Yesterday I started my first day of work at my mom’s design center. While I’m home, I’ll be helping her company out on the social media/marketing front as well [...]]]> I’m starting to get into the Winnipeg swing of things. Now all I have to do is get that whole driving thing underway, and I’ll be set!

Yesterday I started my first day of work at my mom’s design center. While I’m home, I’ll be helping her company out on the social media/marketing front as well as on some special projects. 

For lunch I went to Safeway and did a “build your own sandwich”. My mom and I split one – I forget what kind of bread it was on – something wheat-y. And it had lettuce, tomato, green peppers, provolone, honey mustard and guacamole! It was TASTY!

For dinner my mom decided she wanted me to make the Mushroom Broccoli Quisotto (quinoa risotto) from the quinoa book she got me.
 
It was pretty simple to make – just satueed the veggies, cooked the quinoa in veggie broth, mixed em together and added it some shredded parm. It definitely tasted very similar to risotto and took so much less time to prepare and was much healthier with the quinoa instead of white rice.

As an appetizer I put out some wild caught smoked salmon along with rye toasts. There was also an unpictured yougurt/dill sauce to go on top.

I actually wasn’t a huge fan of this smoked salmon. It was WAY too salty.

This morning I took some inspiration from Oh She Glows and decided to make an oatmeal parfait. I am going to try her vegan overnight oats  soon, but for now, the parfait will have to do!

I like to called this my Dreamy Blackberry Oatmeal Parfait
 
It contained layers of whipped banana oats, goats milk yogurt and fresh organic blackberries. 
 
And maranatha almond butter and a blackberry on top!

Creamy, dreamy and DELICIOUS!
 
What a lovely way to start the day!

On the fitness front my mom let me know about a hot yoga studio that was literally right down the street from her design center. We went and took a look the other day. It looks AMAZING! I am thrilled to begin doing hot yoga again. And lucky for me they have student prices

My mom is also interested in doing it – however she has never even done regular yoga before let alone HOT yoga. I’m a bit concerned because heat + my mom = bad news. 

Do any of you hot yoga people have any tips for her???

It’s supposed to be a HOT ONE today! I wish I had a bike. Perhaps I will play some tennis today… I realy don’t feel like going to the air conditioned gym when it’s so nice out! Maybe this evening I’ll try for a run? I am so needing to get my fitness on, it has been nowhere in site for the past week!!!!

Have a fabulous weekend!!!!  – Any fun plans???

Have you ever done hot yoga? If yes – what are your thoughts? If no – would you ever want to try it?

Welcome to day 3 of Vegan for a Week!

Yesterday I went to Yoga at the Great Lawn in Central Park. There were a few other people in attendance…;)   10, 000 people were due to show up to what was supposed to be the worlds largest yoga event! I arrived [...]]]>

Welcome to day 3 of Vegan for a Week!

Yesterday I went to Yoga at the Great Lawn in Central Park. There were a few other people in attendance…;)
 
10, 000 people were due to show up to what was supposed to be the worlds largest yoga event! I arrived around 5:45 to a MASSIVE line. 2 hours later, I was still in line, finally nearing the great lawn when it started to rain. The lucky yogis who arrived earlier actually managed to get ON to the lawn and definitely had a much better experience than those of us stuck in a line for 2 hours.
 
But even those lucky enough to get on the field had to leave as it started to pour and the event was cancelled. Thousands of New Yorkers scattered outside Central Park, some using their free yoga mats they received from the event (I was too late to get one) as a shield from the storm!

They’ve having a makeup event, I might go… but I’m not so sure I want to wait in a line for 2 hours again.

~The Vegan Eats~

Last night for dinner I made Oh She Glows’ Chickpea Coconut Curry. I used olive oil instead of coconut oil and coconut yogurt instead of soy.

And I had it with soba noodles instead of rice. It wasn’t my favorite dinner – mostly because I overcooked the noodles, and the flavor was a bit muted. I think more spice or coconut oil would have given it more oomph.

TEMPTATION/CONFESSION! – Last night BF was mean and ordered pizza for himself for dinner. I must confess – It looked so good, and because I was a little unsatisfied with my own dinner, I stole one of his pieces and scraped off the cheese to eat it! Still vegan though! Right? RIGHT??? Oh man, it was only day 2! What can I say, I love my pizza. Dear BF, stop tempting me with your cheese-filled dinners!

Afterwards I sliced up a mango to eat while we watched Youth in Revolt.

B-Fast this morning was standard banana oats with a (big) dollop of almond butter.

Midmorning snack was a few handfuls of some curry cashews. Guess I didn’t get enough curry last night!

And now for my lunch/ a wonderful vegan recipe for you!

Southwestern Rice Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 cup brown rice, cooked and cooled
• 1 cup corn
• 1 cup black beans
• 1-2 scallions (green onions) diced
• 1 medium or 2 small bell peppers diced
• 1/4 cup sliced black olives (or more if you’re an olive fiend like me!)
• 1 cup salsa
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 T lime juice
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Combine veggies and rice in a bowl 

Top with salsa, cumin, garlic, cilantro and lime juice and mix together.
  
Chill for at least an hour. Overnight is best. It lets all the flavors develop and mix together.
Then serve!

I love this salad. Mostly because I LOVE the combo of lime juice and cilantro!

~Interview with a Vegan~

Today’s vegan blogger is Lindsay of Cooking for a Vegan Lover

How long have you been vegan for? I have been vegan for 3.5 years and vegetarian for 14 years.

Why do you eat a vegan diet? I eat a vegan diet for animal rights reasons, health, and environmental reasons.

Do you think a vegan diet is "healthier" than a vegetarian or omnivorous diet? I do think that a vegan diet can be healthier than that of a vegetarian or omnivorous diet as both of those diets are based around animal products which are filled with saturated fats, and unless you are getting high quality organic products you are filling yourself full of hormones and antibiotics that are in the animals/animal products that you eat.  Plant-based diets have been proven to reduce diabetes and heart disease which gives further evidence that a vegan diet is healthier. This all being said a vegan diet is only healthier if the individual who is eating a vegan diet is eating vegetables, fruits, whole grains, plant based proteins and not pop and chips.  There are many junkfood vegans out there you I would not consider any healthier than some vegetarians or omnivores.

Do you take any vitamin supplements? I take a raw prenatal vitamin and I have taken B-12 but do not currently.

Do you miss anything about not being a vegan? There is nothing that I miss about not being vegan however there are some items that I wish would come in a vegan version- however most things do nowadays; I just wish they were more  accessible like vegan creemees (soft serve for those of you not from Vermont).

Do you think you will be vegan your whole life? Yes, definitely.

What are some of your favorite vegan dishes? I have a number of favorite vegan dishes honestly more than I could ever name but here are a few:

http://cookingforaveganlover.com/2010/04/07/creamy-miso-morel-pasta-with-peas-leeks/
http://cookingforaveganlover.com/2010/04/11/recipe-vegan-lobster-roll/
http://veganyumyum.com/2007/04/soy-mirin-tofu-over-rice-with-broccoli-and-peanut-sauce/

Thanks so much Lindsday! That creamy miso morel pasta with peas & leeks looks delicious!

Alright I’m off to find something sweet to eat…or perhaps something minty, I have some serious garlic breathe after that lunch! I can’t help it, I love my garlic.

Have a great hump day!

Question of the Day: Are you an onion/garlic fan. I feel like either you love em or you hate em. Same with cilantro. Do you love it or hate?

Me? I LOVE ONIONS AND GARLIC and I LOVE CILANTRO!

The exams have actually been going quite well so far, so I’m crossing my fingers that my last one follows suit!

Today I was up bright and early to [...]]]> One more final exam to go and then I’m done! …Well…at least until I start summer classes (organic chemistry ) in a week. It never ends!!!

The exams have actually been going quite well so far, so I’m crossing my fingers that my last one follows suit!

Today I was up bright and early to get some studying done before I met up with Ilana for some yoga in Bryant Park.

I was really excited to meet her – It’s so much fun to meet up with blog friends in real life I was also excited because I had never been to Bryant Park before! I know, I really need to get out and explore the city more.

We were bad bloggers and didn’t take any pictures. But here’s a picture of where we were doing the yoga. 

It was so neat to be doing yoga with so many other people in the middle of a park! Ilana had her phone for pictures but I wouldn’t let her take any pictures of sweaty me after the class. The class, by the way, was great. It was boiling hot out so it was kind of like doing hot yoga! I was dripping sweat by the end… hence the no picture rule.

I knew it would be super hot and sunny out so I slathered myself in sunscreen beforehand. However sweat + sunscreen + downward dog = sunscreen.in.eyes. Ouch! My eyes were stinging me for the rest of the day. So not fun!

It was so nice to meet Ilana, who was extremely friendly and so gorgeous! I wish we could make Bryant Park yoga a weekly thing, but alas, I start summer classes next week so Tuesday mornings will unfortunately be spent in chemistry class. Though, she did tell me they also do a Thursday evening class, which could actually work out perfectly!

After my exam tomorrow I have such an amazing weekend planned! I am SO EXCITED! My schedule consists of:

Wednesday 26th – Finish exams/ do a happy dance/ sleep.
Thursday 27th – Seeing Sex and the City 2 with JH! (AHH!)
Friday 28th – My BIRTHDAY! (shameless birthday plug ) Mani’s with JH and seeing GLEE live at Radio City Music Hall!
Saturday – Shopping and a special B-day dinner

Is tomorrow over yet??? Can’t wait!

p.s. did any of you see pictures of Sarah Jessica Parker at the SATC 2 premiere last night?

Her dress got mixed reviews. I happen to think it was stunning. All 4 of the SATC ladies looked gorgeous. What do you think of the color? Would you ever wear neon? I feel like there are just certain things that only SJP can pull off. Maybe I’d paint my nails neon, but that might be it

Alright, off to continue studying the inner workings of the human eye (yay for A+P).

Any fun plans for memorial day weekend?

As an afternoon snack I made myself a slice of whole wheat sourdough with almond butter, banana and honey,.   Simple and delicious.

For dinner I knew I wanted greens. But very simple greens. So I prepared myself the easiest Caesar [...]]]> Yesterday I was craving very simple food.

As an afternoon snack I made myself a slice of whole wheat sourdough with almond butter, banana and honey,.
 
Simple and delicious.

For dinner I knew I wanted greens. But very simple greens. So I prepared myself the easiest Caesar Salad ever.

I drizzled olive oil and sprinkled salt and pepper on some cubed whole wheat sourdough bread.

Then baked until crisp.
  

I washed some organic romaine. And put it in a bowl.

Mixed in a bit of Annie’s Organic Caesar dressing

And threw in the homemade croutons

I had a delicious and healthy Caesar salad in no time!

I enjoyed this with a very yummy whole wheat pizza bagel.

This is making me crave that salad again! Maybe a repeat tonight?

This evening I have plans to take a yoga class at Yogaworks! I’m excited to see what they have to offer And, of course, Day 2 of the push-up challenge!

What is your favorite simple meal?

Well, it’s back the grind, after a lovely long weekend, filled with NYC adventures!

First things first:

Just Flourishing was mentioned in The Winnipeg Free Press (my hometown’s paper) today! How exciting is that!

Moving along…I want to draw attention to the fact that my training for my half-marathon has definitely suffered in the [...]]]> Good Morning!

Well, it’s back the grind, after a lovely long weekend, filled with NYC adventures!

First things first:

Just Flourishing was mentioned in The Winnipeg Free Press (my hometown’s paper) today! How exciting is that!

Moving along…I want to draw attention to the fact that my training for my half-marathon has definitely suffered in the past week and you will see that reflected in my personal training plan. I am still getting used to balancing all the different aspects of my life now that I am in school again. It’s tough!

Upon finalizing my school schedule, I felt that morning workouts, as much as I was starting to love them, would not be in the cards for me. However, I soon found that when got home from class I only really had time to STUDY (#1 priority) and make dinner …not workout. So, I think I’m going to gather up my courage and jump on the morning workout train again, as early as I may have to wake-up!
I guess it’s just trial and error, finding out what works for you.

In accordance with my schedule, I did yoga yesterday, a 75 minute Powerflow class. I thought it would be a wonderful opportunity to test out the new yoga mat I just received from Gaiam.

Here it is airing out on my couch:
 
So pretty!

I also got a spiffy hemp mat sling to carry it with!

I took it to class and was really looking forward to seeing how it performed.
Unfortunately, to my dismay, I was slippin’ and slidin’ all over the place   But, I don’t think it was necessarily the yoga mat’s fault. I did some research and found that sometimes a new yoga mat can have an oily coating from the manufacturing process which can make it slippery.

Through my research (here and here) I also found out a couple ways you can make your yoga mat sticky rather than slippery:

• Wash your yoga mat in a washing machine - Apparently, high-quality detergent, the hot water setting and the constant spinning of your washing machine will stretch your mat, making it thinner and less slippery. (Use about 1/4 cup of detergent and make sure to air-dry and NOT put it in the dryer)
• Hand-wash your mat – Use a damp cloth to wipe down your mat with about a tablespoon of dishwashing soap in a circular motion. Rinse out the cloth really well with water and continue wiping down the mat until no soapy residue remains. Air dry before using.
• Spray your mat with rubbing alcohol - Spray mat liberally with the rubbing alcohol and let it dry for an hour before using it. The alcohol hardens the tiny ridges on the mat which gives you a better grip.
• Don’t ever use lotion before using your yoga mat!
• Also, for a sticky AND germ free yoga mat – Roll up your yoga mat and soak it with water and a cup of apple cider vinegar for one hour. The acidity of the vinegar with make the yoga mat less slippery and will also kill the germs on the surface! 2 in one!

So, those are the tips I came across, I will definitely be trying a couple of them out! If you know of any other ones, please feel free to share!

What color is your yoga mat? Or if you could pick a color/design for a yoga mat, what would it be?

Yesterday evening I went to a Powerflow yoga class at the gym. It was a more advanced class so I was expecting a great workout.

I arrived, laid out my mat and took a seat.

Once everyone was seated on their mats the teacher, who had a guitar beside her, explained [...]]]>

Yesterday evening I went to a Powerflow yoga class at the gym. It was a more advanced class so I was expecting a great workout.

I arrived, laid out my mat and took a seat.

Once everyone was seated on their mats the teacher, who had a guitar beside her, explained that we would be having a sing-along. She proceeded to pick up the guitar and play (and sing) For What It’s Worth by Buffalo Springfield.
She said she would keep playing until everyone was singing.

Um. Excuse me? I thought I was here to do yoga, lady! She then instructed us to turn to the person beside us and sing to them. Seriously? I was rolling my eyes at this point. But many people started laughing…and then singing!  And as frustrated as I was, it was pretty humorous, so I gave it up and just sang along

After singing to the person beside me for a lot longer than I felt comfortable, she turned on some music and we got into the poses. She actually turned out to be an excellent instructor. She came around and focused on everyone individually for a little bit, even though the class was full. It was a great flow with lots of chaturangas and down dogs. I could barely hold myself up by the end.

AND she gave us excellent tips for getting into crow pose:

[source]

When attempting crow, get into position (like above, but with feet on the floor). Put a yoga blog block about a foot in front of you and lean forward and try to place your head on the block. Your feet will naturally lift off the floor. And then you can try lifting your head off of the block.

With her advice, I actually made it up into crow… for about 1 second. But still! That’s an improvement from no seconds!

When it finally came to savasana, I was so happy. That’s how I know I’ve had a good class, when I can’t WAIT for savasana.

During it, she brought out the guitar once again and sang a quiet, soothing song. I realized she had a pretty great voice, so I didn’t mind.

All in all, it wasn’t so bad. Maybe I’ll even go back for another sing-along…maybe

******
AND! Guess what!?! I won a copy of Derek Tursky’s guided meditation DVD from the lovely Meghan Telpner of Making Love in the Kitchen fame!

I’ve never meditated before, but I’m really excited to try it and let you all know how it goes!
It will be interesting for sure

Janna

Have you ever tried meditation? Do you practice regularly? Any tips for me?!

]]> http://www.justflourishing.com/2009/11/24/sing-along-yoga/feed/ 5 http://www.justflourishing.com/2009/11/01/i-caught-the-running-bug/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=i-caught-the-running-bug http://www.justflourishing.com/2009/11/01/i-caught-the-running-bug/#comments Sun, 01 Nov 2009 23:55:51 +0000 Janna http://www.justflourishing.com/?p=986 Happy November! Did you remember to turn your clocks back?

Hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween!

This past year has involved a lot of running for me, and I ran my first 2 races ever. An 8k and a 10k. But after that 10k in May, my urge to run started steadily diminishing. While [...]]]> Happy November! Did you remember to turn your clocks back?

Hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween!

Running Bug

This past year has involved a lot of running for me, and I ran my first 2 races ever. An 8k and a 10k. But after that 10k in May, my urge to run started steadily diminishing. While training from March till May, I was running 4 or 5 times a week. Then, slowly but surely, that turned into 3 times a week, which turned into 2, then my runs became very sporadic. By the time I moved to NYC at the end of September I was probably only running once or twice a month.

I just didn’t want to do it anymore. And I was okay with that. I wasn’t going to push myself to do something I didn’t want to! Not my style

Anyway…I’m not sure if it’s the Marathon fever in the air (the New York City Marathon was today), but suddenly I have the urge to run again!

I took a long break… but I think I’m ready to get back into it! I’m going to go for a run tomorrow!

Even though 90% of my days will be about studying (i write my GRE in 2 weeks!) I want to take an hour to let loose and just run.

I realize this is poor timing as it is November 1st and the weather is starting to get colder, but I’m going to see how it goes. Eventually I will have to switch to the treadmill or the RAD (Revolving Apparatus of Death) as Fitnessista likes to call it

I may try and find an easy training schedule to follow… or maybe even just do my own thing. Who knows! We shall see how long this running bug lasts!

Brekkie

It feels like I haven’t had oatmeal for so long! This morning was definitely an oats morning.

In the mix was a 1/2 cup oats, 1 cup water, 1/2 super ripe banana, 1/3 cup almond milk added at the end. Topped with lotsa cinnamon, the other half of the banana for extra staying power and a dollop or Barney Butter.

Banana-licious!

That bowl kept me REALLY full so lunch was just a bunch of random snacks I brought to school (almonds, grapes, an orange, some dried mango).

After spending 3 hours at school I came home and did a 75 min vinyasa yoga class at the gym. Love yoga.

Tonight for dinner I’m going to try and recreate the amazing ratatouille I had at DBGB KItchen and Bar.

Hope it turns out!

Have a lovely night!

Janna

______________________________

Question of the Day: What is your FAVORITE Oats combo?

Mine is: oats, almond milk, bananas, lots of cinnamon, flax and couple of carob chips. Mmmm!

I got up early today! At 8:30am!  I know some of you crazy people get up at 7am or even *gasp* 6am, but this is an accomplishment for me!

I have tons to do today! Most of it involves studying but I have a bunch of [...]]]> Happy Meatless Monday! And Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canadians!

I got up early today! At 8:30am!  I know some of you crazy people get up at 7am or even *gasp* 6am, but this is an accomplishment for me!

I have tons to do today! Most of it involves studying but I have a bunch of other stuff on top of that!

So moving right along. Eats from yesterday included:

Irish banana oats, topped with a medjool date and some crunchy almond butter. With a side of Times Digest (a nine-page synopsis of The New York Times).
I mean, who has time to read a whole newspaper

Midday I did a 1.5 hour power yoga class. Intense. And amazing. I <3 yoga.

Lunch was some un-pictured Lean Green Mac and Cheese with whole wheat noodles, spinach and zucchini.

I had a hardcore sweet tooth afterward so I decided to venture out and try some of the renowned Baked by Melissa mini cupcakes.

[source]

Baked By Melissa, is a tiny little hole in the wall (literally) on Spring St. off Broadway that sells incredible miniature cupcakes.

There are 9 flavours of tiny stuffed cupcakes. And the line to get them is always super long.

I got 6 to share with the bf: 2 red velvet, cookies and cream, cookie dough, peanut butter cup and s’mores.

They are actually the size of a quarter:

So teeny.

BUT SO DELICIOUS! Little bites of heaven. I don’t even want to know what goes into those. They are decadent.

For dinner I made Vegetarian Chili based off of a recipe in one of my new favourite cookbooks.

But of course, I had to screw it up. The recipe called for 1.5 tablespoons of chili powder. Well, my chili powder happens to look QUITE similar to my cinnamon.

So you can guess what happened. Cinnamon Chili! I thought it was totally ruined. But I kept at it…. I added a bit more chili powder than was called for and upped some of the herbs to balance it out.

And… it turned out Delicious!

My bowl with a dollop of Fage. I also put a mini sprinkling of goat gouda but you can’t really see it.

Looks good huh? Want the recipe?

Okay HERE it is. I suggest sticking with the original amounts, and not mistakenly adding an extra tablespoon of cinnamon… but whatever floats your boat.

Off to tackle the day. Be back later with some interesting healthy food news straight from my hometown!

Let’s see how this came to be:

I went to EQUINOX and took that yoga class. It was called Warrior Flow. LOVED IT! My legs and arms were all shaky afterwards

It was a challenging class, but I’ve been doing yoga on and off for some time now so I know [...]]]> So… I’m eating dinner… now. Whoops.

Let’s see how this came to be:

I went to EQUINOX and took that yoga class. It was called Warrior Flow.
LOVED IT! My legs and arms were all shaky afterwards

It was a challenging class, but I’ve been doing yoga on and off for some time now so I know a lot of the basic and some of the advanced poses. Before I came to NYC I was doing a lot of hot yoga. I am a huge fan but I feel like there is some controversy over it.

What are your thoughts on hot/bikram yoga?

After yoga I did a 10 minute cool down run on the treadmill followed by some ab exercises using the stability ball including “The Hand Off” shown here.
Love that one. I usually do 2 sets of 15 reps.

Lunch was salad beast with lettuce, organic carrots and celery, tomatoes and mushrooms topped with some leftover quinoa and some amazing cheese I bought called manouri cheese. Dressed with my usual (evoo and apple cider vinegar) Very yummy!

This afternoon I went to my favourite spots in the lower east side.

First stop was The Pickle Guys to pick up a quart of their amazing full sour pickles.

This is what it looks like inside. Just a narrow space filled with barrels of pickled veggies.

The owner asked me why I was taking so many pictures and I said “They’re for my food blog!” ha!

I love The Pickles Guys, this was my second time there, and both times they’ve insisted I take a free pickle for the road
I definitely smelled like pickles for the rest of the day!
(I may have also eaten one when I got home)

In terms of nutrition: Pickles don’t really have a lot of  true nutritional value. They’re not bad but they’re not great. I enjoy them once in a while as a low calorie snack. Just don’t have too many because they can contain A LOT of sodium.

I should take my own advice. I’m going to have to control myself around these amazing pickles. Seriously, if you like pickles and are in NYC. THIS is definitely a visit you want to make.

Next stop was Russ and Daughters.

They carry a lot of fancy fish, caviar, spreads, chocolates and baked goods. But I went there for the dried fruit. They have the best. I decided on a bunch of medjool dates. I had one on the way home and… wow… amazing. It melted in my mouth.

I am also going to have to control myself around these dates or they will be gone in 5 seconds!

The loot:

I must have taken my sweet time in the LES because by the time I got home I had to leave for my GRE class! No time to eat dinner, let alone prepare something to bring to my 2.5 hour class! I quickly made myself half a banana with almond butter (one of my favourite go to snacks) and had plans of bringing a larabar with me but totally forgot in my rush to leave.

I ran out of the apartment and grabbed two KIND bars from duane reade on my way to class. These bars have fairly good nutritional stats.
In the Almond Apricot there are: Almonds, apricots [apricot paste, glycerol (vegetable based), pectin , apple fibre, citric acid] honey, shredded coconut, coconut chips, glucose, puffed rice, chicory fibre, soy lecithin.

I try to avoid foods with soy lecithin (actually I try to avoid almost all soy foods except for fermented ones such as tempeh – something I will get into in another post). But otherwise the stats aren’t bad.

I had one of the bars during class hoping it would tide me over. But I didn’t get home from class until 10:30pm!

As soon as I walked in the door I threw some chickpeas, organic carrots, organic celery, tempeh and some of that delicious cheese I bought into a bowl. Topped with the regulars. I also added some Herbes de Provence (savory, thyme, rosemary, basil, tarragon and lavender flowers).

The carrots and celery are hiding somewhere under there

Can’t forget the side of water bottle!

In conclusion: That is how I am eating dinner… now… at 10:45pm. Well actually, I’m done And now I am off to find a (very late night) snack and go to sleep!

Goodnight!