemental. Believe me, I get it. And I'm not stereo typing everyone. Thats not what I mean. I'm just saying the way they (FOK & Engine 2) decided to go about this, and share the information they know, is totally different from any other. And for that I thank them big time! I've also realized. If your taking this challenge. The focus shouldn't be about what you won't have. You gotta turn that thought process around and think about all the things you can have. There is nothing better than loads of vegetables. You can get so creative. That is what makes this fun & interesting for me. I love it. As you can see in my last post, from the restaurant last night- look how many awesome things you can do?! The options are endless. Just type in plant based recipes in google and see what you'll find. Eating veggies with a plant strong sauce, and some sort of bean, lentil or tofu is soooo good to me. You might be skeptical at first, and thats alright. But don't shut it out. Just give it a try at least once. You have to put some effort into it, yes. But it can be simple. And believe me- you will feel much better. I have to tell you. After being in the doctors office the other day and getting my heart checked. I really really cannot express the importance of taking care of yourself. I sat there and had a consultation with the doctor, and had to tell him about my families health history. What a huge slap in the face. It's things I've already known of course. But for him to tell me because of all of those issues with my family members- it's even more of a reason for me to continue to take care of myself the way I am. By eating as little meat as possible, and staying away from foods with cholestrol. Ding ding ding! I felt like I won a prize hearing 'to continue on with the way I'm eating'. Cause I will be good. Staying away from salt, etc. These are all things Engine 2 diet represents. I'm so thankful for having worked at Whole Foods & discovering Engine 2 that way. I actually met Rip a long time ago at the Whole Foods I worked at. I had no idea at the time what that was about. I thought I was healthy then. Boy have I evolved. As we all do! We all truly need to take care of ourselves. I sat there in the waiting room of that doctors office and decided I do not want to be one of the 10 patients waiting there , miserable. Hurting. Those people there, didn't know what we we know now, when they were my age though. If I know, then what am I doing? Use the knowledge we have in front of us, right now- and utilize it! There is no time but now. Make a change now. Believe in yourself. Challenge Yourself!
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So first off, I just want to say WOW. This place. oh my gosh, THIS place. Is a must. I don't know why I took so long to come to here. But thankfully - for christmas, my mom bought me a gift certificate to go to dinner there. And last night- we went! So heres the thing. This place is VEGAN, and it's a sushi restaurant. Yes, vegan sushi. And I'm left, dumbfounded. I have no idea how they make those flavors. I really don't. But it's crazy good. Like aye ya ya. In the past when I go to sushi spots. I normally could eat a million rolls. Yeah, my eyes are quite bigger than my stomach. But even so- I never leave 'full' if you will. Last night. so full. So satisfied. Their rolls have so much flavor. So filling. So unique. It's beautiful inside. The staff is so kind and polite. I had no idea what to expect, really. But they blew my mind. I was a little sad cause we were to full to get dessert. But don't worry- I'll be going back! They gave us complimentary sake with mango juice to start in these cute small cocktail glasses. They also gave us a small complimentary taste of an appetizer. And after dinner a complimentary rose water and lavendar 'after dinner' tea. Amazing time. Thank you to my Mom and my boyfriend & Shojin! There are 2 locations. 1 in DTLA & the one I went to in Culver City. Give it a try if your in the area! Website/ Menu: www.theshojin.com Instagram : @shojinlove FB : Facebook.com/TheShojin Now for the pictures. NO BAKE recipe.
Come onnnnn! I wouldn't leave you without an awesome sweet and chocolatey recipe before valentine's day! I love u guys! so here it is... - My RAW cacao truffles of Love<3 some rolled in hemp seeds, some plain and some with coconut :) For the truffle- 1 cup pitted dates 1 cup almonds 2 oz. cacao powder Blend in food processor Now add a little water. Something like a little less than 4 tbsp. But it's really just texture. It should be dry in the beginning-water makes it moist, you want it to be one big clump in your food processor, so you can pick pieces off and just roll that bad boy in your palm into a ball! There is basically no excusse NOT to make these for your honey bun -or SOS. OR YOURSELF! I made 22 average size balls. you can make them bigger or smaller, whatever you'd like. Cacao truffles of love : per truffle. 63 calories 3 g protein 2 g fiber I hope ya'll have a beautiful V- Day! :) I had mine yesterday. And it was amazing. We went to a beautiful spot in LA., A vegan sushi restaurant. Oh my goodness. In the words of Jimmy Fallon "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. SO good.". S e r i o u s. These melted my morning with loveeeee. I'm originally a southern girl, as some as ya'll know ;) Yes indeed. From Georgia to be exact. Now living in LA. Pursuing the acting dream. And creating vegan recipes in my spare time :) So I was thinking last night how much I want grits. But as you know I'm taking a vacation from cheese. So I decided to make these grits from the polenta bag I got yesterday. "Bob's Red Mill" to be exact. They have a really good basic polenta recipe that I tweaked and added my spin to. Always spice of course.
Okay and lets get one thing strait. I NEVER will add sweet to MY grits. You can add them to yours all you want. But no sugar here. No sweet. No nothing, near my spicy cheezy grits :) Make these. Seriously- in NO time. and you will be happy :) Spicy Cheezy Grits. 1 cup grits/polenta 3 cups water 1/2 -1 jalapeno (minced) [I should've used the whole thing :( ] 2 cloves garlic (minced ) >>> Bring water to boil, with a little salt. add in all other ingredients and stir. Stirrr stir stir... Lower heat, to a simmer. And just keep on stirrrrrring. It'll slowly become thicker. And reach the consistency of the grits you want. It took me a little less than 5 minutes to get to my desired consistency. Image below. Top with cashew cheeze! Ya'll enjoy now ya hear! ;) Hey there ya'll! So I just wanted to share a quick lunch I made today- before heading off to work. This is Day 2 for me of #E2Challenge. I've kept it simple so far. Haven't had time to go get fun ingredients from grocery store- and I've been working :( Blehh!. But tomorrow is my day off. MINUS my extremely exciting call back. Oh yes, if your knew to The Daily Kale, I'm quite passionate about health- yes- But I am also an actress pursuing an acting career out here in LA! So tomorrow I'm going back to a commercial audition I had last week. So close, so close! Send me your good vibes :) ANywho - I PROMISE most awesome-est recipes to come, in the coming week, of plant based delicious ness. I'm excited. But for now. Here's a keeping it simple kinda lunch ;) Enjoy. 1/2 cup cooked lentils (already meal prepped) 4 tbsp red quinoa (already meal prepped) Steamed Broccoli-( for about 30 secs, so GOOD!) Topped with -Red cabbage -Carrots -Red onion -A little Cashew Cheeze and this image below is a shot from my work. It's got ginger, lemon, turmeric and oregano oil. SUPER powerful. It's called the "brave" :) I love the cup. cause I'm also inspired :) all of that plant based recipe reading earlier! Oh and I will be making my cacao balls this week for V day, and putting them in this cute container :)
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